Mini Boxtel in AoNang, Thailand – Salty Hair, Sandy Feet and Superfruits with a Sea View

With sandy beach feet we were sitting in the brand new café, enjoying a creamy fruit bowl along with a beach side view. The radio played smooth jazz, and with the morning steadily passing, more and more people joined the coffee shop. We visited MiniBoxtel in Ao Nang, Krabi, South Thailand. We at Hostelgeeks brought back a beautiful design hostel, photographic impressions, and a story to tell. The fruit bowl however, sorry; that one was just for us!

The infobox on Mini Boxtel AoNang ⭐

UPDATE: Sorry dear readers, Mini Boxtel permanently closed its doors in 2021. You can find all hostels in Ao Nang Beach here.

MiniBoxtel Hostel is a small, female-only, design-led hostel at the beach front in Ao Nang.

It takes you literally 20 steps to feel the sand under your feet.

The hostel opened its doors back in 2015, as a result of the ongoing success of Mini House, the bigger sister hotel.

We are Hostelgeeks, your shortcut to the most outstanding hostels in the world, the 5 Star Hostels.

Based on transparent criteria, the 5 Star Hostels are budget accommodations with unique character and personality.

Ao Nang is the beach town, only a 20-min ride away from famous Krabi.

And if you are traveling around Thailand, here are more handy hostel guides for the country:

• best hostels in Krabi – close destination to AoNang
• full guide to the best hostels in Bangkok (with design and luxury)
• complete guide to best hostels in Chiang Mai, North Thailand
• 3 best hostels in Phuket Island, South Thailand
• coolest hostels in Koh Phi Phi, Phi Phi Islands
• 3 best hostels in Phuket, the largest island in Thailand
• greatest hostels in Koh Phangan, the full moon party island
• best hostels in Koh Samui, East Thailand
• 3 best hostels in Koh Tao, a diving paradise

Read our full guide to best hostels in Thailand – with backpacking itinerary and map.

Before we start, pack smart…

Remember to pack accordingly for staying in a hostel – yet, do not overpack.

Here’s our full packing list, including Noise-Cancelling ear plugs and your padlocks.

The Mini Boxtel Hostel in Review

Oh Yeah, during your Thailand trip, you will be able to stay at unique accommodations!

So now is time to relax and let us show you around.

1. Love, care, and passion

To quote the hostel directly; This hostel runs on love, passion, and care.

 „We believe that giving others the best, is the best receiving“

– Mini Boxtel team

The abandoned building in the center of Ao Nang got lifted from loneliness and given new purpose.

The owners recognized the potential of upscale accommodation for budget travelers right here.

After Mini House was a big success, the owners wanted to take a second step, and created the cities first female-only hostel.

After the opening, the hostel decided to upgrade the hostel to an even better place. The dorm on the first floor was removed and replaced by an impressive in-house café.

It is no secret: we love Coffee and Design!

Here you can order delicious food and creamy coffee to enjoy with the cities beach view. We got the fruit bowl with cereals and the freshest fruits and mango cream.

When you get one, please send us over an Instagram shot to make us jealous!

The stylish table in the center of the café bar is actually a 30-year-old rubber machine.

Along with many more details like travel quotes, surfboards, and colorful sprinkles over the hostel, it’s a fantastic place to unwind and kick-back.

Read: +110 design hostels you can admire all day long

2. Design-led hostel at the beachfront

Remove your shoes and go inside; you’ll discover a serious gem of design.

The colorful sprinkles in blue symbolize the ocean.

Splashed on the wall, it highlights the logo on the first floor as well as the room numbers on the upper floors.

It’s an elegantly discreet design.

The dorms themselves come in a pod-style.

Every pod has its own plug, light and curtain for privacy.

As Mini Boxtel is a female-only hostel, it’s therefore only female-only dorms here.

Simple, right?!

Read: overview of all different room types at hostels

We even created a handy introduction to female-only dorms with 7 pros and 3 cons to consider.

The café is the highlight of the accommodation.

The name of the café is „Lion&Shark“, the animal kings of the earth and water.

Have a closer look at the hand-painted wall behind the long sofa, as it shows different animals as well.

Besides a beautiful design, the concept becomes clearer when paying closer attention to the design elements.

In a nutshell, the hostel’s design is kept in a boutique style with gray and wooden colors.

The laid-back influence of a beach location is, there’s no denying it, a great way to enjoy quality accommodation on a budget.

3. The only female-only hostel in town

The photos, reviews and comments we received from our community here at Hostelgeeks convinced us: We had to stop by MiniBoxtel to see if it is really a 5 Star-worthy hostel.

We were excited to see for ourselves.

The hostel matches all the criteria, and really stands out of all the hostels in the area.

The concept hostel was designed after its bigger sister boutique hotel, the Mini House. It is the owners’ next iteration of success as a fresh approach towards female-only boutique hostels.

The whole hostel tells you the responsible one is a design lover and a fruit junky. From our perspective, Mini Boxtel is 100% pure Ao Nang.

4. Easy-going and chill vibes

Although it’s a female-only hostel, you will find a mix of gender in the café itself.

Guys are welcome here as well, and the atmosphere is easy-going and chill.

This is not your typical party hostel, but a serious social melting point for travelers exploring Thai-islands.

It is very common to meet people either coming from the islands like Koh Pi Pi, Koh Lanta or Koh Lipe, or from the Northern parts such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and so on.

Therefore, it is great to chat with fellow travelers about their experiences, and potentially create new travel plans.

At night, the hostel is surrounded by numerous options to go out and experience the town’s nightlife.

5. Passionate staff, loving Krabi

Last but not least, what about the staff?

The staff speaks great English, so you won’t experience that dreaded language barrier.

The team in the café downstairs will give you their personal recommendations for a good coffee or food to order.

We mentioned it before, but thanks to the recommendation we took the fruit bowl – and we still dream about that one, seriously!

Another plus for the staff is that they actually come from Ao Nang and area.

This means you have some friends here, knowing the area like the back of their hand.

Go for it and ask them for their recommendations.

Promo Code for Mini Boxtel AoNang

Fancy a promo code for Mini Boxtel AoNang? Who doesn't?!

Now, there is no easy way to say this: Currently we do not have a valid discount for Mini Boxtel AoNang. We are working on getting more promotional codes for Mini Boxtel AoNang in Ao Nang Beach, Thailand and all the other top hostels we reviewed for you.

How about we send you a quick email once we got a new promo code? Subscribe to our newsletter - it is completely free and useful! It it the quickest way to get the news straight to your inbox.

You can find all our current valid hostel promo codes here. We also share the latest up-to-date discounts by Hostelworld here.