9 February 2018

Updated August 2026: This article records our stay in 2018. Project Boat Quay has since closed, and the KD10 discount code expired in July 2018. Current operation of the same Project Ann Siang hostel could not be confirmed confidently, so do not use this review as a current booking recommendation.

We had actually won this stay the previous year in a giveaway run by an international travel blog on Instagram. But you cannot exactly fly all the way from Türkiye to Singapore just because you have won two free nights, can you? So we put the prize aside and waited. We knew we would eventually return to Malaysia and find a way to add Singapore to the trip. That is exactly what happened: my father and Tuğçe’s aunt were both going to be in Singapore at the same time for different reasons. We emailed the hostel to claim our prize and, despite the time that had passed, the team kindly hosted us for three nights at two different properties. One of the perks of blogging :)

A post shared by Kokla Dünyayı (@kokladunyayi) on Jan 30, 2018 at 2:57am PST

Even if we had not won the stay, we probably would have chosen this kind of accommodation because hotels in Singapore are genuinely expensive, while these hostels were relatively affordable for the city—especially given their locations. Singapore offers far more than the stereotypical Southeast Asian experience, but it is correspondingly expensive. Accommodation can easily take the largest share of a travel budget, with hotel prices competing with New York, London and even Japan. Traveller-friendly places such as 5footway.inn were therefore a lifesaver for people like us.

5FOOTWAYINN PROJECT BOAT QUAY

We spent our first two nights at Project Boat Quay, whose view could easily outshine the restaurants below. We loved its setting on the Singapore River, between protected colonial buildings and modern skyscrapers. Although one of the city’s main roads ran just beyond the street, the hostel balcony was quiet. Our advice was to take a coffee outside and watch the sightseeing boats glide along the river; if you were lucky, you might even spot the resident otters. The view was especially impressive at night, once the surrounding buildings lit up.

Our morning view over the Singapore River...

...and the evening view.

ROOM

Our room slept three, with a single bed below and a double bed above, and was furnished as simply as possible—in other words, it contained little more than the beds :D The shared lounge had an excellent coffee machine and a refrigerator for guests’ food. The only real omission was a wardrobe or even a hook for clothes, which we solved by using the lower bed as our wardrobe.

COMMON AREAS AND BREAKFAST

The hostel had several common areas, although it was such a maze that learning your way around took a little time. The first was the lobby-like area used for check-in. It contained two Mac computers for guests, a room where luggage could be left after check-out, and two large sofas.

Gökay trying to check in with the concierge :)

He did not manage it... :D

One floor up was a shared lounge with a balcony offering a view few conventional hostels could match. There was a television, ironing board, 24-hour coffee machine and water dispenser. Guests could heat up food and eat it against that wonderful backdrop. In collaboration with the art gallery Gallery 76, the walls displayed black-and-white photographs by photojournalist Edwin Koo.

Breakfast was barely worthy of the name. There was jam, butter, milk and cereal; rumour had it that apples also appeared, although we never saw one :) At worst, you could buy cheese and tea from a nearby supermarket and eat them here with bread. Enjoy.

There was even a self-service check-in machine.

SHOWERS AND TOILETS

The shared facilities were quite clean, and the hostel supplied shower gel and shampoo—something many hostels did not provide. Towels cost extra, but we still felt the service offered good value.

LOCATION

The hostel occupied a very strategic location. Clarke Quay, home to many nightclubs, was only about a seven-minute walk away; the bay overlooking Marina Bay Sands and the Merlion were roughly ten minutes away, as were Chinatown and Ann Siang Road with its fashionable cafés and restaurants. If you did not want to go even that far, dozens of bars and restaurants—including a Turkish restaurant—began right outside the door.

5FOOTWAY.INN PROJECT ANN SIANG

After two nights at Boat Quay, we walked about one kilometre to Project Ann Siang for our third night. On the way, we accidentally wandered into another branch, 5footway.inn Project Chinatown. With a branch seemingly every 500 metres, this really was a chain :D At the entrance we saw an iPad with Skype and assumed the door was locked, so we immediately called the hostel using one of the saved numbers. Being told, “The door is open, come in,” was slightly embarrassing :D The same device could be used to contact the other branches if a problem arose at night.

Chinese New Year decorations

Wrong hostel!

ROOM

The room was again simply furnished, but this time it included a dressing table, two chairs and a locker operated with the room key. It also had a tiny balcony, and we honestly loved it. Because it was away from the river, the building was in better condition than the Boat Quay property and, by Singapore standards, the room was a very reasonable place to stay.

COMMON AREAS

A tiny, charming reception area welcomed guests. There was a sofa, two more Mac computers and luggage storage after check-out. The only drawback was that the hostel occupied the third floor and had no lift. Reception was not open around the clock, but help was available from the Chinatown branch about 100 metres away. Subject to availability, the hostel also gave guests a SIM card. We loved that perk; at the time, we suggested asking whether the offer was still running.

The best feature was the enormous rooftop reserved for hostel guests. It also had a 24-hour coffee machine, water dispenser and refrigerator, with views across Chinatown to the skyscrapers on the hills behind. By chance, we watched the moon from here the night after the super blue blood moon eclipse. If you stayed here, we would have insisted that you enjoy at least one drink on this rooftop.

We loved the pictures on the walls too :D

A post shared by Kokla Dünyayı (@kokladunyayi) on Feb 2, 2018 at 3:00am PST

SHOWERS AND TOILETS

As at Boat Quay, the showers and toilets were quite clean. Shower gel and shampoo were provided, while towels cost extra.

LOCATION

Since this branch was only about one kilometre from Boat Quay, it was also very central. The cafés and restaurants on the street behind it formed a genuine food lovers’ paradise.

Chinatown in front of the hostel...

...and a world of restaurants and bars behind it.

At the time of our stay, readers could use a discount code created for us when booking through the hostel’s website to receive 10% off. Even while writing the article, however, we found cheaper rates here and here , so we advised comparing all options. The discount code was KD10 —KD for Kokla Dünyayı—and was valid only until July 2018.