Kimstay 9

The room was cramped and the beds extremely small, so after looking at it the day before our stay, we told reception politely that we weren’t happy and decided to leave. The woman at reception then called the police and falsely said we’d threatened her. She also told them we didn’t have valid visas, which wasn’t true. We were at the property for no more than 10 minutes; it all happened very quickly. She wouldn’t let us leave straight away, and there’s a camera at reception that records guests. The “Happy Stay” posters around the place felt like a joke after that. The police officers were calm, kind, and professional. They seemed familiar with this kind of situation, which made us wonder if similar things had happened before. We asked the property to cancel our booking, but they refused. I canceled my card for safety reasons. I booked based on the reviews on Booking.com, but there are many similar complaints about this same person calling the police on guests. I wouldn’t recommend it to foreigners. Locals may be able to manage, but for international travelers this was very stressful and unpleasant.

The mattress was uncomfortable, breakfast time was very strict, and the whole place felt unwelcoming, with warning signs about charges to your credit card everywhere. They put everything away just two minutes after breakfast ended. After checking out in the morning, we wanted to eat something quickly in the common area, but the woman made us leave immediately. We said it was unusual to be kicked out of the whole guesthouse right after checkout, and she got angry. She said she’d called our booking website to make a false complaint that we had checked out late, which we hadn’t. The staff were incredibly rude and angry.

The price was good, the staff were lovely, and the laundry service was great for what it cost. They even folded our clothes, which was really nice. There are umbrellas to borrow when it rains, and the AC works well. Breakfast was limited, but I appreciated that they offered it. They’re strict about the schedule and knocked on our door at 11:01 for checkout. The beds were rock hard. I couldn’t sleep more than two hours at a stretch without waking in pain, and it was the worst sleep of my whole vacation. Paying another $10 for a comfortable mattress elsewhere would’ve been worth it. The room also felt close to falling apart. There was tape on the bathroom tiles, the sink was taped to the wall, and the toilet seat cover was only half screwed on. The walls had patches too, which alone wouldn’t have bothered me so much. With the bed and the rest of the room in such poor shape, I can’t rate it higher than three stars.

There’s a small kitchen on the first floor where you can make breakfast, and WiFi reaches throughout the hostel. The place is creatively decorated, like a family hotel. Even though the host struggles a little with English, they’re always willing to help. It felt very clean and safe despite being open 24/7. This was one of the best stays in my travel history, and I’d definitely want to come back.