I chose 5 Foot Way Inn hostel after reading all the good reviews on them. This is one of the newest hostels in Singapore and the location is right at the Chinatown MRT Station Exit A.
The end to end train ride from Changi airport to Chinatown station took about 45 minutes. Prior to that, I had written to them to confirm my booking and let them know that I may be very late
which they replied promptly to tell me that they have taken note and their reception is open 24 hours.
From exit A of Chinatown MRT, the hostel is just a few steps away on your right.
For those who have not heard of 5 Foot Way Inn but have heard and been to the popular Beary group of hostels, 5 Foot Way Inn is opposite Beary Good Hostel. If you can find Beary Good, you can find 5 Foot Way Inn. They are at Pagoda Street. The blue signboard in the picture below is Beary Good Hostel.
I arrived at the hostel about 11pm. It was good to know that the main door to the hostel was locked. That is good security. I pressed the bell and was asked to identify myself before the door was opened for me. I was given an entry card upon check in as the main door is always locked.
The amount of shoes greeted me as I stepped into the reception. Hmm...business looks good.
My first impression as I stepped in. Reception is to the right. Clean, bright and looks cozy.
Checking in was brief and quick. The staff brought me around to show me the common areas and to my room. I booked a 6 bedded female room which is two doors away from the reception and faces the main street. The room is clean and the lower beds have curtains for privacy. It was clean and at a glance, it was comfy. However the room is also very cramp as you can see. As I was there just one week before the chinese new year, you can hear the chinese new year songs blasting away on the street. That was a little noisy but then the noise began to ease slowly after 12am.
Each bed has its own bed lights, power point and a small space to put your phone. The bed was a little hard and feels different from the rest of the hostels that I have stayed before. The blanket was a small one too....a single bed sized kind of blanket, so when I turned I need to pull the blanket properly to cover myself again. Not quite what I like but it's a small matter.
Each bed has its own locker assigned. The locker is very spacious, enough for a lot of my stuffs and they provided locker keys as well so I do not need to use my own padlock.
Now this is the part that puts me off and I don't think I want to stay here again. Room 1 which is right next to reception is separated from Room 2 (which is my room) with a frosted glass. On my first night there, the people staying in Room 1 was chatting away so loudly even after 1 am. They talked, they laughed and they even sang. No staff bothered to ask them to lower their volume even though the hostel has a policy of lowering noise after 11pm. In fact there were a couple of times when some loud talking and laughter at the reception area could be heard clearly from my room. I can feel that some of my room mates were equally disturbed by the noises but we were so tired and nobody bothers to knock on the door at Room 1 and asked them to shut up.
They have other rooms at the back and upstairs too so perhaps you can stay away from Room 1 & 2 and request that they put you somewhere further away from the reception area.
The second night was more peaceful as the people in Room 1 had checked out. Just when I thought that I would have a good rest till the morning, suddenly the door bell rang. It rang once, twice, thrice and a few more times. Suddenly the person started banging the hostel door. Someone must have arrived at odd hours and it was quite obvious that no one opened the door for that poor soul despite so many rings. Hmm...what happened to the staff? Not long after, I heard some conversations. Ok, someone, probably the staff had "rescued" the poor soul outside. Well, in case you are wondering why I didn't offer to open the door instead, it is simply because of security reasons. I can't verify whoever is outside and I don't think I want to simply let someone in without knowing whether this is an expected visit.
The morning and night view from my room.
This is the washroom for the ladies. There are only two toilets and two bathrooms so sometimes I have to wait if there is a queue.
The toilets and bathrooms are simple. They do have hair dryer if you need. Just ask from the reception.
The dining area. It's open 24 hours and the coffee machine is just great! They have free breakfast which is the usual stuffs - toast, coffee/tea/milo/milk. Oh yes, they provide free fruits too which is a bonus.
Here's the lounge at the attic. They have two Mac machines for our use too.
Well, the hostel staffs are indeed great, friendly and helpful and the hostel is also clean as mentioned by other travelers. Location is great too, only the noise if you stay at the rooms close to reception area. So if you are not so fussy like me over the noise, this is a good place to stay if you are on a budget.
