Beehive Phuket Old Town - Hostel

We booked three nights at the last minute because nothing else affordable was available, and couldn’t leave without losing the money. Phuket Old Town was the most expensive stop of our Thailand trip, and this was the worst experience of the whole trip. I’d look around carefully before committing. The staff shrugged when we asked about lockers or somewhere for bags, so we had to keep our rucksacks in bed. There was barely room to stretch, or even leave sandals by the top bunk. The ladder felt precarious, basically half a metal ladder shared with the bunk beside ours. The mattress was like a wooden board with thin foam on top, better than an old saggy mattress but still uncomfortable. The four-bed room had unusual queen beds that let couples sleep together, but there was almost no other space. Bathrooms were dirty, with no toilet paper or hand soap. When I asked for soap, staff told me to use another toilet. None of the others had soap either; one wouldn’t flush, and one had an actual turd on the floor, smeared onto the carpet outside. I didn’t feel comfortable putting anything down on any surface. The kitchen didn’t feel clean enough to cook in, had little room to move, and the fridge stank so badly the whole corridor smelled. There were lots of beer cans and a bong on the balcony. The pool outside smelled very strongly of chlorine, probably because it needed to be used to combat the unclean guests. I feel sorry for the staff working there. Clearly people don’t treat the hostel well.

I spent a month here as a solo traveller and really enjoyed it. The staff were very friendly, and the facilities were well maintained and managed. Great hostel for solo travellers and backpackers, highly recommend.

They were all smiles and friendly while I was staying there, but after I left, they were no help at all when I tried to recover something crucial worth over 14,000 thb from the locker. I called and got no answer, emailed and got one reply saying they’d ask the team, then heard nothing. On Booking.com they said they’d look, then there was no response for five days. A week later, all I got was “sorry sir.” I took it to mean they hadn’t looked or replied, since a five minute walk upstairs to check wasn’t worth helping me out. The trip back would have been six hours, and I’d have made it to save on postage for a replacement from the UK, but they wouldn’t confirm the item was there. Worst service for no apparent reason. Why they were so unhelpful when your Nino her there, I’ll never know!

For £25pn, the private room wasn’t awful, but it was far from great, and the deposit issue still bothers me. We stayed one night between an overnight flight to Phuket and a morning boat to Phi Phi, and I was glad it was only one night. We booked a deluxe room with pool access. The bed was large and as comfortable as others we’ve slept in, and there was a kettle, coffee, coffee mate, and two bottles of water in the fridge. We had access to the pool, which looked nice, though we didn’t have time to try it. The whole hotel smelled of cannabis. Check-in was difficult, and they asked for a deposit that wasn’t returned at checkout because nobody was at reception. We checked out at 07:55, and checkout was advertised from 07:30, so there was no excuse for nobody to be there. Maybe it’s a common scam. The shower didn’t drain, so after one of us showered, it was full of water and the other couldn’t shower without flooding the room. I likely wouldn’t stay again, and the missing deposit feels like a scam to keep extra money.