Nest Beach Club — Hotel in Koh Rong

I tried to be objective when writing this review of Nest hostel on Koh Rong island, I hope it helps you with your choice :)

We travelled through Cambodia in September 2018, when south China was hit by a large typhoon, which also brought a lot of rain to the south of Cambodia. We visited the island Koh Rong for 2 days, when originally planned to stay 3 days on Koh Rong and 2 days on Koh Rong Sanloem.

Besides the rain, the island itself we believe is truly dreamy, white sand with mellow waves splashing on the shore and every so often some beautiful dark rocks along the shore.

So it’s fair to say that with good weather you could easily spend a week here without getting bored.

It looks a bit different when it rains:

At nest hostel the common area must once have been amazing, now it’s a run down place with stinky cushions on which the hostel personnel feeds the local dogs with whatever leftovers from the kitchen. The hammocks smell like unwashed feet. And there is a lot of garbage everywhere.

So the best place to sit is at high tables. There are a couple of games you can choose from, but the personnel isn’t really forthcoming. In fact, we counted 7 Europeans working somewhat behind the bar, most of them are English lads. This seems a bit of an overkill especially on low season. Even more as the WiFi isn’t really great at the hostel and as per their sign only allows 7 people to use the connection - and with at least 4 people from the hostel always being on Facebook, well you can imagine that it’s real fun to try to plan your route for travelling...

The beds in the dorms are big, which is nice, but the rooms smell a bit funny and we were quick to find the source (or at least one source): old pillows stored in the room, covered in mold. Disgusting. Less inviting are only the showers which only work if you’re lucky. The shower heads are dirty and you basically stand right next to the toilettes which are therefor always wet.

Now something we especially want to highlight positively: the food is incredible. As we couldn’t do much due to the bad weather, we ate a lot. Like really a lot. And everything was delicious. From breakfast burgers to pancakes and Cambodian curry - the quality and taste of the food is amazing.

And to end this little review, I was super pissed as one of the English chicks working there stole my lush shampoo and conditioner when I left it in the shower for 10 minutes to tell the guys at the reception that there’s no water. And my friend was too trustful with her phone charger which also vanished from the bar after she charged her...

Awful Experience – Do Not Recommend! Where do I even start? This place was an absolute nightmare from the moment we arrived. First off, we had to wait for 10 minutes at reception just to check in, while the staff were sitting at a table nearby, drinking and dancing, completely ignoring us. It felt like we were interrupting their party, and we were left standing there feeling completely unwelcome. And it only went downhill from there. In the dining area, there were RATS running around. One got so close to me, I thought it might join me on my lap while I was eating! In our room, we discovered an ant infestation, and to make matters worse, there was black mold on the pillows. How is that even acceptable? The towels smelled like mildew and were damp before we even used them. As for the staff – the Western employees were rude, dismissive, and seemed drunk 24/7. They had zero interest in helping us or answering any questions. I asked for a bottle of water, and after waiting 10 minutes, they completely forgot about me. It felt like I was disturbing their “fun time” every time I asked for anything.

I had a look at some of the responses to bad reviews on booking.com and Google and the response from nest was completely unprofessional. It seems like the owner or whoever runs the nest account, cannot take any constructive criticism that can help their business.

The only person who actually cared and tried to help us was a wonderful woman named Linn. She went above and beyond during our stay and deserves recognition. After we showed the restaurant/bar manager the moldy pillow, he completely ignored it and brushed it off. Linn, however, was the one who actually took action and swapped the pillow out. She handled everything well—she’s the only reason this review isn't a total disaster. Honestly, she deserves a promotion to manager because she was the only one who made us feel valued as customers. I will NEVER stay here again, and I strongly advise you to avoid this place. It’s unsanitary, the staff is unprofessional, and the whole experience was a complete disaster. Best of luck to anyone who books here in the future –...

The hostel is run by backpackers who are there for fun, not work. This means it is difficult to get help or services from them. Many times when I wanted to order food or drinks, there was no one at the bar to take orders. I had to wait until someone showed up. Even worse, sometimes the staff behind the bar would be cuddling and kissing visibly in front of everyone. It’s really awkward and uncomfortable to try and order fried rice when the staff are feeling each-other up.

On my last night, I asked about their shuttle service to the pier. The receptionist seemed uncertain, but told me to come to the reception at 10 for the shuttle. I shouldn’t have trusted her, because when I waited in the reception the next morning and went at exactly 10 to the reception, I was told the shuttle had already left and I was late. I had to walk to the other pier to not miss the ferry. The staff is not helpful.

There is no hot water, so be prepared for very cold showers. Also, there is no wifi or data in the dorms. You must walk from the dorm to the common area to use internet, text, anything. The walkway is not covered, either, so be prepared to protect your electronics if it rains.

The dorms do have lockers but you must provide your own lock. The beds have curtains, a private outlet, and a private light. The room has two bathrooms (toilet and shower) and one sink. So if you are using the sink, everyone can hear it.

The best part of the hostel is the beach. The hostel is on its own private section of beach. There are a lot of activities at the hostel: volleyball net, ping pong table, and beer pong table. There is also a giant projector screen that the staff was playing video games on (I’m not sure if that’s available to guests or just for staff)

The hostel is a 15 minute walk through the jungle to the village, where all the shops, restaurants, and activities are located. This is nice because it gives the hostel extra privacy and a private beach, but it can be a little annoying to have to walk to get...