Pillows & Toast Hostel, Singapore

I had wanted to stay at two new hostels at Clark Quay, Singapore but because they were fully booked, I had to detour to Pillows & Toast. Pillows & Toast Hostel in Chinatown, Singapore is also a new hostel that was established in Nov 2010. It was right in the middle of Chinatown and is very conveniently located near to the Chinatown MRT station (less than 5 minutes walk).

One you come out of the Chinatown MRT exit, u-turn from the escalator and walk to the end of the road. Turn right and walk till the next road which is Mosque Street. Walk along Mosque Street until you see the hostel on the left. In other words, the hostel at Mosque Street is at the next street to your left as you exit the MRT escalator.

I booked a bed in the female dorm and it is located on the ground floor behind the reception. The reception is open 24 hours. If you are arriving late, just drop them a mail to confirm your arrival time. The female dorm has 8 beds and each bed has its own designated locker.

The room is very clean. In fact the whole hostel is very clean and homey. The bed is comfortable and each bed has its own lamp and two power socket to use.

I brought my own padlock along but unfortunately it can't be used at the locker. You need to have a certain size padlock (at least 5mm shackle) to use for the locker. I haven't seen any locker with such lock before from all the hostels that I have stayed in. If your padlock is not suitable, you can also rent a padlock from the hostel for S$1.

Oh, the hostel also sells some snacks and water at the reception. The prices are very reasonable for example, a bottle of 500ml mineral water is only S$0.70.

Unlike all other hostels that I have stayed in, the reason why I said this hostel looks homey is because it actually looks and feel like a home. Just outside my room, there is a small sofa with TV, a mini dining table and the kitchen. There are two dorm rooms on the ground floor.

That's the kitchen and the small table is the dining table. The hostel provides free breakfast which is coffee/tea and toast bread. Nothing special about the toast bread as it claimed in their website. You are given the plain bread and all the peanut butter, butter, kaya and jam. There is a toaster, so you just toast your bread yourself. That's it. The dining table can only accomodate up to about 4 persons max. To the left of the kitchen is the common bathroom and the laundry area.

This is the common bathroom and the laundry area. They also provide a hair dryer for use. There are 3 bathrooms and 2 washrooms at the ground floor.

What I don't like about the bathroom is that it is shared between the males and females. I felt a little strange and uncomfortable to be bathing halfway and a guy stepped into the bathroom next to me to bathe also. What makes it worse is the wall between the two bathrooms do not extend all the way to the ground. There is a gap of about 10 inches from the floor (see the picture on the right). When the floor is wet with water, you can actually see some reflection of the person in the next bathroom!

This is the bathroom. It's quite clean and there are enough hooks to hang your clothes. The heater switch is outside so you need to turn on the heater switch manually before you use it in the bathroom.

The lounge is located at the 3rd floor. It's quite a cosy area to hang around if you have nothing to do at the hostel.

Overall, I would say that this is a good hostel apart from the bathroom that I do not like. The staff here are very friendly and helpful, the place is clean and location wise, superb! There are many restaurants and shops in this area.