Lub d Bangkok Silom — the budget Silom hostel that punches well above its price
If you want a bed in the middle of Silom without paying hotel prices — and you'd like a bar, a cinema and a social scene thrown in — Lub d Bangkok Silom is the hostel solo travellers and backpackers have been coming back to since it opened in 2008. It sits on quiet Decho Road in Bang Rak, four floors of industrial-cool concrete and plywood, 36 rooms and 98 beds. Dorms from approx. THB 550/night, private rooms from approx. THB 1,400/night. About an 8-minute walk to BTS Surasak, close to the Silom night market and Patpong. The best-value bed in this area for the traveller who puts location and atmosphere first.
Lub d Bangkok Silom has been open since 2008 and remains one of the most-reviewed and most-booked hostels in the city — because it doesn't try to be just a cheap bed. The four-storey building on Decho Road uses industrial concrete, plywood doors and a glass-roofed stairwell that floods the common areas with natural light. The overall impression is of a place that looks sharper than anything else at this price in Silom.
Dorms come in mixed and ladies-only configurations of six to eight beds. Every bunk has its own reading light, a universal power socket and a locker beneath the mattress. Shared bathrooms on each floor are clean, with lockable cubicles. Private options include a Railway Twin (two bunk levels, shared bathroom) and a Private Double with an en-suite bathroom and a flat-screen TV. One honest note from the reviews: the dorm beds have no privacy curtains between them — if curtains matter to you, look elsewhere.
"Staff really do go above and beyond — I arrived early and they sorted breakfast for me before hours. Social areas are great for meeting people, the cinema has free popcorn every day. Incredible value for Silom."
The real draw is how much communal space the hostel packs in. There's a bar with a daily happy hour (beer from THB 50–80), an in-house cinema with bean-bag chairs and free popcorn, a lobby with seating and computer terminals, and a small terrace with yellow tables that fills up come evening. Staff run organised social events most nights — a bar crawl on Fridays, beer pong on Saturdays, snacks and get-togethers in between. If you're travelling alone and want to meet people, this hostel makes it effortless.
Location is the other reason to choose Lub d Silom. You're on a quiet sidestreet off Silom Road, about a 8-minute walk to BTS Surasak and 12 minutes to BTS Saphan Taksin, which connects you quickly to Siam, Asok or Chinatown. Street food and affordable Thai restaurants surround the block, the Silom night market (Soi 4–6) is a short walk, and Patpong is close too. Free luggage storage for up to two months makes this an ideal base if you're hopping between destinations and need to leave a bag. A score of 8.7 from over 1,200 reviews is a reliable signal that most guests leave satisfied.
The honest downsides: there is no lift, so four flights of stairs with a large rolling suitcase is genuinely hard work. Wi-Fi gets mixed reports — several reviews note it's slow or drops, especially on the upper floors. Dorm noise from late-returning guests is an occasional issue. Breakfast is not included; it's available separately for THB 90. This is not a place to hole up and work remotely — it's a place to use as a springboard for exploring Bangkok.
Tips drawn from the reviews: book ahead during the high season (December–January) and on long weekends — dorms fill fast, especially the Ladies floor. If you're a light sleeper but want to stay here, upgrade to the Private Double with en suite; the extra outlay versus sharing a dorm is modest. Don't miss the cinema during happy hour — by most accounts it's the best hour of the hostel experience.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Great location — walkable to BTS Surasak and Saphan Taksin, surrounded by street food and restaurants
- ✓ Staff go above and beyond; genuinely helpful and friendly
- ✓ Great communal vibe — bar, cinema, nightly events make it easy to meet people
- ✓ Dorms and private rooms are clean and better-designed than most at this price
- ! No lift — four flights of stairs with luggage
- ! Dorm beds have no privacy curtains
- ! Wi-Fi is inconsistent, especially on upper floors
- ✓ Outstanding value for a Silom location — dorms from THB 550 is hard to beat
- ✓ Staff organise social events and go out of their way to help guests
- ✓ Industrial-cool design that feels genuinely stylish for a hostel
- ✓ Free luggage storage for up to two months — very useful for multi-stop itineraries
- ! No elevator — stairs only, four floors
- ! Noise from other guests can disturb light sleepers in dorms
- ! Wi-Fi reported as slow or unreliable by several reviewers
- 💡If you have heavy rolling luggage and can't manage stairs — there is no lift here and four floors of steps with a large suitcase is hard work → consider ibis Styles Bangkok Silom nearby, which has a lift and starts from THB 1,500.
- 💡If you are a light sleeper who needs silence — dorms have no privacy curtains and late-returning guests are a reality → upgrade to the Private Double en suite, or choose a hotel rather than a hostel.
- 💡If you need reliable Wi-Fi for remote work — multiple reviews flag slow or dropping Wi-Fi → bring your own SIM as a backup, or choose accommodation that specifically advertises co-working connectivity.