More hostels in Singapore as demand for cheap stay increases

A hotel room in Singapore costs on average $261 per night. So demand for hostels in Singapore is (not suprisingly) high. As of July 2013 there are 56 licensed hostels in Singapore. There were 46 licensed hotels by July 2012. Besides the increase in number, quality of the hostel stock also changed a lot. There are many hostels now in Singapore offering much more than bunker beds in dark and far corners of the island state. There are many centrally located boutique hostels in Singapore now offering relatively luxurious stay. ABC Premium Hostel and Bunc@Radius Backpack Hostel in Singapore Little India, Wink Hostel and Adler Hostel in Singapore Chinatown are just some to name.

More gap-year travellers, flashpackers are travelling to Singapore which is driving the demand for hostels. And price is not the only reason for many to stay in a hostel. Hostel offers a communal environment and a chance to meet more people compared to a hotel. Another group of hostel dwellers are people looking for a job in Singapore and students.

If you are looking for a hostel in Singapore, you can read our articles on the topic:

• Hostels in Singapore
  
• Singapore's First Pod Style Flashpacker Hostel
  
• Backpacking to flashpacking: Flashpacking hostels of Singapore and South East Asia
  
• Tree In Lodge Singapore’s first environmentally-friendly hostel
  
• Pod Hotels getting popular
  
• Boutique hostels in Singapore
  
• Adler Hostel in Singapore offers luxury hostel stay
  
• Wink Hostel in Singapore Chinatown: Upscale pod style beds in Singapore
  
• ABC Premium Hostel in Singapore Little India: Truly a premium grade hostel
  
• Bunc@Radius Backpack Hostel in Singapore's Little India

Bunc@Radius Backpack Hostel in Singapore's Little India

Cheap stay in Singapore has become very important thanks to the expensive hotel room prices. Luckily the demand created its supply and new breed of budget hotels and upscale hostels emerged in Singapore recently to address the needs of travelers who do not like to pay a small fortune to a Singapore hotel room but wants something more than a cold, crowded and often uncomfortable military dorm style hostels.

Bunc@Radius Backpack Hostel in Singapore Little India (or simply Bunc Hostel) is one of the brand-new hostels offering a relatively luxurious hostel experience. Bunc Hotel offers 272 clean and comfortable beds in two sizes: Singles and Deluxes. A deluxe Bunc bed is twice the size of the full-sized single, and is able to accommodate two people spaciously. Each Bunc bed is luxuriously appointed with duvet covers and plush pillows. The beds are located in 6 dorm types - 16, 12, 11, 10, 8 and 6 beds. The hostel also offers 2 private rooms.

Bunc Hostel caters to flashpackers and poshpackers (backpacking with more style and money). It offers full air-conditioning, Wi-fi, kitchenette facilities, recreation rooms with gaming facilities, an outdoor tanning deck, commercial washer-dryers, a ladies-only floor alongside the custom made roomy Bunc beds.

BUNC@Radius Backpacker Hostel has been ranked and reviewed consistently as a top brand-new boutique hostel located in Central Singapore at Upper Weld Road, Singapore. The hostel, which is located 10-15 minutes walk away from Little India MRT Station, is ranked in top 10 hostels by TripAdvisors and ranked as top in overall rating by HostelWorld.com guests.

Bunc@Radius Backpack Hostel in Singapore

In large sized dorm rooms, single beds start from 40 SGD per night per bed and double bed starts from 75 SGD per night per bed. You can read hostel reviews here.

Here are some other boutique style hostels in Singapore.

5footway.inn Project Chinatown	Wink Hostel	Adler hostel	Beary Nice!

ABC Premium Hostel in Singapore Little India: Truly a premium grade hostel

If you are looking for a modern, clean, comfortable and safe hostel in Singapore, do not forget to check  ABC Premium Hostel in Singapore Little India. Located a few steps from the exit D of Farrer Park MRT station, this brand new hostel is well located to easily access everywhere in Singapore through public transport. The ABC Premium Hostel has collected very good reviews up to now. It is, for example, ranked #24 of 122 Speciality lodging in Singapore (including hostels and serviced residences) in TripAdvisor and has a Fantastic (8.4) in Asia focused online hotel booking site Agoda.com.

Each bed in ABC Premium Hostel comes with a security key card which gives you access to your own personal locker, personal luggage storage and personal shoe storage. The hostel also provide complimentary, stable high speed internet access, use of their PCs, daily breakfast and fully air-conditioned rooms. The beds options are The Solo (single bunk bed) and The Duo (queen sized bunk bed). The hostel has an  8 Bed Female Dorm, 10 Bed Mixed Dorms, 14 Bed Mixed Dorms and 28 Bed Mixed Dorms. The prices in the hostel starts from 29 USD per solo bed per night.

The ABC Hostel group manages 3 hostels: ABC Hostel (3 Jalan Kubor Singapore 199201), ABC Premium Hostel (91A, 93A & 95A Owen Road Singapore 281903) and ABC Hostel Hamilton (7A Hamilton Road Singapore 209178). So if you are going there by taxi do not forget to mention which hostel you are going to or better give the hostel address to the taxi driver.

ABC Premium Hostel in Singapore Little India

How to get to ABC Premium Hostel

The most convenient budget access from Changi Airport to the hostel is to take the train (MRT):

• Board the MRT train at Changi Airport Terminal 2. This car will go to Tanah Merah MRT station.
• Alight at Tanah Merah, board the train towards Joo Koon (you will see the "To City" sign). 
• Go all the way to Outram Park MRT Station on Green Line.
• Board the train towards Punggol and alight at Farrer Park.
• Exit D from Farrer Park. 

You can also take taxi from the airport to the hostel directly but this would cost $20 - 30 SGD. The taxi driver may ask PIE or ECP. Both are fine.

Adler Hostel in Singapore offers luxury hostel stay

Hostel in Singapore was a rarity just until a few years ago but thanks to increased number of budget travelers and runaway cost of renting a simple hotel room in Singapore, many hostels emerged in the past few years. With the opening of  The Matchbox Concept Hostel and Wink Hostel, we have also started to see increasing number of relatively luxurious hostels offering some privacy to its guests in the form of cabins or pots.

One of these luxury hostels offering much more than basic bed + shower combination of a standard hostel is Adler Hostel in Chinatown. The hostel calls itself "The First Luxurious Hostel in Singapore". I have doubts about that they are the "first" but the property is really luxurious for a hostel. In fact, Adler Hostel has been at the top of "the best value for money" accommodation in Singapore list in Asia's leading hotel booking site Agoda.com with a rating of Fantastic (9.0).

Adler Hostel occupies a newly renovated traditional shop-house which is conveniently located in Chinatown, just behind the Temple Street. It is a short walk away from Chinatown MRT Station. The hostel features cabins dorm beds separated by panels from each other. The beds in Adler Hostel are housed in two 16-bed dorms. Add these dormitory beds a curtain that can be pulled, they provide a lot of privacy while sleeping. The comfort level it provides to its guests in its class has also put the hostel in the best room comfort/standard list in agoda.

He could have actually squeezed in 46 beds in the Chinatown hostel but Adler Hostel’s young founder, Mr Adler Poh, 25, decided to have a conservative 32 beds. This decision provides extra space for the hostel guests with more privacy and quiet environment:

"Adler Hostel is not your usual hostel, and it is our aim to create a niche that other hostels cannot replicate. Adler Hostel is deliberately kept small to offer a boutique feel. Differentiation also lies in our guest services. For instance, we have a concierge that will recommend off-the-beaten-track attractions and activities in Singapore, tailor travel itineraries and offer attraction tickets at discounted rates" says Adler Poh (source : Adler Hostel makes debut in luxury scene).

Adler Hostel in Singapore provides private cabins with curtains. In this photo the Ivory Room at Adler Hostel 

Daily rates are S$60 (US$49) per night, which is higher than what other hostels in Singapore are charging but since no-frills budget hotels in Chinatown can easily fetch 100++ SGD per night per room, if you really want to stretch your dollars and save on accommodation in Singapore while not downgrading so much, Adler Hostel provides a very good alternative for you in Chinatown.

"For instance, there’s a hostel in this area that charges S$50 per night. Despite the higher rate, occupancy has been very good. We welcomed our first guest on November 12, and up till (mid-December) the hostel is running at 70 per cent occupancy" says Adler Poh (source : Adler Hostel makes debut in luxury scene).

Here is how to get to Adler Hostel

• Take MRT Purple Line and alight at Chinatown MRT Station.
• Exit from Exit A (towards Pagoda Street).
• Walk straight out to the main road of South Bridge Road 
• Turn right when you see Temple Street
• Adler Hostel is on the left.

Customers book direct with the property or through OTAs such as Agoda. “Due to the demographic of our target market, it is natural that we work more closely with OTAs,” says Poh.

Adler Hostel is one of the nicest hostels in Singapore with a great location, classy facilities and value for money. You can read some reviews of the hostel here.

Here are some other boutique style hostels in Singapore.

5footway.inn Project Chinatown 2	Wink Hostel	Bunc hostel	Beary Nice!

Value Hotel Thomson - Singapore

Are you looking for a hotel in Singapore which is below $100 per night? Then Value Hotel Thomson is a very good alternative with you. This budget hotel is the newest hotel of the Value Hotel chain (the chain has 3 cheap hotels in Singapore : Value Hotel Thomson, Value Hotel Balestier and Value Hotel Nice) and is the largest hotel of the chain. Like other 2, it is situated on Balestier Road, relatively central location known for its good food and budget hotel options in Singapore.

This hotel is one of the hotels I recommend to people who ask me for an advise on cheap hotel in Singapore under $100 per night value. First, unlike other budget hotels in its class, Value Hotel Thomson offers a luxury which is quite handy in hot and humid Singapore: a swimming pool! Second it's location is quite convenient. You can walk to Novena MRT Station which is 2 stations away from Orchard Road and Balestier Road is one of the most authentic places in Singapore with good food. Third although the rooms the hotel offers are small as all other budget hotels in Singapore, they come with all basic amenities like a comfortable and clean bed, an LCD TV with a few cable channels, air con, free WiFi, en-suite shower, safe deposit box and complimentary beverages.

Hotels in this price range and with this quality are usually not in a central location like this so for location, good value for money and several other factors, this small budget hotel shines in cheap alternatives in Singapore.

As with most budget hotels in Singapore, I would suggest to check several things before booking a room in Value Hotel Thomson. Some rooms are inner rooms with no windows and if this will be a problem with you check it before booking a room.

In-room internet is free which is also a bonus for a budget hotel.  

Singapore hotel room rates may be very expensive but still there are relatively cheap hotels in Singapore for cost-conscious travelers. The rooms in these hotels are very small and some are far outside the city. But there are still some cheap hotels in or around city center. 3 hotels of budget hotel chain of Value Hotel Singapore are good alternatives for budget travelers or for those who would like to enjoy their money outside instead of burying it to an expensive hotel room.

Below is a video of Value Hotel Thomson - Singapore by Asia Travel Tips.com.

Value Hotel Thomson

Some other central budget hotels in Singapore:

Victoria Hotel Singapore	Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen Hotel	Fort Canning Lodge

Fernloft City Hostel - East Coast

I met Fernloft City Hostel on East Coast with a very absurd twist in my accommodation in Singapore. We had to stay with some distant relatives of my wife for a month when we were in between two rental apartments. And just during this time, a friend of mine came to visit me in Singapore. He was staying short and was on budget so I have decided to place him to The Matchbox Concept Hostel for a few days before heading to Bali. But unfortunately, just for that week, Matchbox was closed so I have decided to check this small hostel at a very nice location on East Coast. I see its sign while going to work by bus so I have just dropped by and checked.

The hostel is just ok with basic facilities you would expect from a hostel. The place is 20 minutes away from the Singapore Changi Airport and 15 minutes away from the Singapore downtown. Other than standard dorm rooms, it also provides two double rooms with a little bit more privacy (no attached bathroom). I have paid (yes I was the one who couldn't provide a bed to friend so I have paid) 20 SGD per person per night. The hostel is quite small but has a very friendly environment and I liked the warm meeting space to chill out.

Fernloft hostel group has 4 hostels in Singapore and Malaysia: Fernloft Chinatown, Fernloft East Coast and FernLoft Liddle India are in Singapore and Fernloft Kuala Lumpur is in Malaysia. Fernloft City Hostel on East Coast is the original Fernloft, where it all started.

Fernloft City Hostel on East Coast

If you choose to stay here, do not forget to visit the area where East Coast Road and Joo Chiat Road intersect. This area is one of the most beautiful and authentic places in Singapore with peranakan style shop houses and is famous for its peranakan cuisine, countless eateries and colorful nightlife. The bus number 14 can directly take you from the hostel to the area.   The East Coast are itself is also known as a multicultural food paradise and you can find a belt of eateries nearby, offering the best of local cuisines such as Chinese, Indian, Malay, Peranakan and best of local exotic seafood.

As it is written in travel fish blog, with a backpacker budget, Fernloft City Hostel on East Coast is the best choice for people looking for a hotel/hostel near Singapore Changi Airport.

Here is my friends review of the hostel: Fernloft: A cheap option to stay in Singapore

You can check the room and bed rates in the hostel for some bargain deals here.

[1] - Hotels near Singapore’s Changi Airport

Boutique hostels in Singapore

As traditional hotel prices went to roof in Singapore, a new breed of upmarket boutique hostels started to mushroomed in the past few years. These hostels, with their pod-like bunk beds, relatively luxurious facilities and many more bonuses, cater to both traditional backpackers who are looking for more than no frills bed to sleep and flashpackers, a new breed of backpackers who require more from their hostel stay.

Matchbox The Concept Hostel

39 Ann Siang Road, Singapore, Singapore

Located in one of the best places in Singapore, Matchbox The Concept Hostel offers boutique-style accommodation to those on a backpacker's budget in comfortable pods. It has been featured in The Independent as one of The Big Six: Capsule hotels.

Bunc Hostel

15 Upper Weld Road, Little India, Singapore 207372
This new generation boutique hostel, located in a 3-stories shophouse in Little India, offer full air-conditioning, Wi-fi, kitchenette facilities, recreation rooms with gaming facilities, an outdoor tanning deck, commercial washer-dryers, a ladies-only floor and most of all. With custom made beds which comes in 2 sizes, Singles and Deluxes,  Bunc Hostel offers a clean, neat and value for money stay in Singapore. The hostel provides key card access to guest rooms, oil-based air fresheners and bug-resistant pillow and mattress covers

Guests in Bunc Hostel Singapore - Photo: Relax.com.sg

Wink Hostel

A Mosque Street, Chinatown / Tiong Bahru, Singapore 059488
Housed in a 3-storey historic shop house, Wink Hostel offers designer pod-beds and high-tech dormitory rooms which can be accessed by a personal key-card. Each pod at Wink Hotel is equipped with sound-resistant walls in between the pods, an orthopaedic mattress, a reading light, and a power socket, amongst other features.[1] Lockers under the beds are locked and unlocked with personal key-cards.

5footway.inn Project Chinatown, 5footway.inn Project Sultan, 5footway.inn Project Chinatown 2

63 Pagoda Street, Chinatown / Tiong Bahru, Singapore 059222
8 Aliwal Street, Bugis, Singapore 199901
227 South Bridge Road, Chinatown / Tiong Bahru, Singapore 058778
There are three branches of 5footway.inn: One is located in Chinatown at Pagoda Street and named 5footway.inn Project Chinatown, one is off Beach Road at Aliwal Street and called 5footway.inn Project Sultan and the newly opened 5footway.inn Project Chinatown 2 is on South Bridge Road, Chinatown / Tiong Bahru.

Singapore's China Town
Photo - 5footway.inn

[1] - New breed of hostels in Singapore

Cheap Singapore Hotels - Value Hotel Balestier

208 room Value Hotel Balestier in Singapore is one of the cheap and decent hotels you can consider to stay if you are budget conscious or simply does not pay a fortune to an overpriced Singapore hotel. With standard rooms starting from 99 Singapore Dollars per night (US$ 85) and its relatively central location, the hotel offers excellent value-for-money.

Value Hotel Balestier is at the  intersection of Balestier Road and Thomson Road and is walking distance away from Novena MRT Station of North South MRT Line, which is only 2 stations away from Singapore's shopping street Orchard Road and 6 stations away the Raffles Place, Singapore's Central Business District. You can either take a bus to the MRT station from the bus stop is just in front of the hotel or walk 5 minutes down to the station. Balestier Road area is an attraction on its own; it is  known for its food such as bak kut teh, chicken rice and tau sar piah and is home to many budget hotels in Singapore.

The hotel is basic and the rooms are clean. Hotel provides free highspeed WIFI internet in the room if booked room online. If you cannot stay in a windowless room, insist on a room with a window since some rooms in this hotel comes without window. Value Hotel is a hotel chain and there are 3 Value Hotels on Balestier Road: Value Hotel Thomson (at 592 Balestier Road), Value Hotel Nice (302 Balestier Road) and Value Hotel Balestier (218 Balestier Road). So if you are taking cab to there do not forget to mention the address (218 Balestier Road) otherwise you may end up in the wrong one.

Value Hotel Balestier

All of the 208 rooms are air conditioned and come with coffeemakers, cable TV, iron and ironing boards, phones, hairdryers, and bathrooms. The hotel offers on site parking available. Although the hotel does not have an onsite restaurant, in Balestier Road you really do not need a hotel restaurant.

As a person living in Singapore for a long time, a lot of people ask me for advise for a budget hotel to stay in Singapore. This hotel is one of the hotels in my recommendation list for both business and leisure travelers since for only a cheap 99 SGD per night, it is really difficult to find a central and clean hotel in Singapore.

Matchbox The Concept Hostel is open

We have written last month that Singapore's first pod style flashpacker hostel, Matchbox The Concept Hostel, will be opened in August. Matchbox Hospitality officially launched this only boutique flashpacker hostel with pod-style dormitory in Singapore and Southeast Asia in August and on August 16th 2011. They were very kind to invite Asia Singapore to media open event.I will write a larger first hand review of this new hostel soon. Below is from the press release:

"Singapore, 16 August 2011 - Responding to the calls of a new generation of travellers, Matchbox The Concept Hostel appeals to flashpackers who have vastly different ‘wants’ from the typical backpacker. The only one in Singapore and Southeast Asia to feature exclusive custom-made pod-style dormitories, Matchbox is also the only hostel in the world to feature couple bunk beds within a dormitory."

The hostel offers three rooms, Sunkiss is 2 single bed mixed dormitory, Flamingo is 12 single bed Ladies’ dormitory, and Spring Mist is 18-bed mixed dormitory (2 double beds and 16 single beds). As I have written before in Singapore descent hotels prices range between expensive and very expensive, and hostels like The Matchbox are great to spend less on a bed and more on everything else. It is indeed better for young people to share a dorm with travellers from around the world even they can afford to lock themselves privately into a hotel room.

Matchbox The Concept Hostel Facade

So with its 45 SGD per night per pod, this hostel is flashpacker, affluent backpacker who is backpacking with a bigger budget. With this extra prices comes extras, a more luxury than an average space, cosy location with a soul and history, free all day breakfast, Wi-Fi, laundry facilities and custom designed pillows. Below photos would give you more idea about the hostel. What I will add for now is I especially like its location, Ang Siang Road, greeting you with its elegantly restored shophouses (Matchbox is in one of these shop houses) at the end of gentle slope of Ang Siang Hill is a very nice place to stay in Singapore.

Matchbox Lobby - Source : Hostels.com

Dormitory with pods  - Source : Hostels.com

Here are some other boutique style hostels in Singapore.

5footway.inn Project Chinatown 2	Wink Hostel	Bunc hostel	Adler Hostel

Singapore's First Pod Style Flashpacker Hostel

In a place like Singapore where descent hotels prices range between expensive and very expensive, hostels are good options to spend less on a bed and more on everything else. Many backpackers on tight budget prefer hostel and hostels are also very good places to make friends. Instead of locking yourself into a single room it may be more fun to share a dorm with strangers from around the world even if you can afford to live in a hotel.

With the increase of budget travelling option as well as the appetite for adventure among youngster, more and more backpackers are coming to Singapore. In the last 2 years, the number of backpacker hostels increased 1 every month showing the increasing interest for cheap accommodation, something not very readily available in Singapore.

The price difference between hotels and hostels has a large room for hostels to spread into, and some backpackers hostels in Singapore are charging more, sometimes  40% more than the usual price in exchange of additional comfort and services.

For example backpacker hostel Rucksack Inn 2 in Hong Kong Street provides private double room with cable TV for 95 SGD per night. This price is still cheaper than many hotels in Singapore and comes with a friendlier environment of a hostel.  In the Lavender Street outlet of this hostel, backpackers can borrow netbooks for free.

Who would pay for these extras? An emerging type of backpackers called flashpackers. A Flashpacker is basically an affluent backpacker who is backpacking with a bigger budget.  And next month, a concept flashpackers hostel will open its doors at Ann Siang Road: Matchbox the Concept Hostel. Already at a good location (a Chinese shop house just right next to Club Street and China town) it offers more than location. This new hostel will have capsule-like dormitory beds priced at 45 Singapore Dollars per night. According to MyPaper Matchbox hostel will be the first hostel in Singapore offering pod style accommodation:

“It will feature 3 types of pod dormitory: a woman only boudoir, a premium two bed dorm and a 17 bed mixed dorm. Prices will start from 45 Singapore Dollars per pod per night and includes an all-day breakfast.”

Pod Style Beds In Matchbox The Concept Hostel Singapore

For August 2011 there is a promotion and the prices will start from 35 Singapore Dollars per pod per night. It is good to hear that there are more accommodation options and competition in this end of the hospitality market with boutique hostels. But no worry if you need to count for every dollars throughout your holiday, no frills type of hostels are going nowhere and actually increasing in number and capacity.

Here are some other boutique style hostels in Singapore.

5footway.inn Project Chinatown	Wink Hostel	Bunc hostel	Adler Hostel