Our Story

Blackout Hostel began in 2025 with our founder, Lena. Originally from New York City, she first traveled to Costa Rica at 23 years old and fell head over heels for the country—its people, its pace, its pura vida. So, still just 23, she decided to build something of her own: a space where travelers could feel at home and have a genuinely good time in a relaxed, laid-back atmosphere.

Lena noticed that so many hotels and hostels in the area had become too commercial—polished, but impersonal. So she built the opposite: a place where travelers and locals actually mix. Here you'll meet like-minded backpackers from all over the world and just as many Ticos, so you can do real local things and experience Costa Rica the way locals live it. Every one of our guides and staff—aside from our founder—is a Tico, so you never feel like you've left the country you came to see.

We also believe in having fun that feels safe—and that's how the "party hostel" was born. But it was never really about partying. It's about friendship, feeling safe, and having a genuinely good time with people who get it. Come as a stranger, leave with a crew.