One of the more beautiful islands of Indonesia, just across the water from Bali, Nusa Penida is a destination on any trip to Bali that you have to visit. With the island being a smaller size but not quite small enough to have small man syndrome, accommodation especially hostels arenât quite prominent. There is generally only a handful of hostels to choose from that are all relatively close to each other, however, one hostel stands head shoulders knees and toes above the rest purely because of its cheapness â Hostel Nusa Penida.
The most basic bitch name going, yet the best for SEO traffic, is situated on the northern side of the island in a quality location for street food and restaurants, whilst only being a street or two away from the pristine blue waters. As much as the location is pretty ideal, the hostel itself is a massive pain in the arse to find with it being tucked away down an alley with a severe lack of signage that even taxi drivers whoâve lived on the island all their life struggle to find it.
The biggest perk of Hostel Nusa Penida is its price. One night stay here is about the price of a tube of Pringles in Scotland, yet itâs one of these âyou get what you pay forâ deals in certain aspects. The hostel is a decent size, with a large courtyard that doubles up as the common area and place to perv on all the pretty scooters parked up in the yard. There is no kitchen for general use in the hostel but one can purchase meals from the hostelâs kitchen in the courtyard which are cooked up by the staff. Scooter rental is available for a very reasonable price which is needed for getting around Nusa Penida unless you fancy splashing the rupiah on a personal driver. The wifi connection is ok and the courtyard is a nice place to sit and watch the stars with a Bintang. So far so good right? More than worth the price of Pringles aye?
Well here comes the bad. Indonesia is a very warm country, even warm enough at night to make you sweat like youâve been under a 10-hour FBI investigation, yet the air conditioning in the rooms is very poor, old fans that make a tonne of sound that you want to keep on overnight but have too much fear itâll blow up if you do. Space in the room is small with very limited space to put your belongings and when packed into a room with 3 other people with no space, you can see how the room turns into a paddling pool of sweat.
Not only are you battling the heat, but youâre also battling the bugs as well with ants running around the room, cockroaches crawling on you and good old mosquitoes kissing your body without consent. Obviously, in a South-East Asian country, you will have many experiences with bugs, but the issue with these bugs cutting about everywhere can be attributed to the open nature of the hostel building; as well as the lack of good air conditioning causing windows to have to be left open, making it easy for these bugs to get in the rooms. The lack of outlets available in rooms and the beds being on the uncomfortable side of things help add to you getting what you paid for nature.
Hostel Nusa Penida is a bit of a weird one to grade. Its biggest perk is its cheapness and does have some good assets but some of its flaws are an annoyance and can be a turn-off for some people. It narrows down to expectations. If you expect a hostel that costs roughly the same as a bottle of Bintang down the road (or from the hostelâs fridge) a night to be like the Burj Khalifa of hostels then youâre a massive fanny. If you expect it to have its flaws since itâs so cheap and just roll with the punches you wonât be too miffed about your stay, which is why Hostel Nusa Penida gets a Meh grade.
Overall Score: Meh
Pros:
⢠CHEAP AS FUCK!
⢠Good location albeit being hard to find when arriving
⢠Courtyard is nice
⢠Wifi connection is ok
Cons:
⢠Army of bugs cutting about the room making you feel like youâre in Iâm Celebrity Get Me Out of Here most nights
⢠Lack of room space
⢠The air conditioning isnât good making it very warm all the time
⢠Lack of outlets in the room
⢠Uncomfortable nature
* HOSTEL MAY BE CLOSED DOWN
Loser Travels 