Mad Monkey Koh Rong — Hotel in Koh Rong

Witnessed a staff member beating a stray dog with a stick whilst the manager and a security guard stood by watching.

One person left a Hostelworld review saying they got bitten by a dog (even though the reps all say the person was bitten by a stray elsewhere on the island and the stray was never identified) and higher up MM management decided all dogs had to be booted out of the hostel.

The hostel common area is completely open and right on the beach, so the dogs can just wander in and out. The dogs were THE BEST part about the hostel, all gorgeous, friendly dogs and all the guests loved them. So to wake up on my second to last day to discover (nearly) all the staff armed with sticks chasing the dogs, who saw MM as a safe place for them, was traumatising for guests and, more importantly, the dogs who were scared and so confused.

That evening, one puppy stray called Potato kept coming in and being “tapped” (quite hard) with a stick to leave. Next thing we knew, he was cowering on the floor OUTSIDE OF THE HOSTEL being repeatedly smacked with a stick by a staff member.

We confronted the manager who stood by and just smirked at us for being angry at the blatant abuse we’d witnessed. He was completely dismissive of everything we said and told us to “stop making a scene.”

Him and the other two men involved in the incident need to be sacked. Whoever higher up said that the dogs need to be removed needs to learn some bloody compassion as well! Go and meet those dogs and see if they’re a threat to your guests!!

Oh - and on the second night of our stay the whole room was electrified through faulty wiring and at least 3 of us got electrocuted. I went to tell a male staff member who laughed at me and said I’d “put a plug in with a wet hand.” When I explained I’d been electrocuted by the door he & a security guard came over and both got themselves electrocuted. We were moved to a different room and told the next morning the issue had been fixed and that we could either stay in that room or go to our original room. Thankfully we stayed in the second room, because they’d not fixed the issue and the poor cleaner got electrocuted shortly after!

Washing was also an extortionate price at $2.50 per kilo. The food was pretty dire and expensive as well.

Only saving grace were the reps - although they’re all so upset about the dog situation, I doubt they’ll be around...

My husband and I have unfortunately learned our lesson about staying at Mad Monkeys. While this wasn’t the worst mad monkey we stayed at (bangkok was the worst) this one came in close second. We were originally booked at Koh Rong Sanloem but when that location shuttered its doors we had to move our reservation here. The only two options were a bungalow or a 12 person dorm, so we elected for a bungalow that was not cheap, even with the 50% discount for purchasing a golden ticket. The construction on the bungalow (#5) is not good. The porch is so poorly put together that my husband’s foot slipped through the wood slats and we had to tip toe on it for fear of falling through the porch. Other than a bed and a tiny table there is nothing else in the room. Half the sockets didn’t work, and the there is no chair at all, even on the porch. The hammock on the porch will not hold any reasonable human being. I price checked and for the same price as my half off booking I could have stayed next door and at least had a patio chair and table. Staff here were not friendly when we checked in. I get it. You have to deal with drunk people all day long, I’m a bartender, I know it sucks, but god were they rude. That was until one staff member realized we were the couple who stayed in Siem reap mad monkey for 1 month and a half and then like a light switch they became nice. One thing I’ve realized among all mad monkeys is the staff doesn’t know how to handle tough situations. There were three drunk guys who in broad daylight took dumps in the courtyard right where guests walk and staff saw it and did nothing. Didn’t clean it up, and let the same guys order 4 beer towers not even thirty minutes later. I understand it’s a party hostel but when people are doing stupid things, staff need to step up. It’s gonna take someone dying before staff will learn. I will never recommend mad monkey to anyone. I’ve stayed in many many hostels before and this group, by far my least favorite. I would highly recommend staying somewhere else if you can afford it, there are many other resorts for almost the same price that will let you bring it your own food (mad monkey doesn’t allow it even in private rooms), that have more amenities, and have...

I normally don’t write reviews but I made an experience in this hostel, where I have the feeling that I can’t let this unspoken because it was just traumatising. The first point is, that if you sleep in a dorm, they don’t give you a key, so literally everybody can go in there. And this also happened. Every saturday there is this so called Nestival, where everybody is drunk. What happened is, that a drunk guy came into my dorm, sat on my bed, touched and harassed me and if that isn’t enough he threw up on my clothes, which I just realised the next morning. My problem is, if nobody has a key, so everybody can go into the rooms, why then are the security guys in the lobby and not in front of the dorms to check if everything is going right. Especially on an evening like that one. It is their responsibility to provide safety for all the guests in this hostel. On the next morning I spoke to the manager and told him what happened. He said that he’s going to check the CCVs. Basically he just left and ignored the problem, so I approached to another employee but all in all nothing happened as well. In the end I payed for the cleaning, which obviously wasn’t expensive but in my opinion it’s just not the right way to handle it. Those people really didn’t help me with that problem, which is normally their task so I really can’t recommend going there.

Addition: Just to clarify, no one ever contacted me via email. And I wasn’t the one who went to the reception at night to ask for new bed sheets. That was the woman who slept above me. Besides, what I experienced, only happened after the security guards changed the bed sheets. So please do some more research before...