Gecko Guesthouse — Hotel in Langkawi Island

We stayed in their budget room with a shared bathroom, but even keeping this in mind, I was disappointed. It seemed that the philosophy was more a "You-get-what-you-pay-for" than an attempt to provide a quality experience for all guests. Even the maintenance issues that wouldn't have cost anything but a bit of time seem to have been overlooked. As an example, in order to get to the shared bathrooms from the room, you had to walk around the building, which is fine, but it was quite overgrown with plants, so at night, you'll find yourself walking through foliage to get to the bathroom.

The towels we were provided were perhaps the most worn I've used in my life, more what I would expect from a rag. I realize this sounds hyperbolic, so I've included a couple of pictures for you to judge for yourself.

The bed was also notably bad - I could actually feel the metal coils - an experience that I can say was a first for me!

I think it's quite possible that their higher-end rooms are much better.

The showers were clean and had hot water. The common area had a nice ambience (although it's overtaken by cats). The cats were well-behaved but just didn't look healthy.

There are also a lot of chickens around, so be prepared to wake to roosters having a crowing competition at...

Overall, our stay at this hostel was nice enough! The location was perfect with lots of nice restaurants and the beach nearby. For the low price, we can not complain, and the private room was a welcome escape from staying in dorm rooms. It was social, and the outdoor area was set up nicely with good amenities like free water and a book swap, etc. However, the room we stayed in was incredibly hot! It's too hot to sleep in comfortably, and we really struggled with it. I've stayed in fan only rooms plenty of times before this and can not understand why this room in particular was so bad! The bathrooms weren't very clean, the same rubbish was left in there all 3 nights we were there (including a cigarette on the floor of the shower!), and I got at least 2 mosquito bites every time I showered. This is a personal preference, but the amount of cats in the hostel space was a little uncomfortable, at one point I had one climb on me and stick claws in me which I really did not want! When we tried to pay and check out, we could not find any staff at all, and it wasn't even very early (about 8.40). We had to leave the money and key by the bar, which didn't feel right at all. I'm not sure I'd stay again, but we appreciated it for what it was given...

Budget doesn't mean, you shouldn't invest in basics! I'm giving my very personal impressions here, which are subjective. I'm a bit afraid that this review will also receive nasty comments from the operator. Like almost all the negative reviews before it. I recommend treating these comments with respect and trying to learn from them and not dismiss them as nonsense.

The windows are made of glass slats with huge gaps. This means there is no soundproofing in the private rooms. Every sound, no matter how small, is transmitted.

There are also gaps without fly screens in the bathroom. I had at least two mosquitoes in the room every day.

The mattress was old, worn and dirty.

The curtain was translucent. It was almost daylight at night.

Cobwebs on the ceiling and a drainpipe that was a hole in the floor.

Just because the hostel is cheap - but not much cheaper than higher quality hostels - doesn't mean that the operators couldn't at least invest in mosquito nets, new mattresses and reasonably soundproof (without gaps!!!) windows. At least a few points (mosquitoes!!) could be fixed without...