Mad Monkey Hostel, Vang Vieng

We aren’t your typical party hostel — we want to show you an epic time by immersing you in the local culture and connecting you to the communities you’re exploring. Our socially responsible hostel has projects in Asia that directly supports the locals — building water wells, creating education funds, providing fair employment for our team, and so on — which we’ve found is the best way to effect change. Your stay with us contributes to these efforts.

Our story begins with three backpackers — Steve, Tom, and Alex — who came to Cambodia in 2010. They quickly fell in love with the country and its people, however, the good times they were having in Phnom Penh were contrasted by the poverty that they came face-to-face with each day. Wanting to do something to give back, they had the idea to create substantial, sustainable, and positive change in the country to help other travelers experience its wonder. People thought they were mad, dubbing them the “Mad Monkeys”.

And thus, Mad Monkey was born and has quickly expanded since. Starting in 2011 as a single hostel in Phnom Penh, travelers were drawn to the vibrant atmosphere and social responsibility at the core of the company. Today, Mad Monkey is one of the largest hostel companies in Asia, serving over 350,000 customers per year in Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Indonesia, and Laos. We continue to rapidly grow as more hostels, property owners, and partners adopt Mad Monkey’s way of delivering a truly amazing customer experience with a social purpose.