Happiness Hostel Boracay

The people . The staff and making new friends

Pool table needs fixing

Pool

Wi-Fi

Pros: Vibe is really great at Happiness. They've done well to engage guests in daily/evening activities and provide lots of options to participate if that's your thing. Some evening events at the property go quite late, so if you want to get sleep I suggest ear plugs. Facilities have lots of great amenities - the cafe, bar, billiards, skate-park, pool, lounge area. Good amount of staff present daily and they are attentive to your needs. Beds are wider than a single so space is quite good and the mattress is fairly comfortable. Got 2 pillows on the bed which was a plus. Outside of the dorms is a cloth hanging line and shoe rack to help keep wet bathing suits and towels out of the dorm-room and keep it tidy. Restaurant/Cafe food is alright...I'd give it a 6/10. I ate there frequently out of convenience, some meals a-ok, others I didn't order again...but, for convenience it works. Bonus that they give 15% for all guests staying at the hostel but keep in mind they exclude 12% tax + 10% service charge that is added to your bill at the end. Pool is lovely, very clean and refreshing. The swinging hammock/benches are a pleasant touch and I enjoyed hanging out on them in the evenings. On-site clean water coolers were a good addition.

Cons: WIFI is NOT good here. It cuts in/out and signal is quite weak. I asked front desk about it, at one point they gave me their private office wifi when I explained that I do online work and I really needed a strong connection. Many times tho, I had to use my own data and hotspot to be able to get online because no wifi they had worked. I'm not certain if the WIFI thing is a Boracay issue or just this place? Dorm Room beds do not have curtains - instead its a sliding wood door. It does feel like you're kinda boxed into a tomb at night, and the doors are super loud to open/close which was super disturbing with late check-in or early check-out which was nearly every day. Also, they offer under-bed locker but the door to open is awkward and loud to open, and putting bags in/out gets really disrupting but also inconvenient cause its right on the floor under the bed you're sleeping in. Biggest pet peeve staying here is that it was really disturbing to stay in a dorm-room here...unlike my experiences at other hostels. The Bathroom, while its kept clean by staff, is rather grungy. Albeit, the shower had a nice shower-head with hot water! A reno would make it feel at a more comfortable level. The toilet seat was terribly damaged, and the walls and ceiling were very dirty looking. There was only 1 bathroom and it was inside the door. Location-wise, you walk about 3-5 min to get to the main road...its not very far, but its also not right on the beach if you're after that. I found the pricing for the cafe/restaurant to be a little high for a place off the main beach area - If you venture to lesser known cafes/spots not directly on the beach you typically find pricing better. Given that Happiness is not on the mail beach, I expected to find better pricing but that wasn't the case. The cost for coffee/tea here was quite high in my opinion especially if you need oat milk alternative (extra charge).

Friendly and social crowd. Great for meeting people from all over the world.

The staff are so friendly and good fun.