Name: Haikou Banana Hostel
Address: 21 People's Avenue, Liyuan Neighbourhood, Block 3 & 4, Haikou, Haikou, Haikou, 050207, China
Rating: 7

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English

Chinese

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Haikou Airport

Haikou Banana Hostel

Haikou

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My son and I rented bicycles from Banana Hostel. Very trustworthy (you have to leave your passport with them), and the bikes were great. We rode all over Haikou and it really made the difference to our trip. Apart from a couple of overpass things, Haikou is flat and we rode out to Holiday Beach.  30RMB a day per bike and 500RMB cash deposit.
Also some odd German Beer available!

Didn’t stay overnight, but rented bikes and they were greag

This place offers great value.  I had a clean, quiet single room with a private bath. Very comfortable. But the huge benefit of the hostel, which is free, is the opportunity to meet and interact with other guests and interesting staff. This is facilitated by their sale of beer and soft drinks at the reception desk and three areas that are comfortable to sit and talk:  the lobby, the outdoor patio, and an inner room that feels a bit more private. I met interesting people from all over. After Chinese, English is the most used language among the guests. I met a lot of Chinese people as well as guests from the Ukraine, Korea, Canada, Germany, and France. The staff is very friendly and helpful. I got detailed advice on shopping, bus routes and restaurants from them. The staff can all handle business in English and one of the owners is English. The location is also great for walking out to street food, several good restaurants and the old part of the city. 

One of my favorite hostels ever

For the peace of mind of knowing that you won't have any language issues alone, this place is worth staying at. Apart from late evenings, there was always someone around who spoke good/great English to help with all the logistics/transport/sightseeing questions we had, which was essential for us in a place like China where bus routes, opening hours etc etc aren't in English and (depending on your VPN) even GoogleMaps won't be available. Their website has a foolproof English guide to finding the hostel (even with youtube videos!) and a great map with useful bus routes, sights etc - well worth printing.

The other big plus is its price given its excellent location - a short 10 minute walk from the old town, just off a main road with supermarkets, restaurants, lots of bus routes, and 5 minutes from Haidan Snack Street - a great evening night market with 50+ local food stalls. 

Otherwise the hostel is what you'd expect for the price. We had a private room with a near-solid bed, aircon and bathroom with a very weak shower over a squat toilet (we ended up using one of the shared bathrooms with a better shower and western toilet which was no drama). Wifi was good and there was a friendly vibe at the bar in the evening - there aren't many western tourists in Haikou, and the only ones we did see were at this hostel! 

Some other tips: For getting around by car, the Didi app was fantastic - it's China's equivalent of Uber, all in English, cheap, cars everywhere, and avoids the risk of the driver getting your destination wrong (and they're all eager to please in order to get a 5 star rating). The Pleco app is great for translating pinyin to chinese characters - good to help you read signs, or to show to locals when trying to book train tickets etc. Via the camera it can also translate text to English, sometimes with great accuracy. 

All in all, the Banana Hostel is a great choice for a short sightseeing trip to Haikou. As other reviews say - it is a hostel, not a hotel, but value for the small amount of money you'll pay is excellent.

Top location and helpful English-speaking staff

We booked this hostel, knowing that it was cheap and that it would be basic living for 4 nights. Saying that we did enjoy our stay here. We had a double room with a private bathroom. They are simple rooms- the beds are hard (even by my experienced Indian standard!) but were clean and tidy. They provided you with enough to make the stay comfortable -towels, mosquito repellent plugs (which was very appreciated!), a TV etc. There are western option toilets but we ended up with a squat which we were fine with. The bathroom is essentially the shower room, which as they warn you can be slippery, but there was plenty of hot water to use. The food here (westernized) was really super! We had a lovely English breakfast and enjoyed several evening meals. They have a cute little courtyard area for eating/ drinking as well as some space inside too. The location is also great. There is a supermarket on the corner if you need any supplies, a coffee shop/ bakery across the road and you are walking distance from 'Old town' and 'Baishamen Park' (which we loved). They have a map with some food recommendations, a super pocket guide for helping you to explore and a stack of English fiction books for you to borrow. The staff were super friendly and particularly helpful with organising taxis. They have enough English for most things to be understood.

Haikou Banana Hostel

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