Hostels can be a great way to save money on vacation, especially in expensive destinations. They often have great central locations, and can offer useful facilities like kitchens and laundry rooms.
But staying in a room with a bunch of strangers might seem daunting, especially if it’s your first stay in a hostel or you’re a solo female traveler. But it doesn’t have to be! I had only stayed in a hostel a few times before this summer, and then I stayed in hostels almost the entire summer while traveling Europe. You can definitely acclimate to them quickly.
If you’re planning a trip that includes hostels, here are my top tips for staying in hostels.
1. Research their facilities online before you book
Hostels can vary a lot in the facilities they offer. Some have shared kitchens with fridges, microwaves, cookware, and so on. Some have laundry rooms you can use (usually for a fee). Some have lounges. Some have restaurants or bars attached.
But just as many hostels don’t have all or even any of these. If you are looking for something specific (like the capacity to cook), double check the facilities a hostel has before you book.
Check sites like hostelworld.com and booking.com, not just amenities listed, but also what’s shown in photos. For example, a hostel might say they have a lounge, but it could be incredibly tiny. And obviously, check the reviews on multiple sites, and even Google Maps.
2. Make sure they have lockers in the room
Every hostel will give you access to a bed and a bathroom. But when staying in hostels, the thing you have to pay attention to is safety, especially if you’re a solo traveler.
In general, hostels are perfectly safe. You don’t need to be afraid of staying in one. But you will want to minimize the chances of anything bad happening to your valuables.
You don’t know if you can trust the other residents of your room, and even then, people will change every day or two. So the safety of your stuff is of utmost importance. And you get that with a locker.
Most hostels have at least small lockers that can fit a small backpack, but not all do. It’s essential that your hostel has at least small lockers so you can store your valuables.
Some hostels have a whole drawer under the bed that you could fit a carryon-sized bag and a small day bag. But many places don’t offer such large, lockable drawers.
Example of a large, under-the-bed lockable drawer at a hostel
3. Bring a towel, lock, and flip flops
Staying in hostels is a great way to save some money while traveling. But the cheaper price comes with a lack of amenities. Namely, they don’t usually provide you things like towels, locks for lockers, and toiletries.
Of course, many hostels offer you towels and locks to rent, for a fee. But other hostels don’t offer these at all. So you don’t want to be caught in a situation where you have no towel or lock, or have to pay exorbitatant fees at the one store in the area selling what you need.
(Like the time I paid $20 USD for one charging cord that I desperately needed in the Old Town of Dubrovnik.)
So to save yourself money and trouble, bring your own towel, lock, and toiletries. If you take away one thing from my tips for staying in hostels, this should be it.
To pack light, you can bring pack something like a microfiber travel towel or Turkish towel.
In regards to the bathroom situation, you will be sharing the facilities with many people. You will want to bring some shoes you can wear in the shower stalls (e.g. flip flops, slides).
4. If your hostel has no lockers, store your valuables someplace safe
5. Book a hostel with beds with privacy curtains
There is a great feature that many hostels offer: privacy curtains on their bunk beds. It’s exactly what it sounds like – curtains you can open and close on one or several sides of your bunk. It lets you have your own little private space when you’re in your bed, which is so nice.
Example of a large, under-the-bed lockable drawer at a hostel
However, despite how nice these curtains are, many hostels don’t have beds with them. I think of the hostels I stayed at in Europe, more hostels didn’t have the curtains than did (though I tried to find places that had them).
Without curtains, hostels just have open beds. As in, the other people in the room can watch you as you toss and turn in your bed and play with your phone.
If you can, I’d definitely recommend you book a hostel with beds with privacy curtains. Of course, it’s not the end of the world to not have the curtains; it’s just nicer and more comfortable.
If you are unable to book someplace with curtains, you can always hang up a towel, sarong, scarf, etc to act as a curtain if you’re on the lower bunk.
