Alor Bunker Home

The facilities were pretty good, and the bedsheets were clean, but I checked out three nights early and couldn’t get my prepaid money back. Over the two nights I stayed, I didn’t meet anyone at the hostel. It didn’t feel friendly, and there wasn’t a good shared space to socialize. Staff were okay, though not warm, and wouldn’t refund me after a negative experience. I felt unsafe as a woman traveling alone in the dark, extremely smelly alley you have to use to get in. I was repeatedly verbally harassed right outside. At night, rats scuttled around in the ceiling of my room. The comforter smelled like feet, and there were a few cockroaches, though not many. The location is central, but not pleasant. I’d suggest the china town area for a backpacker.

The cold air conditioning, comfortable beds, good shower pressure and temperature, supplied towel, dark room, friendly staff, and central location were all positives. The room stayed dark enough for easy sleeping when it was quiet. I’d have given 3.5 stars if the bedding had been clean, but even after I asked for a replacement it smelled like dirty feet. With no windows, I suspect the blankets never see sunlight. I wouldn’t stay again. The shower and toilet doors were broken, the walls were thin and noise carried, and shoes had to be removed in the lobby. When I visited in July, the street outside was dirty and partly flooded. The entrance was down a poorly lit alley behind the main street, with low visibility and little foot traffic, which may concern solo travelers or women.

The hostel is tucked on a street behind the food street. It’s quite dirty and smelly there, so arriving at night can feel a bit scary. Inside, though, it’s very nice and clean, and the staff are friendly. Breakfast is bread and jam.

I picked this room after checking a few other guesthouses because it suited us best. There are cheaper places that include breakfast. This one has free toast and coffee or tea in the morning, but who calls that breakfast? The shower and toilet doors are broken and don’t lock. We agreed on a price for four days for two people. The manager, Ali, showed us a dorm-style room with two bunks. I thought it would work since we could sleep on the top bunks and use the lower ones as a common area. He said we could take it at 2:00pm, though it was already cleaned, or pay an extra 30rm. That felt extremely stingy for a four-night booking when the room was ready. After we moved our things in, we asked for extra pillows. Ali then said we couldn’t use all the beds, so in the small but tall room we could only use half the space and couldn’t make a common area below. He said that was because there were two of us and they should only have to wash two sheets. I asked how much an extra sheet would cost, but he ignored me and wouldn’t agree to let us use the room we’d rented. We booked a room for two, not two dorm beds, and he’d said from the start it would be exclusively ours. He hadn’t mentioned any limit on using the whole room. His cheap apology was that he was “losing two beds,” as if he was doing us a favor. My friend ended up paying the 30rm Ali offered to end the discussion. Ali is otherwise a nice man and talks a lot. But if you sell someone a fruit platter, you can’t take the bananas away after they’ve paid and ask them to pay more to get them back. I got the feeling he tried every possible way to squeeze out a few extra pennies.