Unpopular opinion: I did hostels in Thailand for 3 weeks and a $9 guesthouse in Chiang Mai beat every one of them
I booked 6 hostels across Bangkok and the islands at around $14 a night, then grabbed a tiny guesthouse room in Chiang Mai for $9 cash on a whim. The hostel dorms had lockers and rooftop bars but I slept maybe 4 hours a night with people coming in at 3am, while the guesthouse had a fan, a real door, and a lady who did my laundry for a dollar. What is the cheapest private room you have scored that beat a hostel, and where was it?