Ever since Hollywood’s 2005 release of Hostel, a dramatic thriller, it seems all too common that people correlate the movie with actual hostels. Wrong. Perhaps it’s because the two homonyms, hostel and hostile, are causing confusion or maybe it’s the idea of communal style living that freaks people out, but we ever the confusion it may be detouring travelers from experiencing what hostel are truly like. We would like to unravel some of the mysteries in hostel life and why the backpacking community is so tied to them.

Hostels Are Safe

Whatever the reason for hostels getting an initial bad rap, specifically among Americans, we can say with confidence that hostels are safe to stay in. As independent travelers we’ve stayed in hostels, as a woman I feel safe in hostels, and as a couple we choose to stay in hostels. If you feel that a hostel is unsafe than it’s usually one of two factors. One is that you didn’t do your research and you’ve ended up in a part of town where you don’t want to go out after dark. We've been there. Or two, the guests in the hostel are the cause of your insecurity and this is something that the staff has no initial control over. Both of these situations are avoidable, rare, and not because of the hostel, but because of outside factors. Doing your research, like anything travel related, will elevate you of situations in which you could feel uncomfortable.

Hostels Are Clean

We’ve stayed in all types of hostels ranging from family style living to the wildest ongoing party dorms. We’ve had minimal complaints on the cleanliness of hostels. Hostels clean their linens with every rotating guest. A lot of times collecting your sheets and placing them into a bin is part of the hostel’s checkout routine. They have regular staff cleaning the quarters daily and even if that staff is the hung-over-bar-crawl crew from the night before, the cleaning gets done. You’re not getting the OCD scrub down when you stay in a hostel, but we've stayed in hotels with lower standards for cleanliness so we’ll take our nightly stay for half the price at a hostel. Research, research, research. The reviews on hostel world are there for your benefit as a potential guest. Read what other travelers have to say about a particular place and read a few of them, both the good and the bad. Hostels are rated, at least on Hostelworld, based on seven factors—one of those being cleanliness. We take these ratings seriously when considering where to sleep at night.

The Prince Albert Hostel in Nelson, New Zealand

You're Not Going To Get Robbed

You're probably wondering how we can assure that, and we can't 100% say that there's not a possibility, but it's extremely unlikely that you you will be robbed in a hostel. Most hostels provide lockers with your accommodations in order for you to secure your valuables. That may be a standup locker in your dorm room or a bin under your bed. This security feature has become standard in most hostels. You may need to lock it yourself, but we always have a lock on our packs and recommend it to other travelers as well. We’ve definitely stayed in a few that didn’t have a way to lock up your valuables (i.e- passport and extra money) so we just paid extra careful attention to keeping those on our person or daypacks when venturing out. Most hostels will also have a safe behind the front desk where you can keep your passport locked up if you would like.

We’ve had people ask whether we’re worried about being robbed when staying in an eight or ten bed room dorm, but we’ve had no such experience. I think this is mostly because of the hostel dwellers themselves. You’ll find that the attitude and overall vibe of most travelers in hostels are similar. There’s a great deal of trust and a heavy dependency on community when you stay in a hostel and as such, theft doesn’t seem to come with the territory. Even stealing food from the community kitchen feels wrong and out of place at a hostel. I would also argue that robbing another backpacker at a hostel won’t turn up many results and therefore it doesn’t happen often. Most, if not all travelers, even the first-timers, know to keep their valuables safe and anything worth stealing wouldn’t be left unattended in a dorm room. If you were to ransack our packs during the day it would be clothes, toiletries, and books. If those are stolen, so be it. The thief obviously needed them more than we did.

Note: some hostels require holding onto your passport upon check-in and will stow your passport in a locked safe until you are ready to check out. Remember if you have an early check-out to get your passport the night before. We almost missed our train out of Budapest, because their office didn’t open until 8am.

Hostels Are Open To All

Hostels are not just for the young, nor are they just for the nomadic. Because hostels are inexpensive, the guests all have one thing in common—a budget. This aspect appeals to all types of characters ranging from business folks to families. We’ve stayed in hostels with sixty-year-olds, middle-aged single dads, young families and adventurous eighteen-year-olds. We’ve met people who don’t drink and those who drink too much, travelers who swear by their religion and travelers who can’t stop searching for something to believe in. There is an unspoken blind acceptance when you stay in a hostel.

Hostels are a place to sleep at night, store your luggage during the day, and meet people traveling. We’ve come to idolize this style of traveling more than most. We see hostels as a big distinction between being a tourist and being a traveler. It’s become a rite of passage. We assume that most people travel initially for the adventure and to get away, but a big part of becoming a backpacker is experiencing the culture. To us that means the people—the natives and the nomads. Hostels host both of these key qualities as they provide friendly opportunities to mingle with the locals and they house like minded people under one roof.

Sure, some hostels, based on their amenities, location and ratings will cater to a certain age demographic. You might find yourself in a hostel that’s all college-age students taking a Euro-trip or you might end up in a youth hostel that’s families and students. Doing your research and reading the reviews will help you better assess what type of hostel you’re setting yourself up for. If the hostel has an age requirement or restriction than it will be listed on the hostel’s website or on hostelworld.

It's Not All Sex, Drugs, and Rock N' Roll

Well, some of them are. That’s right. There are specific hostels that specialize in creating the party atmosphere. Typically labeled as “party hostels” within the community, these places tailor to travelers looking for nonstop entertainment. This basically means 24hrs of opportunities to get drunk and the hostel hosts different activities for travelers every night, because when you’re traveling, everyday is a Friday. Events we’ve seen include the alcohol Olympics, bar crawls, foam parties, and Jäger trains. We’ve gotten discounted festival tickets through party hostels as well as exclusive pub crawls and tours. It’s a phenomenal way to make friends and to let loose. The environment is crazy and as much as it can seem overwhelming, it’s definitely worth the experience—at least once. Although, your liver might say otherwise.

There are some things to consider before booking a party hostel. First of all, it’s going to be loud and getting a good night’s rest is unlikely. Unless of course you’re a heavy sleeper. There is no curfew or quiet hours like regular hostels. But if you’re in on the fun and you know what you’re getting into, then this shouldn’t be a factor.

Despite these potentially detouring facts, you’re going to meet some incredible characters and fall in love with the staff. The staff’s job, after all, is to constantly be entertaining and you can only imagine how energetic and extraverted these people have to be to do that everyday for weeks on end. We still keep up with staff we meet at a party hostel in Budapest three years ago and our Valpariso Family from last year. They were that cool.

You Can Wash Your Stuff

Laundry is perhaps one of the more difficult challenges when traveling for an extended amount of time. Being consistently on the move makes it rather difficult to find a time and a place for doing laundry. Hostels offer laundry services, at least most of them do. For a fee they will wash a bag of your clothes. Some charge you by weight, but a lot of places either include it in your nightly stay or charge a flat fee. This is a great way to have your clothes prepped and ready to go while you’re out on the town exploring the city or taking a tour. One luxury that we didn’t consider when doing laundry is that most other countries don’t use dryers. Hang drying your clothes is still the most common method. That means it’s going to take more time so don’t wait until the last night to have something washed, especially at a small hostel where they may not do a load of laundry every day. It also means that you should consider your environment. We happened to get laundry washed while staying in Sigashora, Romania, but our clothes were returned smelling worse than when we handed them in. It turns out that drying clothes in a damp Transylvanian basement isn’t a good idea.

Other methods include finding a local laundry mat, which is usually cheeper than the hostel where you're paying for convenience, or hand washing your clothes. In the cities there are laundry mats every where and most of them will dry and fold before returning. We've also found it more and more common to just hand wash clothes in an outside sink or if it's just a few items, than in the shower. In Huaraz, Peru the hostile we stayed at was known for backpackers preparing to hike or returning from a hike and so they provided an outside sink and clothing line where travelers could wash their own laundry.

So what have we actually experienced?

The staff at Kokopelli Hostel in Paracas, Peru

We thought it might be helpful to just include some stories of the good and the bad we’ve encountered. Mind you the bad may sound… well bad, but the good most undoubtedly outweighs those small moments of discomfort.

*Staying at the Philadelphia House in Philly, we were happily surprised by their enforcement of no shoes in the house. Shoes were all left at the entrance of the hostel. Whatever the reason, presumably because the house was old and the floors were wood, we felt that it put everyone at ease. It was one more way of creating a welcoming atmosphere. Without shoes it felt like we were all here to stay and that we might as well take the time to get to know one another. The creative art, including an awesome word mural at the entrance made for a hip and exciting vibe and we also couldn’t argue with their free hour of beer, hosted in the community kitchen every night. This was a winning hostel and a very cool way to experience the historic city. Both the Liberty Bell and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Patty's Pub are right around the corner from this hostel.

*Guatape, Colombia’s hostel El Tomato was a lovely family style hostel set right in the lush jungle of the Andes Mountains. As it was warm and humid, the hostel didn’t have windows, only shutters in the room that stayed open. This allowed in some interesting creatures such as lizards, but overall it wasn’t a huge problem. We enjoyed the family that ran the hostel, and the travelers passing through who invited us a warm meal where we all giggled and tried to communicate without any common language.

*Staying at a party hostel in Budapest called Retox, Tom had the opportunity to meet and travel with a group of seven travelers having only met them for a day. They had all been traveling independently when Retox became the foundation to bring a few strangers together. It brought about an awesome opportunity for continuing onto a new country with an energized and fun-loving group of travelers, all with the same goal—to enjoy unplanned adventures. Arriving in Croatia and trying to book last minute beds at a hostel they found that their specified destination was full. The front desk attendant went out of her way to find seven beds available at another location and she even paid for the cab to transport the group from her hostel to another. The grand experiences continued as this hostel made specific birthday plans for one of the travelers, booked them a private winery tour, and gave excellent recommendations on where to journey to next. This afforded the group a chance to stay in a seven bedroom penthouse in Bibjini, Croatia for only $7 a day with an overlook of the sea. You never know who you’re going to encounter when staying at a hostel, but the opportunities are always there. The friends you make while traveling and in hostels are for life.

We had the recent pleasure of experiencing what the camping hostel lifestyle is all about. In South America, we had the opportunity on several occasions to stay in tents for ridiculously cheap while still getting all the amenities and socialization of the hostel. In Salento, they provided the tents, a mattress, sheets and pillows for less than a bed in a shared dorm. We were elated to be able to sleep under the stars in a private tent. In San Gil, Colombia we experienced Glamping for the first time and spent almost a week with some amazing like minded travelers far from the reach of good wifi and sharing a yurt. It was all the same lively elements of a hostel except a glittered night sky and good company around a big fire.

We look forward to the many and all crazy types of accommodation around the world, but more importantly we're excited to share how fun and exciting hostels can be with those who've never given them a chance. For more information we advise you browse hostelworld for inspiration and excitement.

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