Friday, November 19, 2010

The best backpacker hostels in Singapore?! :)

Got an msn from Paula, our beary good ex-host and she said her friend happened to see this article published by Cnngo.com. Typically I won't just click any link fearing those nasty viruses or trojans especially those sent via msn but this time round, just had to do it.. ha ha...

Actually our day host Ila mentioned to me a couple of days ago that a journalist/writer dropped by our hostel to sort of do an interview but I wasnt around. Was pleasantly surprised that our hostel has been selected as one of the best hostels in Singapore! A bit unfortunate that I did not get to meet the journalist/writer of this article else I would have explained why we came up with the 'cheesy' name a beary good hostel.. but nevertheless, am happy to be mentioned although not too sure how they came up with the ratings... :)

Here's the article for your reading pleasure ya!

p/s: Also thanks to our beloved guest Amar Naik for giving a nice review. Really appreciate it and glad you had a nice stay at our hostel!

Click here to read more!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010


The Standard Chartered Marathon has been going on for 8 years and the number of runners keeps growing. Many from other countries specially come to Singapore just to participate this event. We have some bookings from guests in beary good whom will be participating the run, too!

So, avid runners, did you sign up for the run? Well, one of our beary brave host did and will be running this international marathon happening on 5th December 2010 (Sunday), from 5.00 a.m. So, Run, Shan, Run!!! We will be supporting you, gal!!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Where are you, beary nice?

To answer your burning questions and to prove how close beary nice! is to the Chinatown MRT and how easy it is to locate us, one of our lovely host, Diane, created a photo guide to lead you to us @ beary nice! Enjoy for those visually starved folks.. hehe..:)



Thanks, D!! :)

So what are you waiting for?

p/s: Oh, when you come out of the long escalator from the MRT, remember to turn your head towards left, you'll see a beary good hostel's white sleepy bear logo greeting you! hehe..:)

Sunday, November 7, 2010

a story about beary nice!

Gosh.. I know I know, I have gone missing.. totally. :) But really, it's all for a good cause. Was terribly busy in the process of 'making' beary nice! our newest hostel @ Smith Street and now that it's finally opened, phew.. it's all good.

Really thank you so much for all your support! We've hit a whopping 100 guests in our first week of opening and the enquiries are flowing in. Really thank you!!

So, why beary nice!? Well, Bill and myself have always wanted to extend a beary good hostel @ Pagoda St due to the overwhelming responses from our satisfied guests and we felt so bad for guests whom we are unable to accommodate due to our limited capacity, so we decided to open a sister hostel, called beary nice! to keep beary good company.. ha ha! :)

We had alot of trouble searching for the right location initially, took us months! as our main focus has always been constant and that is to provide a place where the guests would be able to conveniently locate us and also definitely be central to everywhere else in Singapore! Where else but must be near the MRT/Subway/Metro, right?

I'm sure all of you know by now and can count the number of steps a beary good hostel is located, which is right outside of Chinatown MRT Station, Exit A: Pagoda Street. Well, beary nice! hostel is just only 2 minutes away from a beary good hostel! Smith Street (beary nice!) is famously known as the food street @ Chinatown Singapore, whereas Pagoda Street (abearygoodhostel) is known for it's busy bustling street for shopping for souveniers, clothes and even electronics! Now, that's what we call a lethal combination! We purposely chose the busiest street in the heart of Chinatown!!!

So here are some photos of the 'process of making beary nice!', some behind the scene photos, the work, the labour, the sweat, the battles, the tough decisions we had to make just to deliver a cosy and colourful beary nice! hostel just for you!! :)
colours: tonnes of paint were splashed all over the walls (okay, maybe I exaggerated a little! but let's just say, a lot of paint were used to colour beary nice!)..hehe..:)

planning: humm.. should I place it here? even made my trusty contractor to take some shots so I can 'visualize' it. Everything we do, we make sure the guest will use it comfortably, ok!

decisions, decisions: like choosing lightings..

more decisions: choosing tiles....

loads and loads of shopping.. the car was always filled up to it's capacity each time we got out of a store!!! We've learnt to ignore lotsa stares from passerbys...

battles: dealing with contractors who are always talking on the phone!! (just kidding, without them, we wouldn't have made it! Thanks Sunny and Eric!)
constant monitoring: had to be there daily to make sure all renovation works and carpentry are done properly!!!

Not shy!! Tolerating attention seeking renovation contractors: Haha.. no kidding, this jolly chap was so excited that I told him I'm gonna take pictures and post it on the web, he dived into every shot and started cam whoring.... I have many other shots... trust me...

Lotsa D.I.Y.S: To stamp our blood and sweat into the hostel, we take upon labourious tasks like painting furniture.... (don't worry, we have wiped off any visible blood stain and sweat *grin grin*)

Resorting to child labour: to keep our budget low, the DIYS includes engaging free child labour to fix up furniture...(note: no children were harmed in the process of the making of beary nice!)

beary nice! signages: the most important of all, our beary nice! signature logo!!


The final touches!!! And that's it! I present you the lovely, spacious, cosy beary nice!! *tsk tsk* We even had guests staying over before our opening on 28th October 2010! :)

Exterior view of beary nice! Rustic old and charming shophouse, about more than 60 years old!

beary nice! Reception... we maintained the ever popular reception logo where all guests love taking photos!

super cosy lounge fully equipped with comfy sofa, rocking chairs, surfing stations, wii, dvd player, 42" plasma tv, etc!!

our bright and neat functional pantry that comes with microwave, fridge and utensils! :

Our lovely cosy dorm rooms: Funky Orange Dorm Room

Cool Blue Dorm Room

Ever Green Dorm Room


Okay, that's it from me for now. I still have more photos to share. Maybe will do it later after I catch my breathe... (or rest my fingers).. ha ha.. later loves!!!