Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tour desk, communal space. This is especially true in Singapore, where accommodations are expensive.
Generally, hostels in Southeast Asia cost more than guesthouses and cater to travelers wanting nicer digs
and a more Western accommodation experience.
Over the last few years, dormitories have become more prolific in the region. When I first traveled
around this area in 2006, there were hardly any hostels, and ones with dormitory rooms were even rarer.
Accommodations were so inexpensive there was never a need for them. Now dormitories are increasingly
common in destinations popular with backpackers and are often the cheapest option out there. As accom-
modation prices have risen in the region, dormitory beds have come in to serve travelers on an ultra-tight
budget. Dorm rooms cost between $3 USD and $5 USD per night. In Singapore, where accommodations are
higher in price, you can expect to pay around $15 USD per night for a dorm room. Dorm rooms are gener-
ally found in the big cities and popular tourist locations where backpackers frequent.
Budget Hotels
Locally owned hotels begin at $30 USD per night throughout the region. These hotels tend to be small, with
rooms that contain a double bed, TV, A/C, hot water, and private bathroom. In Singapore, a cheap double
room can be around $45 USD with a shared bathroom and about $60 USD for a private bathroom. In cheap-
er countries, like Cambodia and Laos, you can find rooms beginning at $20 USD per night. If you're OK to
stay at a hotel without air-conditioning, you'll pay $5-10 USD less. It should be noted that in this region of
the world guesthouses and hostels do not provide breakfast, so you will need to buy your own.
TripAdvisor (tripadvisor.com) is an invaluable resource for this part of the world because many of the
small guesthouses and hotels are not online. TripAdvisor is a website that allows people to leave reviews of
the hotel they have stayed in. Because anyone can put a listing on the site for free, you'll find many hotels
listed there that don't turn up in a Google search. These places don't have a website, nor do they pay the
commission fees charged by larger booking sites like Hotels.com. But since TripAdvisor is free, you'll find
that it becomes a good directory of properties in the region, where you can at least get phone numbers to call
and make bookings.
When booking hotels in Southeast Asia, use the website Agoda (agoda.com). Agoda focuses on accom-
modations in Asia and has the most robust listings for guesthouses and hotels in this region. They regularly
have sales and will list prices cheaper than those found on worldwide sites like Hotels.com or Booking.com.
Hospitality Exchanges
If you are looking to save money off already cheap accommodations, dorm rooms and Couchsurfing are the
best methods for this region. Couchsurfing is widely used in large cities and major tourist destinations.
While most hosts are Westerners living in the region, hospitality networks are growing in popularity and
more and more local hosts can be found with each passing day. While I believe accommodation in the region
is cheap enough as it is, using hospitality networks is a wonderful way to have someone help you navigate
the overwhelming nature of Southeast Asia, especially the variety of foods as that can be intimidating for
many first-time visitors.
FOOD
Food is very inexpensive in Southeast Asia. If you are spending a lot of money on food, you are simply
eating too many Western meals. Even with a balance of Western meals and local dishes, I rarely spend more
than $10 USD per day on food unless I decide to feed my sushi addiction.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search