Before I went for vacation, I booked myself for 3 nights by net at Beary Nice hostel at Chinatown. I chose Beary Nice due to great review and my fondness to Chinese cuisine.
Few weeks before my flight, I received an email from Beary Nice hostel. Its staff asked me whether I would be interested to try the new member of Beary hostels family, Beary Best. It is also located at Chinatown and 2 streets away from Beary Nice. The rate would remain the same, 26 S$ per night though the actual rate of this new hostel was supposed to be higher according to the email.
I arrived at Beary Best on 07 Dec and stayed for 3 nights. I paid my remaining 90% booking balance and was asked 50 S$ deposit for the room's electronic access card; the deposit was returned to me upon check-out. Wow! It was like a keyless entry for my room; without the card key you won't be able to enter the hostel, as well. It sounds great for I don't normally see this feature at hostels. However, there is a drawback about this and I would explain later.
Like the usual Beary hostels, guests were asked to remove their shoes or slippers and put them inside a covered shoe rack whenever they enter the hostel premises.
Since the hostel is new, all beddings and facilities are still on its pristine state. The entire place is very clean but since the hostel is not yet fully operational and some areas are still under construction, the workers can not avoid causing the otherwise clean wood laminated flooring to become dirty during daytime. Thus, I used my personal slipper while inside the hostel. In fairness, the staff make sure that the wooden flooring has been cleaned after the workers have left.
On my first night at Superstar room, I was alone for a mixed dorm room for 10 persons. the room was quite small in case all the guests would arrange their belongings at the same time. But of course, I don't expect that to happen unless all of them belong in one group.
I was given a lower bunk bed, as you can see on the picture. Next to my bed was the keyless door. It was really great to have this added security and nobody would howl when it comes to security matter. In fact I felt very secured on my first night even if I was alone inside the room.
However, on my second night, we were three and became six on my third and last night. Since my bed was just right beside the door, whenever another guest enter or leave the room, the disengaging of door lock was producing quite an irritating sound thus if you were a light sleeper, you can easily get awaken by the sound. Likewise, when the door closes it produces the same irritating sound. Since I just came from a -5 Hour time zone, I found it difficult to sleep and in case I dozed off I was easily awaken whenever somebody leave or enter the room. I believe the farthest bed from the door was ideal to have a comfortable and uninterrupted sleep.
By the way, the bed was spring type and supported underneath by wooden board unlike the foam and sagging type at other hostel. It was also firm but comfortable. I hope they'd install a personal light to each bed. I love reading books at night but I don't want the entire room illuminated while I am reading. To add, each bed has its own power socket nearby, very convenient and kudos to Beary hostel staff for this. My travel gears remained fully charged always during my stay.
On second floor, where my room is located, there are 2 T&B. One is dedicated for female bears use only. Both T&B are spacious and can accommodate several users at a time. But on my second day, we were asked to use the female bears T&B due to some "maintenance jobs" at the other T&B. We were also informed that we can use the third floor T&B. Regarding the toilets, the floor were tiled while the walls were polished concrete only. If not properly taken care of, those polished concrete walls would look "ugly" after some time. I hope those walls will be painted, at least. No problem with hot shower just see to it that the water heater switch is "ON" before taking shower.
Like in most hostels, nothing special with the complimentary breakfast. You can have bread, jams, peanut butter (creamy and crunchy) and cereals. Coffee and tea also.
We were taking our breakfast on that small table within the lounge area; pantry was still under construction at that time. After breakfast timing, the staff will remove all the foods so we can use the table for other purpose. In my case, while waiting for my evening flight, they allowed me to stay in the lounge and surf the net.
Laundry service was not yet operational when I was there but I have seen some washing machines and dryers being installed. Actually, they told me that I can do my laundry at nearby Beary Nice hostel. No problem, I just did my laundry at my favorite self-service laundry shop near KL Sentral, Malaysia. I was on my way to Malaysia then Thailand.
In conclusion, though the place was really great, I consider my stay at Beary Best hostel moderately enjoyable because of some missing facilities such as laundry and pantry. Not to mention the noisy keyless door lock. Anyway, the hostel was obviously not yet fully operational at that time. I believe that once all construction jobs have been completed and I hope they can try to deaden or reduce the door locking/unlocking sound too, this hostel would stand to Beary hostels great reputation. I just hope that they won't increase the price otherwise it will be another story.
A tidy house, a tidy mind. No, it is not our intention to give you a lecture, but there is some truth to that old proverb when it comes to miniature modelling on your workbench. Especially when working on several modelling projects at the same time (like we do), it is important to stay on top of things. How easily can those tiny parts needed for making 1/87 scale models get lost in a mess!
Apart from the usual storage cabinets with little drawers (used by DIY fans for screws etc.) we find small stackable containers with several compartments (see photo) most helpful. Once you are finished with your work, they can be stowed away on the shelf, taking up little space, and thanks to their see-through lids they offer perfect dust protection for your valuable small parts. We paid less than £2 per box, and you can get them in your favourite DIY store or online - a handy, neat and tidy solution!