Paper Plane Hostel in Kuala Lumpur – Minimalist Concept Hostel in an Urban Jungle

The infobox on Paper Plane Hostel ⭐

Update: Sorry folks, this hostel permanently closed its doors in 2021. We keep this review here for your information. You can find a list with all hostels in Kuala Lumpur here.

Tucked inside a 100 year old colonial house, Paper Plane Hostel is a remarkable hostel. It combines lifestyle with design, a touch of history, and a hostel experience that solo female and budget travelers are looking for.

We hopped over to Kuala Lumpur to have a closer look at the Paper Plane Hostel.  We’ve discovered a black-white-minimalist design and even a „hostelgeeks“-room.

Ever since the hostel opened in 2015, we had a close look on their development.

Read our full guide to the coolest hostels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

We’ve also put together a guide to the best hostels in Penang and the absolute best hostels in Langkawi.

We are Hostelgeeks, and we reveal for you the best hostels in the world. You can find all the best hostels around the world directly with us.

You can find many more top hostels around Asia such as

• best hostels in Bangkok
• best hostels in Chiang Mai
• guide to top hostels in Hanoi

Here are our impressions from Paper Plane.

Paper Plane Hostel in Kuala Lumpur in a Review

2 years after opening doors, the accommodation now is a 5 Star rated hostel by Hostelgeeks.

So, let us have a closer look at the Paper Plane Hostel.

What is behind the minimalist paper plane logo?

1. A tiny village in the urban jungle

The hostel is housed in an old mansion. The houses in this area are 100 years old, and one of the few ones left in booming Kuala Lumpur. Many skyscrapers surround the area. This is what makes these houses here so special.

It feels like a tiny village inside the jungle of urban city planning.

The Tiny Village around Paper Plane Hostel

The urban jungle around Paper Plane Hostel – view from the terrace

The hostel is sparkling – cleaned daily with toxic free products.

The hostel is run by local employees only. They give you access to local recommendations to get to know KL like a real local.

KL – that’s the nick name of Kuala Lumpur.

Thanks to Sam and the team, we got to know a real local side of KL, from local food stalls to sights and things to do.

Furthermore, the hostel teamed up with local artists, selling their art in the corridor on the first floor.

2. Black, white, minimalist

… this is Paper Plane Hostel in a nutshell.

The hostel is located inside a 100 year old colonial house which was completely refurbished and rebuilt to welcome the new generation of travelers.

When looking for a name, the founders did some research on existing hostel names.

The goal was to find a light name, summarizing the character of design: Paper Plane it was!

Have a closer look, one line in the Paper Plane Logo is kept in green—just to mark a difference.

Do you love design hostels?

Then you’ll love this ultimate list of +110 design hostels

The bathroom design is another highlight.

Whatever door you open to a toilet or shower, you will find a different kind of design.

It could be a peeing dog or perhaps a dog taking a shower—a great idea to turn the facilities into something interesting and curious, don’t you think?

On that note, here is a list of 13 design ideas you can steal borrow from hostels.

The private rooms are kept in a clean, simple design. The brick walls are a lovely design touch.

One of the private rooms has a minimalist light bulb painted on the wall, while the other one features big, black glasses.

We call this room the „Hostelgeeks Room“.

Certainly, it was not designed after us, but yet we like to think so. Maybe it will catch on?

The “Hostelgeeks” room, which was not designed after us, yet we like to pretend so!

Paper Plane also has female-only rooms available. We summed up the 7 pros and 3 cons of female-only dorms here.

Also, here is a guide on all the different room types at hostels. It helps you to get an idea what room you can pick.

3. A Concept Hostel

We love it when a hostel has a clear concept and vision. And Paper Plane also fits in perfectly. The hostel started with a clear concept of creating a home for travelers.

A home in a tranquil, stylish environment, on a budget, and with facilities every traveler appreciates. The place feels really intimate as it is quite small, yet not squeezed.

4. Perfect for the Budget Travel in Style

The rooftop terrace is the perfect spot to mingle, have a drink and chat will fellow mates. This hostel is highly recommended to everyone looking for a tranquil, chill stay with a social heart.

You won’t find the typical super backpacker-on-a-budget here.

The social experience starts with the team, the receptionist, welcoming you with a big smile.

We were welcomed with the phrase „I was waiting for you for 2 hours, I was starting to get worried” – as we’d arranged to arrive earlier.

These sentences right from the start gave us a welcome feeling you always appreciate.

5. Every hostel needs a Mika!

Mika is the soul of the hostel.

You can always count on her to give you top recommendations to actually taste and experience Kuala Lumpur from a local’s perspective.

On our first night, we asked Mika for some dinner recommendations.

Younnes, another fellow traveler from Belgium and us went together to a local restaurant, just around the corner.

Mika joined us for dinner, and even recommended local dishes to try out.

Read: Here is a list of 46 things that make a hostel awesome

You see, the staff at a hostel can make a major difference.

The difference between a well-designed hostel and a 5 Star-rated hostel can be indeed the staff working there.

Thankfully, the staff at Paper Plane are certainly outstanding — thanks for making Paper Plane Hostel a home!

Things to do in Kuala Lumpur

KL is a big city with so many different kinds of things to do.

You can visit the Batu Caves. The best way to get here is via public transport.

I also recommend going downtown and walk under the skyscrapers. The buildings, shopping malls and the architecture here in general are really impressive!

Another must-do is China Town. Here you can get everything you wish for.

Are you a big football fan? In China Town, you can get football jerseys for as little as €5. We leave it up to you to decide if they are “real”. For more things to do in KL, check out the travel blog of Travel With Pedro.

So, here again is a list of the best things to do in Kuala Lumpur:

• Visit Batu Caves
• visit China Town
• Take a photo of the Petronas Towers (but get your tickets to enter first)
• watch the Petronas Towers from the sky bar at Trader’s Hostel
• Take a local street food tour (highly recommended!)

More epic hostels around Asia

There are many more outstanding hostels across the Asian continent. We collected all the best hostels in Asia.

Here is a quick selection of the major destinations:

• 3 Best hostels in Beijing
• 3 Best hostels in Tokyo
• 3 coolest hostels in Seoul

And now, go out there and explore the world. You have just gotten hand over the world’s best hostels. Make ’em your home!

Promo Code for Paper Plane Hostel

Fancy a promo code for Paper Plane Hostel? Who doesn't?!

Now, there is no easy way to say this: Currently we do not have a valid discount for Paper Plane Hostel. We are working on getting more promotional codes for Paper Plane Hostel in Kuala Lumpur and all the other top hostels we reviewed for you.

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