Mad Monkey Hostels Reviews 5

I’m leaving this review to document a serious security issue during my stay at Mad Monkey Koh Rong from December 30 to January 4 2025.
After I checked out and left the island, I realized valuables were missing from my backpack kept in the shared dorm area: 800 SGD in cash (around $620 USD) and my OpenRun Pro 2 wireless earphones (around $180 USD). Both items were stored together inside a small pouch in the front compartment of my backpack.

The incident was reported to management, who said they would review CCTV and reach out to guests, however no clear outcome or recovery followed.

I paid around $30 USD per night, which is not cheap for a hostel, and the minimum expectation is basic security — or at least a clear process and accountability when incidents happen.

To be fair, the social atmosphere was good and it was easy to meet people, but I cannot recommend any hostel where guests can’t feel even minimally safe with their belongings.

Mad Monkey Chiang Mai:
I visited Mad Monkey in Chiang Mai, Thailand on June 18, 2025, and had an incredibly bad experience. I arrived in the afternoon and had booked a female-only dorm, but was checked into a mixed dorm instead. I went back down to let them know that I had booked a female dorm, not a mixed one, to which they replied that they didn’t have any female dorms available. I complained, saying that it shouldn't be possible to book a female dorm if none are available. After a while, another staff member suddenly found an available room for me — one that was just sitting empty.

However, I later discovered why the room had been left unused: it was INFESTED with bedbugs — so many that they were crawling on the beds, the pillows, and even up the walls. It was the most disgusting experience I’ve ever had in my life! When I went back down to explain that I couldn’t possibly stay in a room surrounded by bedbugs, they told me they couldn’t guarantee that the other rooms didn’t have bedbugs as well.

I ended up getting a full refund for my stay and I do NOT recommend staying at Mad Monkey in Chiang Mai.

Mad monkey review

Pros

Great party, lots of games, free shots for a bit

Earl is absolutely the best bartender of the bunch so polite and so .. honest and trustworthy perfect service from him

Things to be aware of :

The rooms were not super clean, not totally disgusting but my shower looked like it had ### on the walls

Bar Staff will continue throughout the night to bum smokes off the travellers, and they would intentionally follow you out to bum smokes, so much that it got ridiculous, 4 bartenders continued to ask me for cigarettes

If you are staying in a dorm they will charge you for a towel

They run out of change so then you automatically pay them more for drinks

It advises no food in the rooms so we put our snacks in the fridge downstairs and they were missing the next morning, then I saw them hand snacks to a different traveller and he went upstairs

I mean I'm not sure but pretty sure two prostitutes hung out two nights at the pool table, it was pretty obvious they were not in the house

They have a 1 hour all-you-can-drink monkey punch and there is a record of how many you can drink in 1 hour. This is cool but the competition does lead people to compete, so much so a traveller got so so so sick they were carried out on a stretcher to the hospital, the drinks are strong be careful .

We had laundry done at the hostel and things went missing. We emailed and messaged the staff. The staff said she would bring it to the mad monkey in el nido since she would be there when we were but she ghosted us. Mad monkey also did not reply to our emails about getting the laundry missed, so we are pretty sure the items were stolen.