In my travels to date I’ve come across a handful of hostels that have been great places to work and after my post about what makes a good working environment, I thought following that up with a list of places I worked well in would make sense.
Here’s a list:
- Friendly’s Hostel, Manila, Philippines – This place has to be one of the best I’ve come across for working. There are plenty of tables on a balcony to get work done on with a great view to boot. Single rooms are cheap soI didn’t feel too guilty about treating myself and the net connection worked in my room which meant I could hide away and work if I wanted to. The hostel is very social but pretty quiet during the day which meant I always had options for socialising after a hard day’s work. Plus the guy who runs the place had me improve his website and I scored free accommodation out of it.
- Frendz Resort, Boracay, Philippines – This hostel is located down a path away from the beach in a quiet area. I had a massive cabin all to myself complete with a nice balcony where I would work from while sipping fresh juice from the small cafe. The hostel was pretty quiet when I was there but the owner is a friendly Aussie guy and there are loads of places to go out or activities to get up to. If you’re into kite surfing, this is a great place to come.
- Bingo Hostel, Fenghuang, China – This place doesn’t seem to be listed anywhere online but my Chinese travel buddy stumbled onto it and it was a great find. The net connection was pretty decent by Chinese standards and the signal reached up to the room which happened to have a huge table and a comfy chair. I spent five days here working most of the time because it was such a great setup. The hostel was pretty empty but the town is lively so if you want to you should be able to find things to do. I was only interested in working and I accomplished loads of stuff I had been putting off for ages.
- Matahari Lodge, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – This place was brand new when I was there in mid 2008 and you could tell. It was spotless and the owners were really attentive, helpful and friendly. The net connection was fast and it leaked down to my room where I did most of my work. In the main lobby though there were plenty of tables where I could have worked more comfortably including two on a balcony.
- Managua Backpackers Inn, Managua, Nicaragua – This place is spread across two houses on nearby streets. The main house is a bit small and crammed but the net connection is very good. The second house has huge amounts of space and great tables and chairs but the connection while I was there was down and I could only get online on some random signal I picked up. If they sort out the connection for the second house, this is a great place to get some serious amounts of work done. Most people hate Managua but the hostel is in an area with some good nightlife and the first house has a pool. Plus there are lots of hammocks. I love hammocks.
I’ve worked in plenty of cafes and resaurants in m travels as well with Starbucks usually providing a reliable, comfortable setting to work in. Mix, a smoothie chain in Hong Kong, was awesome work, drink and food wise. I also found a bunch of good places in Chiang Mai to get things done. I prefer working at my accommodation but having a good place to go as a change of scenery is good for productivity.
Can anyone suggest hostels or other cheap accommodation that have great setups for getting work done?
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