The Bohemian

I stayed here twice in mid-February of 2020. The first time for 3 nights and the second time for 1 night while passing thorugh to next destination. From Singapore airport the day I first arrived it costed me about 26 Singpoare dollars to reach the hostel. This was around 1000 in the morning. It was about a 20 minute ride. When I left the hostel it costed me 19 Singapore dollars when the hostel arranging the taxi. The second time I came back to the hostel from the airport it was around 35 Singpoare dollars(kinda wonder). The hostel is located on a side street off New Bridge Road, a major street in Singapore. There is not much traffic on Mosque Street. You can easily cross the middle of Mosque Street walking. The hostel is located about 150 meters/yards from New Bridge Road. There are lots of small restaurants on Mosque St.. The hostel is located in Chinatown and is about 200 meters from the Chinatown Center. The area is clean, well-maintained, and certainly safe even at night. There is a McDonalds close by. You turn right frim the front of the hostel to New Bridge Road, the first street. A very wide street with three lanes on each side with a wide island in between. Turn left at the corner crossing Mosque St but NOT crossing New Bridge St. Go do this side of New Bridge Street until just before you reach the next street you will see the McDonalods. If you go past the McDonalds and cross the next street you will come to a small 7-Eleven. The McDonalds is about 80 meters down New Bridge Rd. whereas the 7-Eleven is about 150 meters/yards. The hostel has no significant sign in front. You will see 40 in front signifying 40 Mosque Street. The hostel has a narrow front but has doouble glass door in front. There is also several white tables and chairs in front of it. Upon entering the hostel you will enter a small lobby roughly 7 meters wide but deep. Lots of chairs, mixuture of single chairs and coaches. Nicely furnished and comfortable. A good place to sit and talk if you wanted. Reception is straight in from the front door on the right When I arrived early the hostel took my bags for the day but I could not check-in until 3pm. That was fine I could walk around or rest in the lobby. I stayed in an 8 bed dorm room. The first room on the left going up the stairs. As far as I could tell there is no elevator in the place so you will have to carry your bags up. The room I was in was long and narrow but enough room to move around. To the left of the door was 8 beds. The beds are built into the wall and thus movement of each person will not effect the other beds. Beds on the bottoms and above them. Each bed has a curtain for privacy. There are lockers at one end. Each locker has a size of roughly 35cm\15 inches wides, 24 inches/60 cm tall, and 60cm/24 inches deep. Big enough to store a medium size bag easily. The locks are electronic. When you check you will get a wrist band that you use partialy for the locker. You use any available locker to lock your items and unlock it using your wrist band. Each bed comes with a reading lamp and one electrical outlet. The outlet is British style or G Type I think. There is also an LCD TV in each bed with a remote and headset for it. I did not use and could not tell you more about it. The temperature in the room was comfortable during the day heat and got a little cool at night. Each bed had the pillow and the mattress made. On top was a bath towel and blanket/sheet. The sheet kept me warm enough at night. At the opposite side of the room or a section by itself is the bathroom. There were at least 2 showers/toilets and 4 sinks. I should note each toilet and shower are in the same stall/rooms. The toilet is in the back of the stall whereas the shower is in front of it. The shower is still close enough to the toilet it could get wet but the toilet paper is protected by a plastic cover in the back. This might seem really strange but I saw the same setup in other places in SE Asia. It is up there with Iceland not using shower curtains or shower door for their showers. The hostel serves breakfast in the morning. The one morning I tried it consisted of a sandwich with a sweet like honey spread along with coffee/tea. The staff at the hostel knew English. Some better than others. They were all cordial and helpful. Public transit is very close. There are major public bus stops on both sides of New Bride Road near Mosque St. I believe the Chinatown Subway(not sure the name) is about 50 meters down New Bridge Road. There is Wifi in the room and the reception was very good. If I recall there is a password for it. The wrist band I mentioned early gets you through the front door after hours at night. I did not go out. I believe the front desk shuts down for the night and does not reopen until the morning. Overall, I was very comfortable staying here. The hostel may be expensive compare to other hostels in SE Asia but it is less than the average YHA hostel in Europe. The bed I was in was probably the most plush I ever been in with a LCD TV. Near public transit or you could walk to any significant spot in the city within 30-60 minutes. I would certainly come here again if I ever came back.