Located in various places around South East Asia, Slumber Party is a new-ish revolution in backpacking that focuses on what a lot of people in the backpacking world were probably going to do a lot of anyway even if the hostel didn't exist: Drink too much.
Slumber Party not only doesn't frown on this sort of thing, they encourage it and specialize in helping you to keep the booze flowing nearly 24 hours a day. For me, this is a nightmare and not a place I would want to stay in at all at this point in my life, but back in my 20's this would have been ideal.
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I actually met the founder of this establishment before he ever opened it. He was simply a guest and traveler at a different guesthouse that we both just happened to be staying in. He had a bunch of ideas and a bit of money and years later I traveled back and he had already been wildly successful.
The idea was quite simple: Attract a youthful audience and get them to party all damn day long. A lot of the drinks are free and a lot of them are not. While many travelers are very hesitant to spend money on a lot of things, booze seems to be the one thing that they will not hesitate to splash out some cash for. A busy bar always attracts more customers and this works wonders for Slumber Party who normally attracts a massive crowd even of people that aren't even staying there.
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Toss in attractive bartenders and mix up a nightly pub crawl that takes dozens of revelers to all the hotspots of the area, and you have something that young people line up in order to participate in.
By the time I went back to visit, Slumber Party was already a huge success and he had already opened a second establishment in Thailand. They now have 8 hostels in 2 countries and their guests tend to travel almost exclusively inside this circle. They have locations in Krabi, Ao Nang, Koh Phangngan, Phuket, Bangkok, and Lombak.
It costs around $15 a night to stay and this includes several meals that are included. Later speaking to the owner he revealed to me that if someone decides to stay and doesn't party (a rarity) he actually loses money on the booking.
I have actually never stayed in this place because I am a bit too old now and would feel out of sorts being in a dorm with a bunch of 20 somethings who I probably have more in common with than they would imagine. Several of the locations do not even allow people over 30 to stay with them. While this would probably be illegal to have this policy in western countries, so would a lot of the other things that go on here as well.
While they do focus on boozing quite a bit, they also organize trips to the beach, offer island hopping excursions and also kayaking trips. If you are the type of person that feels a bit nervous making new friends while traveling, this sort of establishment kind of makes it easier for the shyer ones among us because they basically force you to get involved.
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When I was in my early and even mid 20's, a place like this would be a godsend. Sure it probably isn't good for you to be drinking all damn day long for many days in a row but that is kind of what my 20's were all about anyway so why not have a business that specializes in exactly that?
While there are many businesses like this one and it does seem to be the trend in traveling at the moment there really is only one king in the game as far as Thailand is concerned at that is Slumber Party.
Check out their website
One of their many mottos is "Come be a part of our story and help us “change the world one party at a time”. Or just drink as much as your liver can handle. Both are fine by us."