BEAT. Sports Hostel in Singapore

I stayed here for 3 nights and I have very mixed feelings, but I wouldn’t stay here again as a solo female traveller.

Firstly, the hostel itself is located near Little India. It’s a good location to access the city and close to public transport. Unfortunately the area it’s in is full of men who think it’s ok to follow you and try and speak to despite you telling them you don’t want to talk. This isn’t the hostels fault but just a little comment about the location.

The hostel itself lacked cleanliness. The second floor has an ant infestation. All the kitchen area and the tables have ants and other insects crawling around. Although the cleaners frequently spray what looks like bug spray around the shoe area they need to do a deeper clean. The pods themselves looked clean, but on my 3rd night I encountered a bed bug. I checked everywhere including my bag for further evidence of them and couldn’t find any so it’s possible it could’ve hopped on whilst passing by someone. The hostel moved me dorms on request to the second floor, however this bed had ants crawling on it despite it being the top bunk. I asked them to wash some of my clothes for free (the ones that’s touched the bed) and they did but not on high heat as the clothes were damp on return, so if there were any remaining eggs/bugs they wouldn’t have died. I’ll now have to pay extra to clean them.

The women’s bathroom was mildly clean, it could have been better but pretty decent for a shared accomdation. Again, riddled with insects though. Only downside is despite clear signage saying ‘women’s bathroom’ multiple men situated on the 3rd floor used it rather than use theirs (located on the 2nd floor). I’m not sure if this is because they were unsure of where their bathroom was as there was a lack of signage, or a lack of care for women’s space. The door is always kept open for some reason despite me closing it after use and one time a man came up to the door and looked in (Bear in mind it’s in the corner so they’d have to intentionally go to that room, you can’t just walk past it) and insisted to know what room I’m staying in and ask personal questions. I asked him ‘why?’ and that he doesn’t need to know, but he kept repeating the questions so I walked away and only then he left. It’s sad that women can’t have their own personal space.

There’s no social atmosphere, I later found out that lots of workers from nearby countries stay here and in other hostels to work and leave on the weekend. This made sense as at the weekend there was barely any older men staying there or at other hostels (Found out from speaking to people I met from nearby hostels). I understand it’s a hostel and it’s for everyone but I felt very uncomfortable there and definitely wouldn’t recommend it for solo females, even if you stay in the women’s dorm.

The reception is only open 10-7 but after 2 occasions of going there the receptionist wasn’t there. I had to message the emergency WhatsApp number who responded fast but they had to try and get ahold of the receptionist who was only a volunteer. The man was nice but with how busy the hostel is it’s clear there needed to be more people onsite supporting him and working at other times.

One of the main reasons I booked this hostel was because the gym pictured a treadmill, this wasn’t there. The gym was very small and made up of some weights, a pull up stand and a stationary bike. However, after the encounter with the men in the area and the hostel I didn’t feel comfortable using it as it was on the landing in the open.

Singapore is a beautiful country and I’d definitely go back but don’t stay in this hostel or Jalan Besar and stay in a hotel. Especially if you are solo!