My Honest Workaway Experience in Mérida, Mexico: What It’s Really Like to Work in a Hostel

Updated: 21 June 2025

Reading Time: 5 minutes

I am not affiliated with Workaway and as a result, this is my best attempt at an unbiased, honest, non-paid for account of my experience!

📍 Location: Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

💵 Cost: For Workaway, I paid $75.30 AUD but as of writing this, it is US$59 ($94 AUD) for one year of membership

📕 Booking: Aim to book your Workaway at least one month ahead. You can definitely do last minute Workaways but you get the most choice if you book early!

🛂 Visas: Check your country’s visa requirements. I double checked with both SmartTraveller and my Workaway host to make sure I didn’t need a special visa for volunteering.

Workaway is a platform that connects travellers with hosts worldwide for volunteer work in exchange for free accommodation (and sometimes meals). There are paid Workaway jobs but they are less popular as they may require different visas. It’s popular among budget travellers, backpackers, and those looking for cultural exchange experiences.

Typical Workaway jobs include:

• Hostel work (cleaning, reception, social activities) – what I did!
• Farm work (gardening, animal care) – for those that want an escape from the 9-5 😫
• Language exchange (teaching English, etc.) – a great way to supercharge your language learning
• Helping families (childcare, home projects) – can be low in work but also socially isolating

It’s a great way to extend travel on a budget, but the experience varies depending on the host!

I was first exposed to this idea a couple years ago when my coworker was telling me about his past experiences using Workaway. His positions varied from building schools in Tanzania to training sled dogs in Alaska. In short, I was intrigued. However, it wasn’t until I met another traveler in Japan later that year that I decided to give it a shot. Originally, I paid for my account and set it up for jobs in Japan, but my plans changed and I had to shelf the idea for a later trip. Fast-forward to 2024, and Mexico was calling my name! I felt very fortunate to stumble across so many great Workaway experiences. In my initial search I applied for one job in Oaxaca, and two jobs in Mérida. I think I settled on Mérida because I google searched “safest city in Mexico” haha.

Securing the volunteering position was actually quite easy. I did the initial message on Workaway and a couple days later we organised a WhatsApp call. At first, I thought the WhatsApp call was going to be an interview for the role however, it ended up just being the onboarding and I realised I had gotten the job! How smooth. After, the call, my host sent me a document with onboarding instructions, and I booked my flight to Merida!

This part was a little anxiety inducing for me as I had a lot of thoughts like “what if this is a scam?” or “what if she just stops replying?” Thankfully my host was very communicative and reassuring on text. So I was happy to take that leap of faith and get on the flight!

The flight to Mexico from Sydney is long… it took me around 30 hrs to get to Mexico City 😩. After the long trip I spent a night in Mexico City and had my flight to Mérida booked the next day in the late afternoon. Now this is where the drama starts. I usually aim to get to the airport for domestic flights at least 2.5 hrs to 3 hrs before my flight but Mexico City is a different beast. I had timed everything “perfectly” and was kicking back waiting for my uber, until I realised something was majorly wrong. My uber was stuck at being “10 minutes away”. 30 minutes had passed and after some panic and multiple rebooking attempts I realised all of my ubers were cancelling on me last minute. It turns out that my hostel in the historic centre of the city had major road blockages and traffic due to civil unrest on the streets. Desperate to not miss my flight I rebooked my final uber and sprinted with all of my bags to meet the uber on the highway. Success! Or so I thought.

After arriving at the airport I went to check in, and the line was horrendously long. No worries I thought as I reached for my phone to do the online check in. No luck, the poopy airline website was unresponsive and constantly crashing. So I waited… and waited. After an hour, I finally made it to the kiosk, only to find that the check-in agent didn’t speak a word of English (which, in hindsight, I probably should have expected—I was in Mexico, after all).

Luckily, I had just started an online Spanish course, and with a mix of very broken Spanish and Google Translate, we managed to communicate well enough to get me checked in. But then, the bad news hit. The agent told me the flight was overbooked, and I was now on a waitlist—meaning I’d only get on if someone didn’t show up.

My heart sank. I tried pushing back, but all I got was a $10 gift voucher and a not-so-subtle suggestion to sit down and stop complaining. So, defeated and frustrated, I made my way through security, watching the line grow for the overbooked flight I wasn’t even sure I’d be on. 😔

To add salt to the wound, the flight ended up being delayed, and I had to wait hours for a flight that I potentially may never board.

After waiting for everyone else to board the flight, about 10 other people were waiting with me for any no shows. Miraculously, the flight attendant called the numbers up one by one and after calling 6 people including number 4 (me) she said there was no more space. I felt like I was part of the chosen ones escaping some sort of hellish landscape (Mexico City Airport). Ecstatic, I texted my Workaway host and told her I was on my way!

To keep this post concise, I’ll focus strictly on my Workaway experience rather than covering Mérida as a whole. I plan on writing a lot more posts about Mérida and my other many experiences in Mexico in the future, so stay tuned!

While every Workaway is unique and will have their own responsibilities I think the hostel I worked at was pretty similar to most of the hostels I saw on Workaway.

It was mainly comprised of three distinct shifts. One morning, one afternoon, and one night. I never got to experience a night shift so I can’t really comment on what thats like.

The morning shift (10:30 AM to 2:30 PM) started off with taking care of everything for breakfast. When guests checked out you would also need to fix the sheets and take all the dirty sheets down to the laundry. After, you would clean the kitchen, wash some dishes and do odd jobs such as cleaning the leaves out of the pool. I honestly found morning shifts pretty chill, and 90% of the time I was allowed to leave early if I had finished everything and I would have a whole day to explore Mérida!

The afternoon shift was a little different and I would say this type of shift is my ideal Workaway shift. From 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM this shift started off with the regular cleaning and tidying up the hostel. However, the bulk of the shift was organising and partaking in the fun daily activities hosted by the hostel. At my time in Mérida, I was able to host 2 karaoke nights, a just dance session, a movie night, and a bar tour (where only 1 guest showed up but it ended up being a great night anyways).

In my afternoon shifts, I think I made some truly unforgettable memories and I remember thinking this was too good to be true!

I feel like if you’re reading this you’re probably asking yourself, okay this is perfect where do I sign up? Well I did say I was going to do a completely honest, unbiased review of my experience so I think its fair to say I need to mention the downsides.

I think the main downside with Workaway or anything like that (Worldpackers etc.) is the unpredictable nature of the experience. Your experience definitely hinges on if your host is nice or not. I feel like if I didn’t have such a great, caring host my experience would be very different. That being said, my stay wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

I think one of the hardest things to adjust to was one of my main jobs during my shifts. At, the start and end of each shift I would need to change the bin liners for the toilets. I like to think that I’m not super picky with cleaning duties. However, due to my cultural ignorance, before starting this job I didn’t know that Mexico was part of a huge population that doesn’t flush toilet paper. Being from Australia where I take that for granted, I never thought about the implication this has when changing the bin liners in the bathroom.

Without going into too much detail, it was a pretty big shock to the system doing these duties (smell, gross to look at, etc.) I think I was also affected by a lot of the guests leaving the bathrooms in pretty shocking states to say the least. On the bright side it definitely made me more empathetic for service workers having to deal with spoilt, messy tourists!

Another, challenge was also trying to do things after work. I mean I don’t think anyone treats Workaway as a full time job, at the end of the day you are there to experience the country. But sometimes I felt myself being so tired from the shift that it was hard to get out and enjoy the city! I have a vivid memory of going out to the club for the first time with some of my hostel friends. It was only 10:30 PM, but I was so tired from working in the day that I just wanted to go home and sleep!

Working to earn my stay 🫨

Through talking to other people that have done similar hostel Workaways, I think most places have similar setups. You either A. Get your own dedicated volunteer dorm (most ideal). Or B. Have a separate section, slightly away from the main guests (my set up). Or C. Get mixed in with normal guests (not much privacy and weird social vibe).

Honestly, I can’t complain about the living conditions, besides Mexico’s nationwide water shortage and bad plumbing I had a very comfortable stay!

This post would not be complete without mentioning the social experience. I think for me, this is the most important and worthwhile factor when deciding to do a Workaway or not. I’m very happy and grateful to say that the friends I made staying here are some of the most genuine, fun, and caring people I could have asked for. Everyday was full of things to do, and I still think about (and keep in touch with) all the friends I was able to make during my stay.

YES!…Kinda…I mean it depends.

I definitely do not regret using Workaway in Mérida and I feel like it has taught me so much and has been invaluable as an experience in my life. However, it is very unpredictable and I have heard some horror stories using the platform. I also think its really only worth it if you are travelling for at least one month or more. Mainly because your style of travel will have to drastically slow down (can’t really do many far day trips).

Regarding tips and tricks I wish I knew before doing my Workaway. I think I would definitely try to choose a Workaway that you know is legit (word of mouth) or a Workaway that has really good reviews. I also think I wouldn’t do any cleaning Workaways anymore (personal preference), but I would definitely prioritise a Workaway that has multiple volunteers. The people you meet definitely elevate it from being just a “fun experience” to a lifelong memory. Anyways, thats about all I have to say, let me know if you have any questions or if you want to share similar experiences in the comment section below!