My favorite hostel so far

Where to begin

Stepping off the airport-to-city train at Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok, I was greeted by a twisting and tangled mess of a city. Having just arrived from Singapore, I was unprepared for the noisy, smoggy, foreign feel of the Thai capitol. Where Singapore is modern and sterile with its glitzy high-rises, Bangkok’s center is dirty and derelict in a charming way. Multicolored tuk-tuks shuttle tourists down narrow winding roads, while the city’s neon pink taxis narrowly miss running down pedestrians. Food stalls line every street corner and their tables and patrons spill out into the streets. When I visit a city for the first time, I prefer booking the first night’s lodging so I’m not left wandering around hoping to find somewhere to stay. So as always, I had booked a place in Chinatown creatively named the Chinatown Hotel. While it was nice enough, it wasn’t really anything to write home about so I immediately started looking for something else.

In the first two months of my trip I had great success using both Hostelworld and Agoda as my main housing booking platforms. They both cater to a wide variety of budgets and provide great filtering options to narrow down your search to suit your individual wants. In Australia and New Zealand, I seemed to find better success with Hostelworld, but the listings for Bangkok seemed to be lacking. I had read in advance of my trip that Agoda really shines in Asia, so I turned to them for somewhere new to stay for the rest of my time in the city.

I had come to Bangkok for the Thai New Year celebration called Songkran. Also known affectionately as the water festival, the festival involves thousands of celebrants, local and foreign, filling the streets of every city in the country, dousing each other with water. As you can imagine, this also meant the largest city in Thailand was filled with visitors and nearly every bed in town was booked. On Agoda, the normally thousands of options in my price range dwindled to just a handful. Of those few, I noticed one had an exceptionally high overall score of 9.7 out of 10. Even though it was based on just a few reviews, I thought “why not?” and booked a room for a few days.

A modern take on Bangkok

When I first stepped through the double doors at Here Hostel and saw their custom-built slide from the upstairs rooms down to the lobby, I knew I had found a special place.

Started by five friends, Here Hostel has been many years in the making. The team had wanted to create a place where people would feel welcome and be delighted by their time in Bangkok and when a row of shophouses opened up in the old town, they jumped at the opportunity. One of the five is an architect. He designed the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art, and his modern eye can be felt throughout the hostel. The entire building is designed thoughtfully and guests are left wanting for nothing as the team has seemingly thought of everything.

I was impressed by the large 12-bed dorm rooms that never felt crowded and that they maintained a strong sense of privacy with each bed having 3 walls and the fourth being a thick curtain that stretched the full height of the individual space. In the bathrooms, guests have rainwater-style showers with complimentary soaps and shampoos. And the living spaces throughout encourage conversation and interaction among those staying there. And come on, there is a freaking slide!

When you’re Here, you’re family

But what makes Here special, goes beyond the building. The outpouring of cheery greetings and care from the staff is infectious. I met not only some of the nicest hostel workers ever, but also some of the friendliest travelers. I’m convinced that the atmosphere at Here breeds a sense of place and family and every single guest seemed to be loving their time there. I personally met an awesome crew of people from all over the world and we ended up spending nearly every waking hour tackling the festival and all that Bangkok had to offer.

I’m very happy to say this is the best place I have stayed on my trip and that anyone who heads to Bangkok should check them out. Next time I am in the city I will definitely stay there again.

If you do end up visiting say hello from me!