Combo Guesthouse- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Address: 69 Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Website: none

This hostel is right in the middle of the busy Bukit Bintang district of Kuala Lumpur, famous for its outdoor restaurants, shopping centres and cafes. It's very easy to get to if you're arriving by bus at the Puduraya Bus Terminal, as it's only a 15-20 minute walk up Jalan Pudu, left at the traffic lights, along the famous food street of Jalan Alor and just around the corner. Nearby are convenience stores and convenience stores along with plenty of other backpacker hostels.

We'd booked a room with shared bathroom facilities on Hostelworld (Rp 56 a night = A$15) but as we'd booked it only the night before, they hadn't yet printed out the confirmation so the guy ended up giving us a double room with an ensuite bathroom which intentional or not, was very nice! The room itself was quite small; it only fit pretty much the bed and us. There was a tiled shelf off the wall which took up more space but the most important thing about the room was that it was extremely clean. The bathroom looked almost new, with a great hot water shower and toilet, but with a bit of off-putting mould on the wall that could almost be ignored if one tried hard enough. It was again quite small, similar to one in an aeroplane but it worked fine. The bed was just two soft mattresses staced on top of each other and was probably the worst thing about this air conditioned room- as it was very unsupportive and just sank down. It was probably a major contributor to the back ache that I developed a few days into our stay.

The hostel also had free wi fi which had great connection with no drop outs. The staff were originally friendly enough, but were quite weird after that, not smiling or acknowledging us whenever they'd see us. Instead, for the first few days one particular guy kept asking us whether we actually had a room there as we'd either leave or enter the hostel. It was quite irritating but I guess it's good in terms of security...although a few times, we saw that the entrance was unmanned. Oh, did I mention that the rooms were located on the second and third floor of the block so that there are at least a few flights of stairs to master everytime one comes up or down from the rooms? There was also an outdoor space over the roof of the lower levels in the centre of the the level of rooms with steel grids around them that don't do much to hide the huge rats that were commonly seen running around the roof area. Lovely. But I guess it's understandable in this steaming, humid city of KL, and didn't impact much on our stay.

Overall, a very nice week at Combo Guesthouse. The air conditioning was very much appreciated, and the rooms were extremely clean and modern. The staff were good for the security issue, and it was very conveniently located for tourists to explore the various types of food available in the capital as well as the lively nightlife in this area.

Rating: 9/10