Phi Long

When the airport bus dropped me off along De Tham Street, I was shocked with the guesthouses and mini hotels along the street; just like the Khao San Road of Bangkok! That was a good sign for me as it would be easy finding a room. Actually, I already listed down my prospect ‘hotels’ – all under 10USD, the cheapest ones within the area of course. Unfortunately, it was all fully booked! Damn. When I turned around Bui Vien Street, I saw Phi Long Hotel where andiboi (travbuddy.com/andiboi) stayed and recommended.

When I asked for a room, the receptionist gave me a 13USD double room with a balcony. I know that andiboi got his room for 10USD only so I tried to haggle, telling him that I wouldn’t sleep, not even touch the other bed and wouldn’t step out of the balcony as long as he’ll give it to me at 10USD.  He just laughed at me. Am I that bad in bargaining?  Anyways, he showed me the room and I was satisfied with it.

Since it is a double room, it was huge for me with two beds, not really comfy as it was a bit hard. Yes, the room has balcony overlooking the street of Bui Vien. The bathroom is quite large too with hot & cold shower, free toiletries and off-white towels. The room has a cable TV too, a small empty fridge and a/c. It was also clean, not sparkling clean, just clean enough and okay for me as I am not an extreme clean freak.

Guests can also use the internet downstairs for free!

And the staffs are also friendly, always with a big smile on their faces.

So for clean, basic, cheap and not fancy mini hotel, Phi Long Hotel is a good choice.

Located on Bui Vien St at the Pham Ngu lao backpacker's area in District 1.
The rooms have fan and a/c, tv, hot shower, closet and a small fridge to boot all for a budget price of $10 a night.
The room that I stayed in was clean and there was even a small bath tub/shower... coming from a sleezy place that reeked from cigarette smoke and cheap prostitute (like I would know) the night before, i would consider Phi Long 10 times better than hong kong hotel. The only disappointmet is the 6x6 inch hole on the bathroom wall that peeps through the elevator shaft... it won't be a disappointment unless you're a paranoid freak like me, imagining sadako crawling out from the shaft...

As per the owner Lub, he says that they only have 15 rooms and they are fully booked most of the times. I guess I was lucky because I scraped De tham St. and its surrounding areas and this is the only place I got that offered an a/c room for $10.

I would highly recommend this place to a budget traveller like me, they give you free internet access to their shop if you're booked here (just like what I'm doing right now). The place is very accesible and the business beside it is a tour agency where I booked my Cu Chi tour for $4 there, and my express Sapaco bus direct to Siem Reap for $24. The bus leaves 8am and 6:15am respectively.

btw, they close at 12 MN, but you can give them a heads up if you're coming late after a night out, there's a buzzer just outside the establishment.