Outpost Beach Hostel — Hotel in El Nido

Quick sum at the beginning: it's a well-copied mad monkeys (party every night + every day a different party topic, tours every day, guests between 18-22 of age and feels like an overcrowded college & spring break bar.

ROOM: we had a private room which was really nice. The cleaning staff did a fantastic job every day in cleaning your room whilst your gone and not leaving a single trace, well done to the cleaning staff !! Also, new air conditioning kept the room cold & fresh. (on the other hand, it's a new hostel so kinda expect that).

AREA: hidden a few minutes before El Nido town in a small beach spot where you can watch the sunset. Really beautiful spot and easy to reach with all kinds of vehicles. The city is a 5 minute ride or 20-30 minutes walk which is also really nice on a cloudy day.

HOSTEL: They advertise with nice pictures giving you the feeling that you've found a quiet place on a quiet beach where you can relax, enjoy sunsets and just enjoy the place. Oh boy you're wrong. It's, in my honest opinion, a complete 1:1 copy of a typical Mad Monkeys Hostel and you could clearly see that they used them as an inspiration. Meaning: There is a party every day, trying to get you spend most of your money on way to overpriced cocktails with little alcohol and much juice (margin!). Beer Pong, Drinking Games, Every day a different party topic- where have I seen that before...? Anyway, due to that this place is completely overcrowded with "backpackers" between 18-21 that just want to heavily party and get drunk and be as loud as they can be at 2-3 in the morning.

FOOD: the ones we had (a burger with fries at arrival due to ultimate hunger) and a forced breakfast on a trip day we tried to avoid eating at the hostel. You pay a hell lot of money (more or less European prices, 4-5 Euros per meal. And yes, I get the same good burger for 7-9€ in Europe). Despite the fact that it's expensive as hell, the food was actually quite good. Other than that we decided to eat and drink in town (5 minute drive) where you can expect prices to be 2/3 cheaper.

TOURS: Well, the typical tours that everyone offers at El Nido. The boat staff was quite nice. Still, they give you false information at the hostels reception. We paid for Tour D 1.500 pesos per person promised that everything will be included (kayaking, snorkeling gear, flippers etc.). Truth is, nothing is included except of snorkeling gear which seemed to be not enough for all guests, lucky that we had our own. Plus we had to pay for kayaking even though they told us it's included. After returning and speaking to them (at the reception, right next to the bar, whilst music is plaid as loud as possible and a staff member that seemed more interested in getting people drunk instead of helping out) they refused to refund us the payment for kayaking. Poor decision. Clearly recommend you to book the tour in town, you'll save at least 300-400 pesos per tour and it's 95% the same.

PRICE: 180€ for three nights in a private dorm. That is the most expensive stay we had in all southeast Asia. For a hostel like this it's ridiculously overpriced and we regretted to book something like this, but then again, the pictures showed something else.

NEIGHBOURS: if you walk up and down the beach, you'll only find relaxed, chilled and really good and quiet hotels & places. And in-between you'll find this mad monkeys copy cat. We've spoken to the landlord of the hotel next to it and she also told us that they get a lot of complaints from their own guests trying to relax and watch the sunset.

RECO: overpriced and not recommended to stay here if you're looking for a quiet place. If you want to party, don't care about paying more or less same prices as in EU, then feel free to stay here.

PS: I've seen on other reviews that the hostel itself answers to nearly every review. If you want to do that here feel free but just keep in mind: you're not on twitter neither are you Wendy's Burger. So there will be no meme with your answer on 9gag or Reddit. Take the feedback...

Please DO NOT stay here they have red ants in the beds and walls. It was my first night in El nido and had went out for most the night arrived at 2am to find an army of red ants all over my bed sheet and up the walls. I complained to security but he said that the staff don’t start shift until 7am the only thing he could do was use a spray and change the sheets. I was horrified as I am extremely allergic to mosquito bites and the red ants also bite. I was determined to leave through the night but the hostel had my passport so I couldn’t book anywhere else. Had to stay in my friend’s top bunk with her that also had red ants in it due to their not being another room I could move to. Woke up with many bites on my legs and arms and woke up multiple times though the night to due to itching. I went down to complain to the hostel staff the lady was blaming it on myself leaving food out as it says it in their terms and conditions to not leave food out but the packet of chocolate was empty and security binned it the ants still returned. I advised to the staff that this is really unacceptable to let people stay here when there is clearly a pest issue. I said I wouldn’t be paying for the full 4 nights I booked. We had only stayed 1 night so I said I’d pay that but I’m not happy to pay for a place I will definitely not be staying in. She offered an 8 people dorm which I paid for a 4 people dorm and it wasn’t clean. I didn’t want to stay in an 8 people dorm and have the same issue and anxiety about red ants being in my bed. I demanded my passport back but she wouldn’t give it until I made a full payment. There was no genuine remorse showing from the staff members at any point. The only thing they cared about was getting full payment. Staff wouldn’t let us speak with a manager. She eventually ended up speaking with a manager that said she will discount to us only paying 3 nights instead of 4 which was only £12 off the original price. I’m really gutted about this hostel experience especially looking at the previous reviews I thought this would be good. I found another review from May 2025 that someone had also complained about the red ants but nothing was done so this has been clearly going on a few months which is ridiculous. I really recommend don’t waste your time on this place as it’s clearly not cleaned and they’re not doing anything to fix...

Time for an honest review of Outpost Beach Hostel.

The view is amazing, the common area is lovely, and the staff is pleasant. Sadly, that is where the positivity ends.

To start off,

The hostel is reached by beach, therefore if you have luggage, you will have to carry it over the beach, in our case during high-tide so we had to walk through water reaching the entrance. There is a back entrance, but it only allowed to be used during high-tide (and when you arrive the first time you don’t get directed there).

The Hostel does not provide clean drinking water (unlike all other places). At the reception we were told that many people get sick drinking their water and that you have to bring your own, rather than providing a tap.

When arriving at 6pm, we chose to have dinner at the Hostel, and this was a huge mistake. Out of the 20 items on the menu, more than half of it was unavailable (including the most basic options such as pizza, burritos, quesadillas, and even fries). Eventually, we ordered something and the food was really poor quality wise, yet pricey. We discussed this with other residents, which had similar experiences.

Finally, during our stay (two people, for three nights) they removed our bed covers, blankets, and towels. When we asked about it, they told us to use the free bed in the room (4 beds, only 3 were occupied). 5 minutes later, a staff member came to the room with new bedding, handed it to us and walked off. Apparently, we had to make the bed ourselves now. We were out for the majority the next day, and when we came back, someone else was sleeping in our bed. Overall, quite chaotic.

Additionally, the WiFi was connection was poor in the bedrooms (at least, on the ground floor) and the hostel states that they provide hot showers, but the water is lukewarm at best.

The location is indeed, as they announce, a bit far from central El Nido. (“We are NOT located in the chaotic, overcrowded, stinky concrete jungle of...