Hostels in Siem Reap: Dorm Beds or Private Rooms?

Choose by who you travel with and how you sleep. A dorm suits one traveller who wants to meet people at the pool and over breakfast. A private room suits couples, friends sharing a bill and anyone who needs a calm night before a sunrise start at Angkor Wat.

These four hostels combine a 4.6 or 4.7 Google rating with more than 1,000 reviews, which makes the score reliable. Distances are straight-line kilometres to Angkor Wat.

Onederz is tagged clean and social, Lub d modern and comfortable, while Mad Monkey and The Funky Village lean towards pool and party. Mad Monkey's Hostelworld listing shows air-conditioned dorms and private rooms, so both formats are open to you there. Our page on social hostels for solo travellers ranks them by atmosphere.

A dorm is the lowest-cost way to stay, and it comes with built-in company. Hostelworld describes Mad Monkey dorms as air-conditioned with 360 degree privacy curtains, and The Funky Village lists dorms from 4 to 28 beds with personal lockers. Lub d describes privacy curtains and stairs instead of ladders. Dorm sizes are not stated on every listing, so check the room names for the bed count.

A private hostel room keeps the social life of the building and adds your own door. The Funky Village lists private en-suite doubles, twins, family rooms and deluxe rooms beside its dorms, and Mad Monkey lists private rooms too. The price sits between a dorm bed and a small hotel room, so the price and quality of hostel private rooms is worth a read when two of you travel.

If you want a pool and a breakfast table without a party around you, a private room in a calmer hostel often beats a budget hotel on value. If you want the quietest night, look at quiet hostels for light sleepers or at guesthouses and homestays.

A short rule for each profile saves time. Solo travellers who want to meet others for a tuk-tuk share to the temples should take a dorm bed in a social hostel, because the common room does the introductions for you. Pairs who travel together for more than three nights usually prefer a private room, since the extra space for bags and a door that closes pay back every evening.

Remote workers need a table, a socket and a calm hour, so a private room in a quieter hostel suits them best. Small groups of three or four friends can book a dorm room together or a private triple, and the live rate on Agoda and Booking.com shows which one costs less per person for your dates. Families with children find more space in a guesthouse or a hotel, see budget family hotels.

Hostels near Pub Street and the Night Market give you food and nightlife on foot. Hostels around Wat Bo and the river give calmer evenings. The area guide shows the trade-offs, and the cheap hotels page covers private rooms with a hotel desk. For more comfort, see mid-range hotels.

These pages from the same guide cover the neighbouring questions in more detail.