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Hostel Review: 5footway.inn Project Chinatown 1 – Singapore

May 11, 2017 By James Clark

Hostel Review: 5footway.inn Project Chinatown 1 - Singapore

Hostel Name: 5footway.inn Project Chinatown 1
Address: 63 Pagoda Street, Chinatown, Singapore

For budget backpackers travelling around Southeast Asia, arriving in Singapore may be a shock to the system after staying in cheap guesthouses. The good news is that there is a thriving hostel scene happening in Singapore. One of the prominent hostels is the 5footway.inn group, which has a selection of properties in prime locations in Singapore.

I stayed as a guest of 5footway.inn to review some of their properties. This review is for the 5footway.inn Project Chinatown 1.

Project Chinatown 1 is located on Pagoda St in the heart of the Chinatown action. One of the Chinatown metro station exits is at the start of Pagoda street, where you emerge from underground to a market street lined with colourful historic buildings.

Pagoda Street - Chinatown

5footway refers to the five-foot ways of the old colonial-era shophouses. In front of these style of properties is a covered walkway that is five foot wide. The hostel in Chinatown is in one of these historic shophouses, hiding behind the market stalls.

5footway.inn Project Chinatown 1

While waiting to check in I noticed a fancy auto check-in machine, but I went old-school and got a person to check me in.

Check-in machine

The hostel was giving free sim cards upon arrival, which was a nice touch. I had just arrived from the airport and had not had time to get a Singapore sim card. You need to top it up to use internet, but there is enough on there to get you started. It’s just one less thing to worry about when you arrive.

Free sim card

I got a private room, which was a single bunk bed room. This is a typical private hostel room, giving you privacy with the basics. Staying in a private room in a hostel is a good alternative if you are still a backpacker at heart but don’t want to stay in a dorm.

Private room

The beds have their own little phone boxes with power outlets in them. This is becoming a common feature in hostels now, with overnight charging becoming a necessity for most people.

Phone box

The private rooms have shared bathrooms, which is of toilet/shower room variety.

Shared bathroom

There is a free breakfast service available which is served in the front reception area. Breakfast consisted of cereal (cornflakes), toast, fruit, and tea and coffee. As with any hostel, make sure you clean up after yourself.

Breakfast

There was good wifi throughout the building with only one login needed to access the wifi on any floor. For the few remaining travellers in the world without a device there are public computers (and Macs at that!) in the common area.

Free internet

One of the good things about staying at a hostel over a cheap hotel is having the opportunity to meet fellow travellers in the common area. There is a little lounge where you can hang out if you want to meet other people.

Lounge

Next to the lounge are some communal tables if you are preparing your own food.

Common area

There is also another social space on the back terrace, which has an open and covered area. There are tea and coffee facilities here.

Terrace

Overall this was a great hostel experience in Singapore. it’s prime location in Chinatown makes it easy to walk to most of the historic sites, as well as having an amazing range of eating options nearby. Staying in a historic shophouse also makes for a more interesting stay.

Follow 5footway on Facebook and Instagram.

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

Filed Under: Accommodation Tagged With: hostel, singapore

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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.

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