hostels/guesthouses: southeast asia
I had a request to list the places I stayed while on my trip. I know that hearing about places from other people is way more helpful than trying to find one on your own, so I thought it was a good idea. Keep in mind I was looking for places that were easy to meet other people in, so they weren’t necessarily the cheapest. I always tried to stay in dorm rooms when possible, and I know this isn’t everyone’s style.
If you’re into booking stuff ahead of time, I recommend hostelbookers.com because they don’t charge a booking fee. And some of these places aren’t listed online, but every single place I went to (minus Myanmar) had backpacker areas that were packed with guesthouses, so you can easily show up to any major place in SE Asia and find a cheap place to stay.
Here are the places I loved and would stay in again if I were traveling alone or wanted to be social:
Hanoi: Hanoi Backpackers’ Hostel One of the nicest dorm rooms I’ve ever stayed in, met a ton of people, and is a great place to book a Halong Bay tour. It’s more pricey than other’s, but if you want to get drunk with fun people, it’s a good way to go. Ha.
Hoi An: I stayed at a really nice place here, but don’t remember the name.. it was listed in the newest Rough Guides for Vietnam I believe, and if anyone wanted to know I could find out once I got back to Korea and could look through my stuff.
Ho Chi Minh City: I stayed at Luan Vu Guesthouse, and it was nice, pretty average. There are a ton of places in the backpacker area of Pham Ngu Lao, so it’s really easy to find somewhere to stay.
Phnom Penh: Where I stayed was “meh”, but I guess the area to stay is near the lake. I dunno.
Siem Reap: There are cheaper places, but I had a lot of fun at the Siem Reap Hostel.
Vientiane: This city is hardly worth staying in for more than a day, so it really doesn’t even matter where you stay, ha.
Vang Vieng: One of the coolest places I’ve ever stayed—Spicy Laos. Def, def, def recommend it. I stayed at their sister Spicy Laos in Luang Prabang, which I also recommend. It’s not as nice, but a good place to meet people.
Chiang Mai: I tried to stay at Julie Guesthouse, but it was full. It had been highly recommended. I ended up staying in a $3/night very basic dorm at the Same Same Guesthouse down the street. By that point, I was incredibly low-maintenance so anything with a bed and shower was fine.
Bagan: May Kha Lar. The owner is so, so, so helpful and friendly.
Yangon: This is also one of the better places I stayed. It’s called Motherland Inn 2. It’s not in the best location, but the staff was amazing, and I met a ton of awesome people. It was almost full when I came, so if you go in high season, it might be best to try to book ahead if possible.
Bangkok: I stayed in two places. The first was called the River Line, and it was near Khao San Road. It was a quieter place, though, being a few minutes’ walk away from the madness. It was kinda “meh” because I really just wanted to go out and party, and it wasn’t the best place to meet people. The second place, though, lub d, was awesome. The nicest hostel I’ve ever been to in my life, and lots of cool people.
Koh Phi Phi: Golden Hill Bungalows (also known as Bungalow Dave’s). It had pretty bad reviews online, but I had to book something ahead because everything fills up. There are probably better places—the whole island is just restaurants, bars, and accommodation—but it was fine for me. They have dorm rooms, and I met some good people. It is the farthest possible place from the pier, though, so carrying all my shit back and forth in 90 degree heat was probably the worst thing ever.
Sooo, I hope that is helpful for someone! :)
