• Blog
  • The Nomadic Notes Newsletter

Nomadic Notes

Travel blog featuring transport and accommodation guides in Southeast Asia

  • Southeast Asia Train Travel
  • Thailand Travel
  • Vietnam Travel
  • Where To Stay

Hostel Review: 5footway.inn Project Boat Quay – one of the best located hostels in Singapore

May 13, 2017 By James Clark

Hostel Review: 5footway.inn Project Boat Quay - Singapore

Hotel Name: 5footway.inn Project Boat Quay
Address: 76 Boat Quay, Clarke Quay, Singapore

[Edit: 5footway.inn Project Boat Quay has closed. This review remains as an archive.]

I stayed at the 5footway.inn Project Boat Quay in Singapore. I was hosted by 5footway.inn – an independent hostel chain in Singapore.

At the time of my stay there were four other 5footway.inn hostels in Singapore. There are three in the Chinatown area and one in Bugis. All of them are centrally located, and this property on Boat Quay is perhaps the best located of all. It is close to Clarke Quay metro, and Raffles Place for the EW/NS lines (the EW line linking you directly to the airport).

Like all of the other properties, 5footway.inn hostels are housed in historic shophouse buildings in central Singapore. All of the buildings have been renovated, so you get the benefits of a modern hostel in a historic piece of Singapore.

Boat Quay faces the Singapore River, not far from the historic point where Raffles first landed. Amazingly this stretch of river has been able to preserve the old shophouses, as behind the row is the modern downtown centre of Singapore. I think this area is one of the best places to stay in Singapore.

Boat Quay

Arriving at the hostel the reception area feels like a modern hotel with a spacious lounge area. The hostel takes up a few shop rows and have been joined together. As a result you go up and down different stairs to connect between the buildings.

Reception

I was allocated a private loft room, which had a single bed and loft bunk. The room had a window and was quite spacious by Singapore standards.

Private room

As with most private rooms in hostels, my room had a shared bathroom. Keeping with the feel of the hostel, the bathroom was also clean and modern, though the funky design sinks left no room to put my bathroom items.

Shared bathroom

In addition to the nice lounge area in the reception, there is also a dedicated lounge area with a TV.

Lounge

There is a free breakfast service of toast, fruit, and tea and coffee.

Breakfast

The breakfast is served next to a balcony that overlooks the Singapore river, with a view to the Marina Bay Sands. This is the best place to have breakfast, or just come here during the day for a coffee. A five-star view at hostel prices.

River view

A beautiful and not-your-usual gift are these Peranakan tile magnets, which are the tiles that can be found on many of the old shophouses of Singapore.

Peranakan tile magnets

There is free internet available at the hostel, with one login giving you access with no further logging in. I found the internet worked throughout the property.

Overall this was a great hostel stay in Singapore. The combination of location and being housed in an interesting old building make this a good option for hostelling in Singapore. For travellers who have arrived from guesthousing around Southeast Asia, staying in a private room at a hostel is a great alternative.

Also see my other reviews of other 5footway.inn properties – Project Ann Siang and Project Chinatown 1.

Filed Under: Accommodation Tagged With: hostel, singapore

About James Clark

James Clark is the founder of Nomadic Notes. He has been a digital nomad since 2003, and Nomadic Notes features trip reports, train travel articles, and where to stay guides. He writes about transport and urban development at Future Southeast Asia. Subscribe to the weekly travel newsletter.

Nomadic Notes Newsletter

Sign up for the newsletter for a summary of the latest posts, site updates, and other unblogged ramblings.

About Nomadic Notes

James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

More about me and Nomadic Notes.

Get more travel reads

Subscribe for more travel reads at my weekly travel newsletter.

Browse the list of best travel books.

Follow Nomadic Notes

About Nomadic Notes

About
Contact
Press/Media Mentions
Where I've Been

Search Nomadic Notes

Follow Nomadic Notes

Where To Stay In…

Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Da Nang
Ho Chi Minh City
Hoi An
Hong Kong
Jakarta
Kuala Lumpur
Macau
Penang
Singapore

Newsletter

Sign up for the newsletter for a summary of the latest posts, site updates, and other unblogged ramblings.

Subscribe to the newsletter

Copyright © 2025 Nomadic Notes · Site Map | Privacy · Log in