Why the low price of cheap hostels in Asia is not worth it

• I’ve spent over 40 nights sleeping in rentals this year, from hostels and Airbnbs to luxury hotels.
• Hostels are cheap, but my year of travel convinced me they weren’t worth it.
• Budget hotels are a great alternative and don’t cost much more.

Hostels are generally considered the best accommodation for budget travelers. But after spending more than two weeks in hostels across Southeast Asia, I can firmly say that budget hotels are the best bet.

I’ve been writing about hiking and regional travel for Insider for almost a year. This year alone I have stayed in over 40 different accommodations in five countries. My travels, most of which have been fully paid for by Insider, have taken me from hostels and love motels to Airbnb to luxury resorts.

My time on the road has convinced me that budget hotels – which are usually in the one to two star category – offer much more than hostels, for not much more money.

Here are five reasons why travelers should avoid hostels and opt for budget hotels instead when traveling in Southeast Asia.

Marielle Descalsota/Insider

1. Security: Staying in hostels often involves sharing a sleeping space. When I spent the night The explorers’ guest house in Kuala Lumpur in April, I had to share a room with three men. The hostel didn’t have pods so I had to sleep in an open bunk bed which made me and the male guests who were already there uncomfortable. I ended up paying $7 more to stay in a private room, and the extra was worth the privacy and the feeling of security.

2. Hygiene: Hostels aren’t really known for their cleanliness. While Singapore is often touted as one of the cleanest countries in the region, I found some of the city-state’s hostels to be poorly maintained. In March, I spent a night in Galaxy Pods in Chinatown, where I found a stench permeated the space and the sheets were strewn with black dust. At $45, it wasn’t worth the price, especially since budget hotels like Hotel 81 usually only cost $10 more.

Marielle Descalsota/Insider

3. Space (or lack of space): Most hostels come in one of two forms: bunk beds or capsules. While the beds can be spacious, as with the queen-size bed at Capsule transport At Kuala Lumpur Airport, the enclosed space of hostel pods can feel claustrophobic.

4. Lack of amenities: Many hostels do not have facilities such as lounges, gyms or swimming pools. There are of course exceptions, like Luk Youth Hostel in Bangkok, where I stayed in July, which has a nice rooftop party space. But for the most part, the hostels I stayed in had no public spaces to relax, and I would have gladly paid a little more for the amenities of a two- or three-star hotel.

Marielle Descalsota/Insider

5. Price: Some hostels, especially in expensive cities like Singapore, can be as expensive as budget hotels. For instance, DreamLodgea top notch hostel where i spent the night in april cost up to 173 singapore dollars or $127, for a one night stay in a couple pod in January 2023. In comparison, budget hotels like Fragrance charge around SG$85 for a private room in the same time frame. While prices fluctuate throughout the year, hostels can actually cost you more than love motels – and not all love motels are as bad as their name suggests.