Sunday 19 December 2010

Review: Valentine Inn in Petra, Jordan

Valentine Inn seems to be one of the more popular backpackers hostel in Wadi Musa, the area closest to Petra. This is probably due to it being mentioned in Lonely Planet that helps to sell its rooms and dorms like hot cakes.

Facade of Valentine Inn


The inn offers travel services like daily return transfers to Petra, tours to Wadi Rum, transport to Amman, etc.

But what sucks about the place are the people who run it, especially the lady boss who runs the place with an iron fist. She's the second wife of the owner, a bitch of the highest order and a racists. From my observations and experience, she tend to favour Caucasian tourists compared to Asians tourists whom she treats like low lifeforms.

Click here to read more negative comments about Valentine Inn posted by other travellers.

Ok, enough about bitchy innkeepers, and let's get back to the story.

We stayed in the 10-bed mix-dorm that costs JD 5.50 /pax/night:


The beds were so close to each other we didn't have any place to put our stuff. A side table for each bed would have been nice.

A guy was sleeping in the bed beside me and his girlfriend slept in the bed that was at the foot of his.

She kept staring at me that I wanted to ask if I had borrowed money from her. She probably thought I wanted to shag her bf cause our beds were so close.

But he snored like a jet plane taking off, and I don't think I wanna shag a guy like that, wth.

There was a common shower in the room for all 10 of us to fight it out.

Bathroom was clean.


If you wanna see Petra at night, you may opt for the Petra by Night tour that costs JD 12 each and you can book it through Valentine Inn. However, a few of the travellers who participated in this came back disappointed.


According to fellow traveller Kana, all the participants would gather at the entrance of Petra and walk together to the Treasury. The entire path from the entrance to the Treasury would be lit with candles.

Upon reaching the Treasury, everyone would be asked to sit down on the ground and local folk music would start blasting from the speakers. Of course the entire Treasury would be lighted with candles and combined with the folk music blasting from the speakers, well ... it adds to the atmosphere.

For some ... it was daylight robbery because they were expecting much more for that price.

As for myself, I was on a budget and therefore couldn't spare JD 12 for something like that. Moreover, visiting Petra during the day was enough for me.

2 comments:

khengsiong said...

Valentine Inn with two heart shapes in a conservative country, hmm...

I haven't stayed in dormitory before, as I was concerned of my belongings, as well as wanting a bit of privacy...

Julie Lim said...

Jordan is not such a conservative country compared to other Middle Eastern countries. So the name Valentine Inn with 2 hearts is not a surprise at all :-)

Staying in a dormitory is the best economical option for myself who travels twice a year and needs to save every cent for the next trip. Moreover living in dorms is a good way to meet other travelers :-)

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