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Posted by on Mar 19, 2014 in Eco-tourism, Nature | 8 comments

An Eco-hostel in Thailand turned into disaster

An Eco-hostel in Thailand turned into disaster

I stayed at an impressive Eco-hostel in Thailand, called  Spicy Pai, one of the most charming hostels I’ve ever seen, but was it a pleasant stay? 

Spicy Pai was not the cheapest hostel option in Pai costing 150THB a night, but it’s one of the most Eco-friendly hostel, located slightly outside of the city center, near some magnificent rice fields. This place was amazingly gorgeous!

Eco-hostel Thailand

The rice firlds surrounding the hostel

 

Eco-hostel Thailand

A really relaxing place

 

I got a really cool suspended bed, at the mixed dormitory. The dormitory was large enough to give a feeling of privacy.  The bed was extremely comfy.

hostel Pai, Thailand

The top bed, is my bunk bed

 

The lockers were great and the whole feeling of peace was really cool. I arrived with 2 American girls, who joined me for an Eco-friendly hostel time after a frenetic couple of months in Chiang Mai. We strolled around Pai’s little streets and had a great time searching for vegetarian restaurants.

The night came down and the nightmare started. The people who were staying at this hostel were hard core party animals. Although the owner had promised the noise and party would be off by midnight, the truth is that the chaotic partying went on ALL night long!

My first night was horrible, not being able to sleep one minute and feeling like a zombie the net day. I decided to give it one more chance and see how things would go in the following night. After all, I went there specifically to relax, since that was the image this hostel tried to sell on their website.

places to stay, Pai, Thailand

The dorm on the left and the hang out area on the right

 

Another horrible night… People got so drunk and loud, I could hear them vomiting in the bathrooms. As you can see by the photos, the hang out area is right next to the dorm, and they’re both opened. No sound proof, not many walls, so if people party like animals all night, no one will be able to sleep.

Not only was it loud at the hang out area, but people kept coming in and out of the dorm, singing, talking loud, turning the lights on, driving their motorbikes everywhere….

I was really pissed off, the owners promised the noise would be off by midnight but the sun rose and people were still going wild, with extremely loud music and screaming…

I talked to the owners and told them I wanted to check out and move to a relaxing place. I said it’s not pleasant to be in a hostel where I can’t sleep for 2 days in a row. The owner convinced me this would never happen again and this coming night, he would personally make sure the noise was off by midnight.

Can you imagine what happened??

places to stay, Pai, Thailand

The hang out bamboo area

 

Well, the party started at night. I saw the owner bringing in the alcohol, which he sold non-stop. So, this owner actually was fueling the parties with the alcohol and because it was profitable to keep the people consuming and partying there, he made sure people didn’t want to go to the city center and drink somewhere else.

I got so pissed off. Seriously, why didn’t he let me check out and promised the noise would be off by midnight?

Next morning I asked for my money back. I felt scammed and I was sick and tired of that atmosphere. Every morning I had to deal with empty bottles everywhere, lots of trash people left behind and a very odd atmosphere. People didn’t drink for fun, they drank until they were vomiting and acting like morons.

A couple of other girls moved out for the same reason and I’ve heard that everyone who wants to relax ends up leaving early and searching for a better and cheaper place in town.

hostel, Pai, Thailand

It’s a shame….

I would love to say great things about this eco-friendly hostel, but besides the beautiful traditional tree houses, there’s nothing positive to say.

Of course crowds come and go and the atmosphere of a hostel is always changing, but I’ve met other people in Pai who stayed there for a night and moved out immediately, so this might be the norm. This was my experience, a waste of my time and money.

If you want a really cool, relaxing and beautiful place to stay, which is also 100% eco-friendly hostel in Pai, go for the Family huts, where you’ll have a whole hut for yourself for 100THB a night only (low season!)

 

As far as Spicy Pai…. definitely not recommended if you’re not planing to party 24 hours!  For the party animals who are searching for wild parties, this is the place for you!

 

8 Comments

  1. I don’t understand why the owner markets it as a relaxing resort when it’s really a party place. There is plenty of demand for party places so why not market it as such and get appropriate guests? He’d still be making money and this seems to be his number one priority rather than any concern for his guests’ comfort.

    • Yes Noor, it’s all about the money. The party guest are much more profitable than us, who just want to chill out and relax. They not only pay for the night rate, but consume huge amounts of alcohol there. They stay there for the whole night consuming and then on the next day, they have hang overs and and eat there because they’re too lazy to go out into Pai which is a 20 minute walk. We, “regular” folks pay for the night rate and hang out all day exploring the city and restaurants around, so we’re not as profitable. Since it was low season, the owner just tried to suck as much money as he possibly could from all sides. I got my money back from the last night, but spent 3 days without sleeping and left Spicy Pai totally pissed of and feeling cheated.

  2. I stayed there about a year ago and it’s definitely a party hostel, and not a relaxing eco hostel whatsoever. They even had a volunteer at the time who was specifically tasked with creating a party atmosphere. I had a good time there as partying was what I expected, but it’s a shame they advertise themselves as anything else! Fortunately there are some legit eco hostels elsewhere in Pai.

    • Seriously? So this is definitely a party hostel… They’re so dumb to fool their guest with fake publicity of a relaxing hostel in the nature…

      • and for those animals, its not a quiet night also..they need peace and quiet time too.

  3. That is the lamest thing!! Did you get your money back? I sure hope you did..

    • I got the money for the last night, but not for the other 2 nights…I slept nothing during those days and I should have never trusted the owner.

  4. OMG, what a nightmare! I think, I wouldn’t have stood this party place longer than two nights, especially when expecting a quiet and peaceful eco-friendly resort. I hope, all other places on your travels were better and more what you expected.

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