The Big Easy
The bar at The Big Easy Phnom Penh during live music: guests in the booths and on the mezzanine, a guitarist playing by the screens.

Social stays for independent travellers

Good beds. Good food. Good people. Great locations. Two hostels in Cambodia — one in the middle of Phnom Penh, one on the sand at Saracen Bay.

Book Phnom Penh Book Koh Rong Samloem
4.2 out of 5
Google, Phnom Penh
~676 reviews
4.3 out of 5
Google, Koh Rong Samloem
~481 reviews
9.3 out of 10 · 9.7 out of 10
Location, city and island
Hostelworld subscore
No. 1
Restaurant on Koh Rong Samloem
Tripadvisor, of 27

Two hostels,
one idea

We're not the biggest and we're not trying to be the loudest. What we do is put you somewhere central, in a bed you'll actually sleep in, with people worth talking to and a kitchen worth eating in. Stay in the city, then stay on the island — same crew, same standards, six hours apart.

Dorm pods at The Big Easy Phnom Penh
The city Big Easy

Phnom Penh

No. 4, Street 172, Daun Penh — in the riverside district, near the Royal Palace, the National Museum and Central Market. Air-conditioned dorms and privates, comfortable beds, and a bar and restaurant downstairs that locals and expats drink in too.

Worth knowing: the hostel sits above the bar, and the bar is lively. Great if you want to be in the middle of it. If you're after early, quiet nights, book the island instead.

LOCATION 9.3/10
STAFF 9.2/10
SECURITY 8.4/10
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The beachfront restaurant at The Big Easy Koh Rong Samloem
The island Big Easy

Koh Rong Samloem

Straight onto Saracen Bay, a couple of hours from Sihanoukville by ferry. Swim before breakfast, hammocks in the afternoon, and a restaurant guests rate first of the twenty-seven places to eat on the island. Slower than the city, just as social.

Worth knowing: island power and water work on island terms, upgrades ongoing. Come for the beach, the food and the company.

LOCATION 9.7/10
ATMOSPHERE 8.7/10
FOOD No. 1
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City to island

Do both.
It's the same trip.

Most people we meet in Phnom Penh are heading for the islands next, so we built the route into how we work: bus and ferry timings from our reception, your onward bed booked before you leave, and someone who knows both ends of the journey when it inevitably changes. Phnom Penh to Saracen Bay, city Big Easy to island Big Easy.
Plan the route

Is this the right hostel for you?

The Big Easy is a social hostel rather than a party hostel. There's a bar, it has good nights, and plenty of people find their group at it — but nobody knocks on your door for a drinking game, and there's no pub crawl you have to join. If a full-on party is what you want, Phnom Penh has hostels built for that and you'll have a better time in one of them.

It works for solo travellers, couples, small groups and people working remotely — the wifi is real and there are sockets at the bed.

Backpacking Cambodia

Phnom Penh is usually two or three nights: the Royal Palace and National Museum, Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek, the riverside in the evening, Central Market for a morning. From here it's Siem Reap north, Kampot and Kep south, or the islands off Sihanoukville.

Koh Rong Samloem is the quieter of the two big islands. Saracen Bay is the long calm beach on the east side. Three nights is about right, four if you like doing nothing well.

Getting to Koh Rong Samloem All guides
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