The Hostelz.com Review
A real little gem, a totally funky hostel! Following on from the success of The Inncrowd Ver 1.0 (just round the corner), this version (2.0) opened in early 2004 and is a fantastic little place to stay. A small hostel run by the owner and a couple of devoted employees, it is a really friendly place, where the mutual respect between the staff and guests has built a great atmosphere.
It is immaculate throughout and furnished to extremely high standards. There is one large dorm upstairs, and a much smaller one on the middle floor so most people will sleep in the same room. However it is cleverly designed with partition-walls everywhere so it feels more private. To eliminate clutter, there is a separate side-room for storing bags with its own light to avoid waking everyone up when hunting for that elusive toothbrush etc. Ah-ha, no more plastic bags rustling in the night! Decent bedding is provided and they are very strict in not letting you use your sleeping bag or sleep-sheet (stops the spread of bed-bugs).
To keep the hostel spik-and-span, everyone is expected to take their shoes off indoors! But it really is worth the effort to stay in such a fantastic place. The kitchen facilities are amazing - the stainless steel cooker and fridge are top-of-the-range and there are two large pine tables for dining on (used by the staff too!), a great opportunity to get to know the other guests. Breakfast is provided (two eggs, toast, and tea or coffee, cook it yourself). And there is free internet access (15 minutes per day of your stay) with super-fast connection and flat-screen monitors. Several times a week they coordinate excursions to local attractions so you don't have to go alone and can share taxi costs etc. Examples include the Swissotel (best place for views of the city at night), Raffles (famous home to the Singapore Sling) and Night Safari. Other nights there are movie evenings in the hostel (funky DVD player!).
The location is super-duper too. Situated in the heart of 'Little India', it's just a few minutes' walk from a popular shopping area (Sim Lim Square, the best place for cheap electrical goods-ask the hostel staff for more info). The local markets and restaurants are great and there is a really unique atmosphere out on the streets. As for security, it feels really safe around here and to make sure, the hostel has an entry-code system in use 24 hours a day. The nearest MRT station, Bugis, is under 10-minutes walk away and is on the same line as the airport for hassle-free, cheap (less than $2) transfers. Check out their website for step-by-step directions and printable maps.
It is immaculate throughout and furnished to extremely high standards. There is one large dorm upstairs, and a much smaller one on the middle floor so most people will sleep in the same room. However it is cleverly designed with partition-walls everywhere so it feels more private. To eliminate clutter, there is a separate side-room for storing bags with its own light to avoid waking everyone up when hunting for that elusive toothbrush etc. Ah-ha, no more plastic bags rustling in the night! Decent bedding is provided and they are very strict in not letting you use your sleeping bag or sleep-sheet (stops the spread of bed-bugs).
To keep the hostel spik-and-span, everyone is expected to take their shoes off indoors! But it really is worth the effort to stay in such a fantastic place. The kitchen facilities are amazing - the stainless steel cooker and fridge are top-of-the-range and there are two large pine tables for dining on (used by the staff too!), a great opportunity to get to know the other guests. Breakfast is provided (two eggs, toast, and tea or coffee, cook it yourself). And there is free internet access (15 minutes per day of your stay) with super-fast connection and flat-screen monitors. Several times a week they coordinate excursions to local attractions so you don't have to go alone and can share taxi costs etc. Examples include the Swissotel (best place for views of the city at night), Raffles (famous home to the Singapore Sling) and Night Safari. Other nights there are movie evenings in the hostel (funky DVD player!).
The location is super-duper too. Situated in the heart of 'Little India', it's just a few minutes' walk from a popular shopping area (Sim Lim Square, the best place for cheap electrical goods-ask the hostel staff for more info). The local markets and restaurants are great and there is a really unique atmosphere out on the streets. As for security, it feels really safe around here and to make sure, the hostel has an entry-code system in use 24 hours a day. The nearest MRT station, Bugis, is under 10-minutes walk away and is on the same line as the airport for hassle-free, cheap (less than $2) transfers. Check out their website for step-by-step directions and printable maps.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
August 2004
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The InnCrowd Backpackers Hostel 2 Details
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
Gone Downhill We stayed here 3 years ago and thought this place was great! So we came back again and oh dear what a shame. The Staff are to be polite boring, unfriendly, and dont have a clue about running a hostel. The pictures on this site are so over the top that they are misleading. We never saw a cleaner in 3 days. The location is fine but you may as well be at a funeral -- this place is BORING! no music -- nothing. You ask to read a book from behind the counter, they want a deposit, their attitude is BS not backpacker style. The Breakfast is not worthy of a cat let alone paying humans. Sadly look somewhere else. — Andrew , New Zealand (2010-11-20) Do not take the windowless, stinky double room in the Annex building!! My partner and I booked a double room after having spent a night in a dorm because there were no double rooms available. Well, I tell you, after being led out of the main hostel building where all the facilities are located (internet, fridge, cooking facilities, comfortable sitting area with a TV and lounge area with big pillows) we were taken a block and a half away to their Annex building which had none of the facilities that their main building has. We were welcome to use the main building's facilities all we wanted, but this was not my main complaint. The room we had was miniscule with absolutely no windows and it it smelled of sweaty feet!! Later I saw it was located right next to a storage closet where the cleaning personnel store towels and dirty laundry. There was a flat screen TV and video machine that did not even work, and no shelves attached to the walls to put or hang stuff! The double bed was actually attached to a single bunk on top, so three people could sleep there. The ventilation was noisy as well. BUT here is the most unacceptable thing yet!!! In the morning when I went upstairs to take a shower I noticed another room at the very top of the stairs that happened to be open as it was being cleaned. It was a REAL double room!! Not the "cell" room we had!! This room was almost twice as big as ours, had a skylight window!! Yes, a window with light pouring through illuminating and airing the place out, as well as a nice double bed (no bunk-double!!) with a pretty painting on the wall above the bed.
I was appalled when I found out that this other room was the same price as the dumpy room we'd stayed in. When I complained about this the staff were very curt with me. The dorm room we'd stayed in the previous night was better than this horrible hole in the wall because it had proper ventilation, windows and it did not smell bad!!
I would request not to be put in the ground-level room next to the storage closet in the Annex building if you ever book a double room. Ask for the room at the top of the stairs with the window!! — Shaydel Chayka , Canadian (2010-11-15) Looks good but staff was very arrogant I was searching for a room in Little India and went into The InnCrowd Backpackers Hostel. I inquired about whether there were any private rooms available and the woman said no. I thanked her and left and had a look around to see if there was anything else available in another hostel. I couldn't find anything so I returned to The InnCrowd and politely asked the woman if she was sure that no one would be checking out today. She got huffy and rudely stated, "Nothing is available and there won't be anything available." I said, "Ok, how about a dorm bed?" She continued to be rude and turned away from me making it clear that she didn't want to speak with me. Finally the other guy next to her answered me and agreed to show me the dorms. I didn't have a good feeling about the place after the way I was treated, so I never checked in. I guess the folks at the InnCrowd think they are too cool for their own good. Pretty pretentious for what they were offering. The dorms looked ok but nothing spectacular. — Michele , USA (2010-01-19) Ok enough place when I stayed there in 2004, however I agree 100% there was an element of arrogance coming from some of the staff, along with an insincere vibe. Nothing special, but I do admit it's in a great location, and well constructed/furnished. Breakfast was a joke. — Damian (2006-12-15) I stayed at The InnCrowd during March 2005 and was happy with my stay there. It was my first stay in a hostel and I stayed there for one night. The place looked reasonably modern and the staff were really friendly -- there was a good social atmosphere there if you wanted to be part of it. There was a bar there with Tiger Beer on tap -- apparently the cheapest prices in town! There were no real negatives that I can think of to be honest. There was only one computer so sometimes a wait to use it. But there were plenty of cheap internet cafes in the area anyway.
Having only stayed there for one night I can't compare the area, Little India, to other parts of Singapore. But I enjoyed my stay there and would happily stay again in the future. — DaleH (2006-08-29) I was really surprised when I arrived. It's a nice and clean hostel in little India. Especially little india is a really good place to stay during the stay in singapore. After coming back from sightseeing trips it's good to relax. I would come back next time in singapore! — Julia ( May 2006) (2006-08-13) I stayed in this hostel recently and it is not that great. The common areas like lounge, kitchen, bar, and computer area are nice and clean enough but rooms are not. I got a 'private' room which had another door opening into a very noisy alley with street vendors screaming at all hours, and the dorm bathroom was right above the bed so everytime someone flushed the toilet I could hear the water rushing through the exposed pipes beneath the ceiling! The bathroom was filthy and the hot water was lukewarm at best. Maybe the dorm rooms are better, but I would definitely not recommend their private rooms. Breakfast was not that great either. I spoke to other backpackers staying at other hostels around the area and it seems like much better value is to be had elsewhere. — Maddie from Sydney, Australia (2006-07-18) I expected more from this place since it always gets rave reviews, and it's decent but not fantastic. The place is always packed which can be good or bad. There are lots of interesting people to meet, but I don't think the hostel (even with two buildings) can hold that many people. The dorms are huge. I didn't count, but about twenty people per room. And two dorms in the second building share a total of two toilets and three to four showers. The bathroom is situated so that you have to walk through the door of the first toilet to get to the second. Really weird and inefficient. I also showered with cockroaches on the floor of the showers every day. Rules, rules, rules, which is nothing new in Singaporean society. They specify where to put your luggage (nowhere near your bed so you can watch it), nothing on the floor near your bed, how much you can eat at the free breakfast, how long you can stay on the internet.
That said, the staff is very friendly and helpful. They organize bbq's (you must pay) and outings around the city. Laundry service as well, and internet is widely available, same with guidebooks and other books and magazines. Nice area to socialize downstairs. — Jo (2006-03-06) This is a good hostel. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The kitchen, laundry and bathroom facilties are adequate. It is air-conditioned which is great in humid Singapore. The 'extras' are good too such as free internet. The location is great - not too far from central Singapore, Changi Airport etc. The other guests are great - very friendly, keen travellers etc. They make the hostel a very pleasant place to be. Recommended. — Scoot (2005-12-16) Great mix of guests there. If you enjoy mixing around, stay here. However, as friendly as the staff tries to be, it came across as really fake. Watch them closely, when they think you're not looking, they pass derogatory remarks and make faces among themselves. Pity they're too full of themselves. I should have read the earlier comments about them. Otherwise it's a decent place. — Anja Manickin (2005-10-20) I stayed here last Christmas. It was very good, especially after what I had been used to in Malaysia. Friendly staff, free Internet, lots of info about Singapore. Just great. I stayed in the #2 hostel, which was quieter than the #1. So you could party at the #1 and then get a good night's sleep at #2. — Bongo (2005-09-02) This is probably the best hostel I've stayed in. Very tidy, the staff were really friendly and they really want to help you to make the most of your stay. Their Web site provides huge amounts of very handy information about Singapore, go check it out! Also I met some great people here, the crowd was about mid-twenties or older. The nights were pretty peaceful, no loud noise. Also the surroundings were safe and Little India offers lots of interesting things to see. This is the place to stay! — Suvi (2005-07-27) I stayed here in May 2005. The staff provides good information. There's a free daily Internet allowance. The hostel organized activities each day (e.g. trips to night safari). The large dorm area is not as noisy as you'd expect. Showers on the roof are the best (less humid than the shower area!).It has a clean bathroom and kitchen area, and a basic breakfast (toast and eggs). — Anonymous (2005-06-06) This hostel was great. We stayed here in October 2004 and the staff were very nice to us, helping us to get discount tickets and find fun places to go and things to do. The rooms were clean and efficient and I didn't notice much noise (I always travel with my earplugs — and you should, too!). In reality, the room was quiet and downstairs people socialized and drank beer. It was a great way to meet a lot of nice people. We ended up traveling around with several people we met there. The hostel staff also organized some local tours to the surrounding areas in Little India. This is a great place, and I would definitely go back again. I'd go right now in fact, because it's snowing in Beijing and Singapore is much warmer!! :) — Patrick and Ping (2005-02-16) Clean and friendly. It's a very busy place, so the dorms are noisy. The staff always seemed to be on the move, but they have a sense of humor. There is lots of tourist information and a very useful bulletin board with FAQs. There are a lot of people coming and going, so it can be difficult to chat with other travelers since you are just another face in the crowd. It's definitely an excellent place to stay with lots of services. — Anonymous (2005-01-10)