The Hostelz.com Review
Empire Hostel is wonderfully located on the (quieter) edge of busy Little India and is one of the cheaper hostels in Singapore.
The Location
Little India is full of great restaurants, and there is a McDonald's just across from Empire Hostel, and food courts all around. The Mustafa Shopping Centre is great for grocery shopping as well as items like electronics, clothing, toiletries, pharmacy, money exchange. There are also buses that run from Jalan Besar to Orchard Road and other tourist attractions. The Raffles and Marina Bay is about thirty minutes away by foot.
The hostel is within walking distance of MRT stations Bugis, Little India, and Lavender (the latter has a direct connection to the airport, just one tiny hop on/hop off at Tanah Merah, which is compulsory for everyone). To get there from the airport, get off at Lavender Station, walk west along the river and cross over the river on Syed Alwi street. There, simply walk straight, about five hundred meters, until you see the McDonald's on the left hand side, on a street corner, and the Empire Hostel is opposite, on the other side of the road. It's fairly discreet because there is no sign, just an A4 piece of paper with the name stapled to the front door. Ring the bell and the friendly employee will come and open the door for you.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The dorms are fairly small and the double rooms consist of one bunk bed, which isn't very romantic if you're a couple. Many rooms also don't have windows, which can feel a bit claustrophobic. The beds have beautiful Ikea sheets and covers and very nice duvets, and everyone gets not one but two pillows. The whole hostel is spotlessly clean thanks to daily cleaning. So are the bathrooms, with nice powerful showers -- four of them. The bathrooms look very sleek and chic. It's just fairly narrowly built, so you need to squeeze past the sinks when people are using them to get into the showers, but it's very nice. A great plus is that you can get a towel at no extra fee, you just need to pay a deposit.
Common Spaces
There is a small common TV lounge in the entrance hall, which is also the hall to the first floor rooms. This means the TV (with free DVDs) and (free) internet is off at midnight so everyone can get some sleep. The other common space is the breakfast dining room, where there is also a kitchenette you can use and where free breakfast is served every morning (toasts, jams, margarine, and tea and coffee). It's not a very good breakfast, but you can always go buy a roti in the street.
Summary
Empire Hostel is really a sleek place to stay with a good vibe, but there are some really tight places and some windowless rooms can get a bit prisonlike. It's highly recommended.
The Location
Little India is full of great restaurants, and there is a McDonald's just across from Empire Hostel, and food courts all around. The Mustafa Shopping Centre is great for grocery shopping as well as items like electronics, clothing, toiletries, pharmacy, money exchange. There are also buses that run from Jalan Besar to Orchard Road and other tourist attractions. The Raffles and Marina Bay is about thirty minutes away by foot.
The hostel is within walking distance of MRT stations Bugis, Little India, and Lavender (the latter has a direct connection to the airport, just one tiny hop on/hop off at Tanah Merah, which is compulsory for everyone). To get there from the airport, get off at Lavender Station, walk west along the river and cross over the river on Syed Alwi street. There, simply walk straight, about five hundred meters, until you see the McDonald's on the left hand side, on a street corner, and the Empire Hostel is opposite, on the other side of the road. It's fairly discreet because there is no sign, just an A4 piece of paper with the name stapled to the front door. Ring the bell and the friendly employee will come and open the door for you.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The dorms are fairly small and the double rooms consist of one bunk bed, which isn't very romantic if you're a couple. Many rooms also don't have windows, which can feel a bit claustrophobic. The beds have beautiful Ikea sheets and covers and very nice duvets, and everyone gets not one but two pillows. The whole hostel is spotlessly clean thanks to daily cleaning. So are the bathrooms, with nice powerful showers -- four of them. The bathrooms look very sleek and chic. It's just fairly narrowly built, so you need to squeeze past the sinks when people are using them to get into the showers, but it's very nice. A great plus is that you can get a towel at no extra fee, you just need to pay a deposit.
Common Spaces
There is a small common TV lounge in the entrance hall, which is also the hall to the first floor rooms. This means the TV (with free DVDs) and (free) internet is off at midnight so everyone can get some sleep. The other common space is the breakfast dining room, where there is also a kitchenette you can use and where free breakfast is served every morning (toasts, jams, margarine, and tea and coffee). It's not a very good breakfast, but you can always go buy a roti in the street.
Summary
Empire Hostel is really a sleek place to stay with a good vibe, but there are some really tight places and some windowless rooms can get a bit prisonlike. It's highly recommended.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
May 2009
Their Description
Empire Hostel Details
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Empire Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
This hostel is terrible and dangerous! I'm very dissatisfied with this Empire Hostel because I needed to pay 10% surcharge at the door. Although this surcharge is stated in the terms and conditions in "small print", the booking rate is very misleading given that 10% is not a small amount for budget travelers. Other hostels are more honest. There's a strange rule that "no shoes and slippers are allowed in the hostel". I find it unacceptable and the host was very keen in enforcing this strange rule. It means that you have to walk on bare foot and it makes your foot dirty. The host requires all people to put their shoes on the steep stairs. This makes the steep stairs very DANGEROUS, and there's no lighting on the stairs near the entrance. If people fall down by slippery, the hostel may face lawsuit claiming compensation for personal injury! The floor was shaking seriously when people walked outside my room. I was waken up in the midnight and in the early morning many times. There is a karaoke downstairs, so I could hear music all night long -- which made me difficult to get into sleep. Only two showers available -- I had to wait for shower in the morning. And the toilet and shower are combined in a small room -- which smells bad especially when someone just finished using the toilet and you want to take a shower! No fire escape door -- I was worried about safety all the time and I find it dangerous in case of a fire! The linens were being dried on the roof floor -- it is dirty by placing them on the roof floor! There are some low-end restaurants near the hostel -- don't expect the streets are clean nearby! I sent my requests to this hostel two times before I arrived - saying that I would arrive in the midnight (this is required by them). But I never received their reply. This means that their service is bad and they are not responsive. I had to make international phone calls to contact the host. The office website of this Empire Hostel says that there is en-suite room (with private bath), but this is NOT TRUE. This is a misrepresentation or a misleading statement. Overall, I am very unhappy about this hostel. It totally ruined my trip to Singapore. I will never stay in this hostel again. I strongly discourage people to choose this hostel! Please think carefully if you want to book this hostel. — Tony , Hong Kong (2011-04-26) You get what you pay for Given that this is one of the cheaper hostels in Singapore, it's hard to complain. The rooms are small and 'double' means two bunks, but it's very centrally located in Little India and all that entails, a short walk from Lavender MRT (from the airport) and bus depot (parking lot) for express services to KL, Melaka & Mersing. Food is cheap and easy locally, as is shopping (Mustafa Centre rules!). The operators are charming and do their best to assist, if you can understand each other. The cascade of shoes down the stairs is your cue to remove yours. Toilets/showers (they're one and the same -- typical of Singapore) are limited (4), but if you're up by 7 there's no queue. Breakfast is similar -- as long as you don't want milk on your cornflakes, and strawberry is your favourite jam, there's plenty. Definitely not a party palace -- lights out and internet off by midnight, thank you. You could do a lot worse, especially at these prices! — JohnH , Australia (2010-05-20)