The accommodation that doesn't show up in the apps: beds in family homes in the hillside neighborhoods (Santo Domingo,

Origins: how the hillside was built by hand

The history of accommodation in family homes on the hillsides of Medellín doesn't begin in a hostel or on a booking platform. It goes back to the fifties and sixties, when thousands of peasant families from Antioquia —displaced by bipartisan violence and later by the lack of land and work— arrived in the city with nowhere to live. The valley was already taken up by the center and the flat neighborhoods. The only option was to ascend: the western and northeastern hills, steep terrain that nobody wanted, began to be populated through self-construction.

This process is known as informal occupation through self-management. But in everyday life, it meant that a family would arrive on a Sunday with boards and zinc sheets, put up a shack, and by the following week they already had neighbors helping them bring up water. That's how neighborhoods like Santo Domingo Savio, in Comuna 1 (Popular), and the entire upper strip of Comuna 13 (San Javier) were born. There was no state planning: there were networks of kinship, godparent relationships, and block-level solidarity.

For decades, those neighborhoods carried the heaviest stigma in the city. The eighties and nineties were the hardest: the presence of armed groups, intra-urban displacement, and an almost total disconnection from the rest of Medellín. The hillside was, for the rest of the city, a place you saw from afar and never set foot in. However, that reality began to change in the 2000s with the mobility and public space interventions that today are icons of Medellín.

Timeline: milestones that opened the hillside to the world

2004 – Metrocable Santo Domingo

Line K of the Metrocable connected the center with Comuna 1 and represented the first serious effort to physically integrate the upper neighborhoods. For residents, it meant no longer spending an hour on a bus up narrow roads; for the city, it was a discovery that the hillside had its own views, culture, and life. Tourism arrived later, almost by inertia.

2007 – Parque Biblioteca España

The building with three inclined volumes, designed by architect Giancarlo Mazzanti, became a symbol of the so-called "social urbanism" of Medellín. Located in Santo Domingo Savio, next to the Metrocable station, it was for years the main attraction that motivated visitors to go up to Comuna 1. Its physical condition has faced documented structural problems in recent years, so it's advisable to verify its opening before visiting.

2011 – Electric Escalators of Comuna 13

Six covered sections that overcome about 384 meters of slope in the Las Independencias sector. It was the first intervention of its kind in the country and transformed the daily mobility of residents: elderly adults and children stopped climbing endless stairs. Over time, the walls around them filled with graffiti and the area became the epicenter of community tourism in Medellín.

2014 onwards – The rise of the Graffitour

What began as informal tours led by young people from the neighborhood became professionalized. Today, the Graffitour of Comuna 13 is one of the most requested activities in the city, and many of those guides are the same ones who opened their homes to host visitors. This is how the family accommodation network described in this article emerged organically.

Key figures and facts: who sustains this today

Community tourism on the hillside is not sustained by large companies. It's maintained by youth collectives, single mothers, community leaders, and artists who decided that the neighborhood's story should be told by the neighborhood. The Graffitour guides —many trained in processes within the comuna itself— are the most reliable gateway for a visitor who wants to sleep in a family home.

It's important to understand that most of these stays are not on Booking or Airbnb. They're coordinated through WhatsApp, Instagram, or direct recommendation. This has advantages (the money reaches the family in full) and risks (there's no platform backing if something goes wrong). Therefore, the rule is clear: never pay in advance without verifiable references.

Comuna 13 - Graffitour

The typical route begins at the San Javier Metro station, goes up by bus or on foot through Las Independencias, and ends at the electric escalators. Along the way, you'll find murals that narrate the conflict, resistance, and memory of the neighborhood, as well as stops where you can taste empanadas, arepas de chócolo, mangoes with salt and lemon, and natural juices. The local gastronomy of the area ranges from $15,000 to $45,000 COP per person as a reference, depending on what you order. Many guides offer to combine the tour with a night in a family home from their own network.

Electric Escalators of Comuna 13

They're free and for public use: residents use them daily to access their homes. This detail is key for the visitor: it's not a theme park attraction, but neighborhood infrastructure. It's recommended to ride them with respect, without blocking the way, and to avoid peak commuting hours. Around them there are viewpoints with views of the valley and a growing offering of cafes and urban art shops.

Metrocable Santo Domingo

Line K goes up from the Acevedo station to Santo Domingo Savio, with intermediate stations at Andalucía and Popular. The ride itself is already an experience: you can see the entire valley, the densely built hillsides, and the contrast between the financial center and the upper neighborhoods. It's the most economical and safe way to reach Comuna 1. It's advisable to check operating hours, since the system closes at night.

Parque Biblioteca España

Located next to the Santo Domingo Metrocable station, it was for years the great architectural reference of Comuna 1. Its state of conservation has been the subject of public debate and technical interventions, so the honest recommendation is: if you're going up just for the building, first confirm that it's open. If you're going for the neighborhood, the view and the route are worth it either way.

What sleeping in a family home on the hillside really involves

It's not a boutique hotel with a view. It's the home of someone who welcomes you into their living room, shows you the room they rent, and will probably invite you to share the food the family eats. The beds are usually simple, hot water can be intermittent, and the internet can fail. If that seems like an inconvenience, this isn't your type of trip.

What you gain in return is hard to find in El Poblado or Laureles: a breakfast with arepa and eggs while the family tells you what the neighborhood was like before the escalators, walks to viewpoints that no commercial tour includes, and an understanding of Medellín that can't be achieved from a rooftop. The routines are those of the neighborhood: you wake up early, greet the neighbors, and respect mealtimes.

As for safety, Comuna 13 and Santo Domingo Savio are today areas with consolidated tourist presence and a constant flow of visitors, but they're still popular neighborhoods with their own dynamics. The rule is not to walk alone at night on unfamiliar streets, not to display valuables, and to always move with someone from the community. The hosts themselves will give you the real indications, which are worth more than any generic warning.

The economic impact is direct: what you pay for the night and meals stays in the block. There are no intermediaries, no platform commission, no hotel chain. For many travelers, that's the main reason to opt for this experience.

How to contact and book without intermediaries

The most reliable path is through the Graffitour guides and the community tourism collectives that operate in Comuna 13. Almost all of them have a presence on Instagram and respond via WhatsApp. The way in is simple: you take the tour, talk to the guide, ask if they know families that host guests, and ask for references from other visitors who have already stayed.

Another option is the community tourism projects that work with young people from the neighborhood and offer packages that combine the tour, food, and accommodation. If you're interested in Comuna 1, the collectives that operate near the Metrocable Santo Domingo and Parque Biblioteca España usually have contacts of host families.

What you should not do: pay in advance to a profile with no history, no references, and no verifiable presence in the community. Nor should you show up without notice knocking on doors. These networks work on trust and recommendation, not spontaneous booking.

To move around with updated data —reference prices for October 2026, live holiday hours, and safe maps by neighborhood (Locals vs. Foreigners)— you can use the interactive cards for each place on malokal.com and book directly via WhatsApp with verified operators.

Ethical considerations: how not to fall into poverty tourism

The line between community tourism and poverty tourism is thin, and respect draws it. Some concrete guidelines:

• Don't photograph homes or people without permission. The hillside is not a set. Ask first, always.
• Don't treat your hosts as an attraction. They're people who open their home to you, not part of the package.
• Pay what's fair and to the right person. If the money doesn't reach the family, it's not community tourism.
• Don't romanticize violence. The murals and the memory of the conflict are the real history of real people, not decor for your feed.
• Consume local. Buy in the neighborhood shops, eat at the comuna's stalls, use the local guides.
• Learn before you arrive. Understanding the history of displacement and self-construction completely changes the experience.

Done well, sleeping in a family home on the hillside is one of the most authentic experiences Medellín offers. Done badly, it reproduces inequalities that the city has spent decades trying to close. The difference lies in who tells the story and who takes the money.

Current state: what to expect in October 2026

Community tourism on the hillsides of Medellín is more organized than ever, but it remains mostly informal. Don't expect a centralized platform or hotel standards. Be prepared for WhatsApp, calls, word-of-mouth references, and a trust network that has been working for more than a decade.

Comuna 13 receives a constant flow of national and foreign visitors, with a consolidated gastronomic and cultural offering. Comuna 1, around the Metrocable Santo Domingo and Parque Biblioteca España, has less tourist infrastructure but an authenticity that 13 is already losing due to saturation. If you're looking for real immersion and not crowds, Comuna 1 is usually the best option.

Reference prices for October 2026 for a night in a family home are considerably lower than any hostel in El Poblado or Laureles, and the included meals make the total cost competitive. Always verify with the host family before closing any a