Cheapest area for accommodation in Singapore ... Geylang area
Well it has been a nearly a month since leaving my job. I did not think this would take this long to get ready for my trip. You can see the details in my Au Revoir Singapore post. So where have I been staying. Well a friend was kind enough to put (me) up with me for a week. Then I thought I would be near to leaving but with my passport and Russian and Chinese Visas taking nearly a week each.. I found a local hotel to stay in. Hotels are expensive in Singapore. I know Singapore quite well and starting looking around the outskirts of the city center. But really the only cheap lodgings were hostels and shared dormitory's. I did some search on-line (the sites I am using are AsiaTravel.com, Trip Advisor, Agoda. com and Booking.com.) AsiaTravel.com seems to be the most competitive for Singapore. Booking.com was the easiest for me to pre-book my hotels for China. I could find places that did not require a credit card. So where did I stay? Geylang.


There are a number of cheaper hotels in the area and quite a few Hotel81's. Having walked in a few hotels in the Bugis area, I decided to stay in Geylang .. Hotel 81 Gold. Geylang is a working class area, and very down to earth. Before booking on-line I went for a visit. There had to be a reason why these hotels were so much cheaper than the other hotels in Singapore. Yes .. this is not a tourist area. And there are some working ladies on the main strip. But it is all very much focused on the locals. The MRT is Aljunied a couple of stops from City Hall and Bugis on the line to Changi Airport. I checked out the hotel room... and it was not too bad. So .. acclimatizing for my whole trip, spend a week there and if you are a budget traveler this is really not too bad.
I tried to negotiate a rate at the door, but found that the internet rates were better than offered. I think I will do this going forward in each major city I go to. Will keep you updated!
There are 2 clear advantages with staying at Geylang. 1) the ABC's (Apple, Beetrook, and Carrot juice) are pretty good and the friendliest .. at $2.50 each. Bargain.