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Despite having a heap of dorms and three private rooms, there wasn't a single guest staying at Sirin Samui when we visited, which is a shame, as despite the off-the-beach location it is pretty good, and certainly well located for Choeng Mon's eating and drinking options.

Modern styling. Photo: Stuart McDonald

The eight-bed dorms are very tightly configured, with metal-framed bunks with decent mattresses, white linen and charging plugs. Shared bathrooms are in two blocks at opposite ends of the custom-built dorm building. It faces onto a small lawn area and then the three private rooms, with two on the ground floor and one above.

We were shown a sparkling new and so clean ground floor one which had two single beds pushed together to form a double with attached bathroom. As is often the case with hostels in Thailand, the private room isn't the best value, as you can get an acceptable (though not great) room by the beach for a similar price.

A spartan double room. Photo: Stuart McDonald

Sirin Samui also has a large common area, with pool table, flatscreen TV, a bar and a swimming pool with a few deckchairs lined up. The pool is a welcome addition as the beach is perhaps a 10-minute walk from here, but if this hostel takes off and all those eight-bed dorms fill up, the pool is going to prove to be way too small. There is also an on-site bar and restaurant, though we didn't try the fare.

Dorms are keycarded for security. Staff are friendly and chatty -- they seemed quite taken aback when we showed up. When we asked if the hostel had been built to house budget package tours, we were told that wasn't the case. You'll pay marginally less by booking online.

If 400 baht-plus for a dorm bed has your jaw dropping, you want to head around the corner to Eurohostel where the dorms are far more spacious; there we saw an eight-bed dorm that was big enough for all eight bunk dwellers to swing cats simultaneously for less than half the price. However there is no pool, you are a little bit further from the beach, and it lacks the brand new feel of Sirin Samui; think stale cigarette smoke, burns in carpet and generally a bit grotty, but hey, what do you expect for 150 baht a night!