Stamps Backpackers Hostel & Tours Chiang Mai — Hotel in Chiang Mai Province

3rd edit: Ladies, please be warned. They’ve now changed their reply to “dude was miserable and mean.” When I am not, in fact, a dude and, as not a dude, felt incredibly uncomfortable with the frat house culture. I’m also not a brand new traveler, and have been to about 90 countries across 6 continents. I’ve stayed in places like the Dorchester, all the way to (a lot) of hostels, even sleeping in the grass at a train station overnight to catch a Tour de France stage. And I felt more comfortable in the grass than at Stamps.

But hey, why not lie and mudsling to compensate for a dirty, sub-par hostel? Goes hand in hand with them compensating with organized activities and alcohol.

I’ve said before that the culture they push is okay for people who are into that. Especially since it seems to be what they’re going for. Just own it, and accept that not all of us are traveling in order to drink and socialize. And contrary to your suggestion that I “learn how to travel,” my way is okay too.

For those of you wanting a nice atmosphere, sleep, secure luggage, and safety, Baan Heart has its own separate wing for women, or mixed dorms. And it’s a lot less expensive than this place.

Stay classy, Stamps.

(Seems like they delete their nasty replies sometimes, so I’m leaving their most recent as a screenshot — they seem to slander or make fun of anyone who leaves a 1 or 2 star review).

To Management’s reply: “If you need to wear a mask staying in a dorm then Stamps if probably not the best place for you.”

Thanks, Stamps! I wouldn’t have to wear an eye-mask if you ran a better hostel. It seems that you just can’t help but get a little condescending with the negative reviews across the various platforms :)

I suggest staying curious and providing the basics better — like security and cleanliness, which have nothing to do with “our hostel is a very social one.” What it has to do with is, simply, you spending more money and time to improve and maintain your property. Like Baan Heart does next door, which is the same price but infinitely better. They also have three floors of common areas for only 25 beds, where people can be social all they want.

Which is okay. You do you. But you’re not a 5-star hostel. You’re a fraternity house that charges solo travelers a premium because they don’t want to be lonely, while running a bar.

No place is perfect. And respectfully, this one isn’t the 5-star experience the reviews would have you believe.

I don’t mind sleeping with an eye-mask. Or earplugs. And I do it happily. But this is one of those instances where ‘socialization’ (heavy drinking) just doesn’t mix well with living / sleeping situations. Even with these precautions, it’s just not a good place to sleep. Luggage storage doesn’t seem to be secure either.

That doesn’t mean this place isn’t for you. Maybe you’re into hostel managers breaking the ice for you, over and above sleeping and housing comforts.

Personally, I went half a block away to Baan Heart, getting a queen cabin-style bed for $9 — it’s super clean (I could smell that even the duvet insert was laundered), quiet, luggage is secure in lockers, security cameras and multiple locking keycard doors are thoughtfully placed, I can hear birds chirping and roosters crowing .. and if you want, it’s still surrounded by bars (and you can visit Stamps if you want). Couldn’t have been happier.

This isn’t an ad for Baan Heart, or a take-down of Stamps’ business. It’s just that at Stamps’ price-point you can get a much cleaner, quieter, more private sleeping arrangement with all of the socialization benefits by just visiting Stamps if you want. And having seen that Stamps management seems to react with a little hostility to 1 and 2-star reviews, I can’t help but wonder: how legitimate is...

It’s important to know that this is a place for normies in their early 20s. If you’re not either of those, it likely won’t be particularly social or a fun experience. If you are one of those things, it’ll be a pretty great time. If you’re both of those things, you’ll be saying that it’s one of the best hostels you’ve ever been.

It’s a great thing to see, the social events popping off so much. They’re so successful. They’ve thought of pretty much everything here, and their communication (on posters, signs etc) is solid. The staff are wonderful, with excellent English and giving immense positivity. They show interest in you. The hostel arranges good external activities too, like cooking classes and ziplining.

The 6-bed rooms are a superb concept - your own single-bed semi-private nook with a fat curtain, locker, light, and power. More hostels should adopt this 100%. You can even work from this semi-private space. Wifi overall isn’t amazing though, average for Thailand, okay but not great. Hopefully you won’t be here to work or surf the internet though, but to enjoy yourself.

There’s free drinking water, deposit for towel (200 baht + 20 cleaning fee), deposit for key (200 baht). There’s good security. I like the shoes-at-the-door policy. Absolutely no kitchen or utensils, bowls etc - not even a kettle. Annoying. I think they serve food. Location is pretty good for nightlife, but not really for temples and such. But it’s probably a good base anyway if you make all those pals.

The rooms sometimes smell disgusting as soon as the toilet door is opened. You know that second-world sewerage bathroom smell. It’s because the fan automatically goes on with the light switch, for using the toilet OR the shower, which you have to do otherwise it is pitch black in either. And the shower door doesn’t close from the outside. The smell lingers all through the room for 20+ minutes.

There was a girl in my room who is too interesting for the people here. She looked bored out of her skull. In a normal hostel I would make 3 or 4 friends a day. Here I made one or less in 3 days and it was a dull time. It also plays atrociously horrendous top 40 music most of the time. Best to keep away if you don’t fit the profile. You’ll probably love...

I was recommended Stamps by a fellow traveler, but would absolutely not recommend it myself.

It baffles me that this hostel has such exceptional reviews and actually won an award for best solo female travel hostel Thailand 2019. Granted I was exhausted when I arrived, but the hostel was already super lively at 10am and the secure luggage holding, when not in the room, is just the hallway next to the front desk. Anyone off the street could, in theory, just walk in and take something. Check in was 13:30, which was my mistake for hoping they might be able to stick me in a bed earlier, but they had volunteer travelers low on money staying for free in exchange for a bed. Great idea, except that meant they had to be shown what to do so I wasn't given a key until 14:00 and only after going to front desk a couple times and asking. The room itself was fairly spacious and it was nice to be able to stand up. However, the tops of the rooms are open so any light that turns on (main, bathroom, next door neighbour bed private light) results in a pretty bright room at all times of day and night. The beds were okay but the sheet kept slipping off in the night and I had to put the corners on multiple times a night. The AC is on from 18:00pm only (fairly standard in the North) and barely cools. The shower and bathroom were good. No where to hang things to dry. It's also 100% a party hostel, despite them saying it's both quiet and party, as people were very forward but polite about propositioning. There were 'interesting' sounds in the night. Did not feel safe, did not provide good sleep, did not enjoy the atmosphere (again, most people seemed to be drinking or hungover all day), and even found the tours I saw elsewhere were better priced. Great location in the old town though.

In response to Stamps hostel reply -- It's disappointing that they would lie about my having stayed at the hostel (took a scan of my passport and I have emails of confirmation and collection confirmation from the elephant sanctuary I went to after which picked me up from Stamps on the Monday morning). I'm sorry it is negative, but I feel the need to give an...