5 Best Hostel Booking Apps for Travel to Asia
If you are planning a trip to Asia you’ll probably need to book a hostel or hotel at some point in your trip. I usually like to leave my plans relatively open on longer trips where I can choose to stay longer in one place and even pick new destinations on the fly. But for shorter trips in the busy tourist season, booking in advance is recommended. I almost always book my first two nights after arrival on any trip. At least one night is required for Visa applications, but it’s nice to know in advance where you’ll be laying your head down. I’ve met some travelers who really plan on the fly… and I don’t recommend it.
There are many booking apps and websites where you can find hostels listed at great prices with reviews you can trust. But I wanted to know which ones offer the best experience and value for travelers. Hostels are so different from regular hotels and offer amenities and experiences that are unique, like special musical events, cooking classes and kitchens for your use, and every board game imaginable! So it’s easy for a standardized website to accidentally exclude these awesome features.
For whatever reason, each app has different guarantees when it comes to bookings. Some match prices, allow prepayment or just a deposit, offer free cancellation at the hostel’s discretion, others give account credit or full refunds if there is a booking mistake. Here is how I ranked the top five based on my own experience.
1. Hostelworld
2. Booking.com
Booking.com has been around for so long. Although I find the app and website outdated and cluttered compared to other booking apps on this list… too many colors and tabs… But they have an enormous listing of hostels.
Many of the best hostels I’ve recommended can’t be found on Hostelworld because it’s not as well known. In those instances, I use Booking.com because it has everything!
Traveling in Asia, every hostel owner knows about Booking.com and personally I’ve never had any troubles with my bookings. That’s pretty good because I’ve probably made over 30 bookings over the last two years.
Booking.com reviews are quite reliable because it is so widely used so you can guess at the average experience of each guest. But they aren’t just from backpackers.
My only critic of Booking.com is that they leave the “Free Cancellation” policy up to each hotel who are free to change their mind at any time and there isn’t much you can do about it. So assume all bookings are final or contact the hostel directly for their cancellation policy. Booking.com is unique in that the bookings can be made without a deposit or payment.
3. Hotels.com
Hotels.com is a huge booking platform in North America and Europe. But they have a good selection of hostels listed from Asia too! Just filter for “Hostels” in the search settings. Hotels.com does do some deep discount campaigns so it’s worth checking to snag a deal. I booked the Prince Hotel, a small guest house in Hong Kong in April 2019 for 40% off, saving almost $40 per night thanks to the deal.
Hostels bookings on hotels.com aren’t super common so there are few reviews. They do include for your reference the ratings and reviews made on Tripadvisor.
The one cool thing about Hotels.com is the “Collect Nights” program where you get a free night for every 10 nights of bookings. Many of the hostels in Asia qualify as ones where you can collect nights, or even redeem your free night!
Hotels.com has a price match guarantee where you will be refunded the price difference on a hotel (or hostel) if the price listed on another website is lower. If your booking is non-refundable, you get credit for the amount of the price difference. Hotels.com usually charges the full price of the booking through the app once confirmed.
4. Trip.com
Trip.com is a great alternative for booking a hostel, guest house or hotel. Trip.com just launched in 2018 and has some really aggressive promotions, discounting hotels 30-50%. They are the international brand of CTrip.com based out of China and becoming more and more popular for bookings as hostels and hotels are looking to attract the new generation of Chinese tourists.
I compared the prices to Hostelworld and they are the same, but I would check it regularly to snag one of their big sales. Especially if you intend to splurge on a fancy hotel or onsen instead of a hostel. The one downside with Trip.com is that there are few reviews on most hostels. Or at least not enough reviews to be really confident in the rating.
Trip.com has a price guarantee that the price will remained unchanged after booking. No hidden fees. And they also have a service guarantee, so you can make a claim should you have a problem with your booking or the hostel. Trip.com usually confirms the booking with a small deposit.
5. Agoda
Agoda was the third app I used on my Southeast Asia trip. The app is easy to use and has a large number of listings, even in remote places like Koh Chang in Thailand. When my friend Jenna and I couldn’t get money out of any ATM on this island, we made a booking through Agoda to fully prepay our stay at a cheap hotel. This was really handy since apps that only charge a deposit require cash payment for the remaining balance. We could prepay everything on our credit card which really saved us until we could find another ATM the next day.
Be warned. There is also a “Book Now, Pay Later”, but if you are paying later by credit card through Agoda instead of paying directly at the hostel or hotel, they charge a much higher exchange rate (5-7%) than the usual 3%.
Agoda has a price guarantee where they match or beat a price for the same hostel or hotel. They also have and a reservation guarantee that covers both booking errors and problems from the hotel or hostel. Agoda will first try and find a suitable comparable accommodation, if there is no suitable option than a full refund on the room will be made.
Hostel Alternatives
Couchsurfing
Couchsurfing is a very different experience from a hostel. With Couchsurfing, you create a profile and request to stay with locals for free. But don’t treat them like a hotel, its about meeting other travelers and sharing each other’s culture.
Common curtesy is to cook dinner or take the host out for dinner on the town as a thank you. Accommodations can vary from a spare room, to a couch or even a sleeping bag on a camping roll.
Often times you’ll have to work around your hosts schedule, like leaving early in the morning if they work, or taking time out of your day sightseeing to have a beer or enjoy a family dinner.
The idea of the platform is that not everyone can travel all the time, but those that love to travel can host others and make connections around the world! Connections that will come in handy on their own future travels.
Couchsurfing bookings are free, but it might be a good idea to upgrade to a premium account which validates you.
That way, hosts feel more comfortable about hosting you. This is a good idea for those that have no or few stays listed on their profile.
Your profile is similar to AirBnB where hosts give you feedback which other hosts use to gauge if you’ll be cool and fun!
Disclaimer: Hostelworld, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Trip.com and Couchsurfing are affiliate partners of our website, any bookings made through them will provide us with a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Backpacking Guides
I’ve stayed in a lot of hostels over my travels. I’d like to say I’ve learned how to tell the bad from the good, but even for me it’s still hit and miss. Some hostels are great, helpful and others can be impersonal, unwelcoming and feel like all I got was a hard bed.
So I put together some backpacking guides for hostels.
