Lub d Phuket Patong

Rooms and decor

Lub d Phuket Patong is a newer hostel from Thailand's Lub d chain, which has been opening branches across Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Silom and reached Patong in 2017. The building is modern, four storeys, with two main room types. The 4- and 8-bed dorms run $16 to $26 and come with a large locker under the bed, a privacy curtain around each bunk, a power outlet, and a reading and USB light per bed; the shared floor bathrooms are clean with six to eight showers. The private Double and Twin rooms are 14 to 18 sqm, cost $43 to $80, and have an en-suite bathroom, a soft bed, fast Wi-Fi and an easy yellow-white-and-wood palette. Trip.com reviewers (9.2/10) mostly call out how much cleaner it is than the usual hostel — fresh bedding, mattresses that hold their shape, and polite, helpful staff.

Food and amenities

Lub d isn't a plain backpacker hostel — it's a flashpacker place with the kind of facilities you'd expect from a 3-star hotel. The highlight is the on-site pool, roughly 8 by 15 metres with sun beds around it, open 09:00 to 21:00 daily. The in-house bar runs 18:00 to 24:00 and hosts a pool party every Friday and Saturday plus trivia night on Tuesday, so drinking, playing games and meeting people is easy. For digital nomads there's a co-working space on the ground floor with big desks, outlets and fast Wi-Fi, open 24 hours. A small breakfast is served at the bar from 07:00 to 10:00 and included in the room price, there's a shared kitchen on one floor, a small gym, and the front desk will book Grab cars, arrange Phi Phi and Krabi tours, and rent motorbikes. Overall score 9.2/10.

Location and getting there

Lub d Patong picked its spot well. It sits on Sawatdirak Road, one block off Rat-U-Thit Road, a 5-minute walk to Patong Beach and 7 minutes to Bangla Road, the heart of the nightlife. Street-food stalls surround it — pad thai, som tam and grilled chicken for $2 to $4 a plate, plus seafood spots and Western pizza joints. The big Jungceylon mall is 600 metres away, an 8-minute walk. Phuket airport is 30 km out, a 45-minute to one-hour drive, with a Grab running about $17 to $26; the hostel also runs an airport shuttle at $6 per person that you need to book ahead. To reach Kata or Karon, take the public bus for under a dollar or a tuk-tuk for $6 to $9.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. First, brace for the noise. Being this central means sound from the hostel's own bar until 24:00, from the bars around it, and from Bangla Road 200 metres away running until 1 or 2 in the morning. If you want a deep, quiet night's sleep, this isn't the pick — bring earplugs or choose Casa Blanca or The Memory in the old town instead. Second, the private rooms are small, at 14 to 18 sqm; at the $43 to $57 level you'll find bigger 3-star rooms in Karon or Kata, but none with this Patong-centre location. Third, there's no check-in before 14:00 as standard and check-out is 11:00, so if you arrive early or fly out late you'll need to store bags and use the pool or co-working space while you wait — which the hostel will happily let you do.

Our take

Lub d Phuket Patong lets you live right in the heart of Patong from $16 a night — design dorms, a pool, a bar, co-working and a dead-central location. For a solo traveler or a younger couple who want to be social, party and meet new people, it's hard to find a real rival. Use it as a base camp in Patong, head out for the night, and come back to a bed that costs almost nothing. But if you want a quiet night, a big room, or you're traveling as a family with kids, it doesn't fit at all. Overall we give it 9.2/10 — best for solo travelers, backpackers, digital nomads, and younger couples who want to party in the middle of Patong without paying for it.