Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with hostel

Please help me overcome my aversion to staying in hostels.

jason's_planet — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:02:29 -0800

Please help me overcome my aversion to staying in hostels. I want to travel more. Unfortunately, funds are a bit tight, so staying in expensive hotels is out of the question. I understand that there are hostels serving the lodging needs of people like me, people whose horizons exceed their incomes but I'm not sure if those would be appropriate for me. I'm older than the usual age profile for hostel travelers. For that reason, I'm not sure if I would be welcome. I also have a fairly negative attitude toward hostels; I tend to view them as grubby, shady establishments filled with odoriferous, America-bashing hippies and iPod-snatching thieves.

But I recognize that my prejudices are not based on any real experiences, good or bad. I would like to open my mind a little bit and consider hostels as a possible travel option. I'd like to hear what your experiences have been and whether you would recommend them as places to stay for someone who isn't going to be making partner or winning the lottery anytime soon.

So what is it like to stay in hostels? Do they welcome people over the age of 35? Are they clean and safe? Is it possible to use them just as places to sleep? (I'm not really into the idea of hostel-as-party or hostel as a place to hangout.) I need a bed, access to a bathroom, and a place where I can lock up my stuff. Anything beyond that is gravy.

And in the event that you tried hostels and found them lacking, what sorts of budget alternatives would you propose?

Thank you very much for your time; I look forward to your answers.

Southampton - fun and cheap?

CruiseSavvy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:59:05 -0800

Can you suggest fun and cheap places to stay and things to do in Southampton, England? I'll be in Southampton for several days at the end of this month, and would love to know about any good places to stay (hostels?) and fun things to do.

I'd rather not spend more than $100 a night on a hostel / hotel ... and less would be even better. I don't mind sharing, but prefer a women-only dorm. I won't have a car, so public transport or walking distance to the cruise ship terminal is important. (I'm in town to take pictures of ships.)

Are there interesting museums or must-see historical / cultural points of interest?

Also, where's the best place to get online with a laptop? (I'm guessing Starbucks is my fallback, but if there are cooler / cheaper options I'd like that too -- I'll have lots of photos to post each night.)

Thanks!

Rollin', rollin', rollin' on a suitcase.

mdonley — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:33:21 -0800

I am looking for two very specific things regarding my one-night layover in London this Wednesday/Thursday and my insanely heavy rolling suitcase. 1) A hostel with a lift/elevator (or all on one level!). I will have a huge rolling suitcase full of a year's worth of stuff and would prefer to not throw out my back hauling it up stairs.

Budget: £20-25 (less is fine); Zone 1 preferable, near Paddington Station or a Piccadilly Line station (with a lift/escalators!) perfect.

2) The path of least resistance (fewer/no stairs, more lifts/escalators!) to this hostel from Gatwick on Wednesday evening, and from this hostel to Heathrow T5 on a Thursday morning (my flight departs at 12:50, so I won't have to deal with an early morning scrum, hopefully). I'm happy to take buses/coaches, the Tube, overground trains, whatever, as long as I'm not paying, say, £10 more than I would or some alternate transport.

Recommendations for cheap hostel accomodation in Singapore

dohmer — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:29:57 -0800

I'm a single 25 year old male staying in Singapore for a couple of days in June I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for cheap places to stay? I don't know what part of Singapore I should stay in so recommendations/experiences would be welcome, I would prefer to stay in hostelish accommodation with people about my own age.

How do I get off the urban circuit with a Eurail pass and a backpack?

ontic — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:57:19 -0800

Backpacking through Europe: Help me find places other than big cities to explore using my Eurail pass. A little background may be helpful. I'm from the US, just finishing up a semester teaching abroad in London where I've done the big city thing quite thoroughly. Long ago I bought a Eurail pass for a trip around Europe after the semester was over. Originally, that trip was supposed to be Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Rome, etc. I still want to see a few of those, but I'd also like to find non-urban places and smaller towns accessible by my Eurail pass, ideally with cheap, hostel-like lodging nearby. My Eurail pass is the "any 15 days in 2 months for all of Europe" variety.

As an example, I'd like to see the Alps, but would love to stay in a hostel outside of urban areas. Yet I have no idea how to find such places.

(Also, I'm doing this for all of May, so about four weeks, and if anyone wants to meet up anywhere, drop me a line!)

Jesus Just Left Chicago, But Is There Room at the Inn?

lukemeister — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:57:46 -0800

Can we find a room in Chicago for $100/night? My wife, 14-year-old son, and I are flying there for the first week of April. We'll split time between one sister in the distant suburbs who has room for guests and one in the city who does not have room. The sister in the city suggested City Suites in the Belmont-Sheffield neighborhood where she lives, which sounds nice, but it's close to $200/night. Can we find two beds for under $100? I read this thread, but the places mentioned there looked even more expensive. We'd consider a hostel, though I suspect my wife and I would be the oldest people there! We really don't want to stay in (say) Itasca. If we can't be in the city itself, we'll stay with sister #1 and commute.

Extra credit for suggestions on things to do in the city - plays, music, museum exhibitions, sports. My wife and I have been there lots of times, but our son has not. The Cubs will be in town. Is it already too late to get tickets?

Where to stay in Melbourne?

adamk — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:27:57 -0800

Where to stay in Melbourne, Australia? Need lodging for 5 nights in mid-April. Looking at hostels, but there are so many options and neighborhoods to choose from! Thanks to everyone who gave advice in this thread a few months ago.

My flights are all booked, and next month I'll be flying: Los Angeles -> Sydney -> Brisbane -> Cairns -> Melbourne -> Los Angeles. I have hostel bookings in all of the cities except Melbourne.

Using sites like TripAdvisor, LonelyPlanet and HostelWorld I've found a few different hostels that all seem quite reasonable, but they're all in different parts of town and I'm looking for any advice.

In the city center there are options like Greenhouse Backpacker and Urban Central. In North Melbourne there are options like YHA Melbourne Metro. In St Kilda there are options like Cooee and Base.

Does anyone have any insight into these hostels, or the parts of town that they're in? I'm a 24 year old guy who is traveling alone, so I'm interested in staying places where I can meet people to hang out with, or duck out on my own for a day of exploring without needing to travel too far to reach the interesting attractions.

Sydney Hostels & Apartment

Black_Umbrella — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:25:31 -0800

Sydney questions: Which Sydney hostel should i stay at for international orientation week at University of Sydney? Which Sydney hostel should i stay at for international orientation week at University of Sydney?

I will be staying 1-2 weeks. It looks like Glebe is closer to the school, is that a good thing? Is it useful to be closer to campus during this time?

Perhaps Bondi or callaroy...atleast Callaroy lends you surfboards so i don't have to rent / buy one yet.

Note, after orientation i am going to be staying until the middle of January so i will need to find a place to rent during that time. Any information that helps with that would be great. No i have never been to Australia before.

I scuba dive & surf a lot, any good places to go??

Traveling alone in Spain - how to meet other travelers, and how to book rooms and train/air tickets on the fly?

inatizzy — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 13:35:59 -0800

It's my first time traveling alone! I'm spending 10-11 days in Spain, and I need some advice. How to meet people to share the experience with? How to book accommodations and train/airline tickets on the fly? I'm traveling alone to Spain for 10 days, flying in and out of Madrid, and I'm really excited because I've always wanted to visit Spain. (And to just do more international traveling in general!) Thanks to everyone who responded to my earlier question about what to do with my vacation time. I almost picked Costa Rica, but I found an amazing flight deal to Spain that I couldn't pass up.

I have plenty of sights to see and I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding things to do with myself once I'm there. I'm hoping to experience three areas: Madrid (maybe Toledo), Barcelona, and Andalusia (specifically, Seville & Granada). I'm traveling light (hopefully just a backpack and daypack) and hopefully staying in hostels, pensions or other cheap accomodations.

I'm trying to ignore my innate tendency to plan everything and instead do it on the fly. I've read that it will make my trip more fun and enriching, and I believe it. However, I'm not really sure how to do that once I'm in Spain and also keep my spending down as much as possible. (Do I go to a travel agent? Train station? internet cafe? And, how much time do I need to book rooms or flight/train tickets in advance to get a decent price and avoid things selling out?) Other than hostels, what accommodations are cheap but a good value? (as in, not a s***hole and in the city near public transport) And, is a Eurrail pass worth it? I've seen some cheap airfares recently, and I'm thinking that would be a better way to go than the train, and when it's not, the one-way train prices don't seem too bad... (STA Travel quoted me about $200 for a 3-day Eurrail pass and I don't know whether that's really a good deal. I don't know how much it will be to buy train tickets at the counter on the day I want to leave. Maybe it is worth it to spend a little more $ total, but take planes in some cases and train in others?)

I'm also really interested in meeting other travelers to share the experience with. The hostels that seem to be really good at promoting community are booked for this weekend already so I'll need to rely on some other method to meet people, but I don't know what that would be. (I'm still figuring out what's available at the end of my trip, but if I book things on the fly, I bet the best ones will be sold out again.)

I'd love any advice you can give me on this. Mostly, I just want it to be an enjoyable experience while keeping my costs down. I'm new to this so any insights you have will be much appreciated! Thank you so much!

Tropics on the cheap?

greta simone — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 08:00:45 -0800

Where can I go with the stipulations and budget that I have? I will be available to travel from Dec. 9 to Dec. 22 and/or Dec. 28 to Jan 6. I would like to go somewhere warm, as winter now has a firm grasp on home. I have some parameters I have to work within:

1. I can only take a Delta flight that costs under $450 (I have vouchers) or not much over. I know the airline sucks, but that's all I have to work with.
2. I can maybe spend $800-$1000 total for the whole trip (excluding flight).
3. I would like to go for a the longest break possible within one of my two time frames.
4. I have no problems staying in a hostel or homestay situation, but it MUST be safe, as I will be a young female traveling alone.
5. I would like beach and sand and beauty and calm, with culture as well. No frat-tastic party cruise stop-over towns, please.
6. I would need to fly out of RDU, CLT, or ATL.
7. I prefer to be out of the lower 48 states. No Florida please.

I am not asking you to be my travel agent. I'm having trouble searching for flexible dates AS WELL AS flexible locations while not being able to be flexible with my airline. I have looked at Kayak Buzz which was not helpful, as I cannot search for these things under one airline. I have also looked at STA (student travel), which was not helpful. I perused Delta's website, but I have to search dates and locations.

Is there a better place or way to search for these things? Do I need a travel agent? Do you have any specific suggestions? General ones?

Please do not suggest using a different airline. I would not be going if it weren't for the fact that I have vouchers in the first place.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

Can I bring a sleeping bag on my European hostelling trip?

fugitivefromchaingang — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:17:50 -0800

Can I bring a sleeping bag on my European hostelling trip? My sister and I are going to Europe for a month and will be backpacking/staying in hostels for a good part of the time. Neither of us have ever been to Europe before. Our friends who have done the hostelling thing have brought sleeping bags with them to sleep in. However, in the book my mom bought us about hostelling, it says not to bring a sleeping bag because some hostels don't allow them. (Apparently they're worried about people camping outside and then bringing in bugs and other outdoor critters.) The book recommends getting a "sleepsack" or just bringing sheets instead.

I kind of mistrust the book (it has some inaccuracies.) Can we bring sleeping bags or not? What do people recommend?

(My sister and I are Americans, a 24 y.o. guy and a 21 y.o. girl; we'll be there for most of June and some of July, and we're going to be staying in hostels in Bratislava, Vienna, Florence, Rome, and Paris.)

Bicicletta!

fidgets — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:26:22 -0800

We're biking from Rome to Naples, do you know good places to stay or eat in between? In about a month, a friend and I will be bicycling from Rome to Naples and hopefully taking a train back. From the maps I've looked at there seem to be 2-3 easy routes to take that should be 3 days of easy riding. Since we don't have to do that many miles in a day, so I'm wondering what little towns in between are worth seeing? Which would be more likely to have places to stay (inexpensively), and be more tourist friendly? Also any food tips, things to definitely see, things to definitely miss, and any other general information appreciated.

Non-destitute hostel travel?

smackfu — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:24:39 -0800

The typical solo backpacker (hostel variety) has plenty of time and limited money. Assuming you like that kind of travel, what would you do differently if you had plenty of money but limited time?

Cheap hostels in London

reklaw — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 09:24:18 -0800

Where is the cheapest hostel in London? I need to be in London from the 19th-23rd February (4 nights, Mon-Fri), but not to see the sights or anything -- I just need a simple, functional, cheap-as-possible place to sleep. I don't have to be anywhere at all central, as long as I can make it to Islington in a bus ride or two. Where should I stay?

Where to sleep in NYC?

btkuhn — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:12:01 -0800

I'm a college student, being flown up for a job interview in Manhattan this Friday. I asked the firm I'm interviewing with to schedule my return flight for Saturday morning instead of Friday night so that I can explore the city, but now I'm finding out how expensive lodging in the city is. I'm from North Carolina and don't know anyone currently living in NY, which is fine with me because I was looking forward to walking around by myself. I don't mind my own company, and enjoy exploring new places alone and meeting new people. I'm looking for suggestions for a place to sleep for a few hours Friday night. Here are my sole requirements: safe, reasonably clean, and most importantly cheap. I'm just going to be sleeping for a few hours and heading out, so all that is essential is a mattress and a roof. I saw the Gershwin Hotel suggested on a previous thread for $40/night which is within my budget, but there are no rooms available for this Friday. I'm going to be stretched for money as it is, so heavy emphasis on cheap. My interview is in the financial district but I'm not deadset on staying in that area afterwards, so recommendations for anywhere in south/central Manhattan are fine. Thanks!

NYC for a month on a shoestring!

kaytwo — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:48:48 -0800

Living in NYC for $20/day for 3-4 weeks: is it possible? How? A friend of mine is moving to New York City on Sept 4th to start a new job. My friend's money situation is such that she needs to find lodging at about 20$ per day for 3-4 weeks. She's considering a hostel or someone's couch or whatever you fine Metafilterians can suggest near the Metro N Harlem (Grand Central, Harlem, or Woodlawn).

Travel to Dublin

sindark — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:17:49 -0800

Next month, I am going on a trip to Dublin for a week. I have three questions for anyone who has experience with the city:

Where would you recommend staying? (Hostels in the £10 / night range are my usual style.)
What would you recommend seeing? (There is an AskMeFi post on this already, but it only covers a weekend-length stay)
Is there anything particularly useful to know about going to Dublin?

Thanks.

Enjoying NW Europe on the cheap?

knapah — Fri, 19 May 2006 10:14:22 -0800

TravelFilter: This summer I and 3 friends are planning on travelling around part of Europe by train and are looking for advice on the main areas we plan to stay in. Information on hostels or other cheap accommodation (first hand if possible) would be great (more inside) We are students in the UK and are planning on getting the Interrail pass for Zone E (France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) so we can travel with relative freedom for 16 days.

We plan to stay in these cities primarily (although advice on other places in the general area would be accepted):

Lille (2 nights)
Brussels (3 nights)
Amsterdam (4 nights)
Luxembourg City (1 night)
Northern France including Paris (6 nights)

What I am looking for in particular are cheap (in the vicinity of €20 to €30 per night) hostels in each of the first 4 cities and also general advice for places to stay/see in Northern France.

Any other advice from people who have had InterRail or Eurail passes before would also be appreciated.

Many thanks

Where are the two-stars?

lampoil — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 08:38:22 -0800

Are there travel booking sites that have really cheap hotels that aren't hostels? I'm looking for a place to stay for a week in Barcelona next month. I'll be with one friend and we're on a tight budget.

It seems that the big name travel websites have only three-star and up, and don't designate between Barcelona proper and resort towns 35 miles away. Hostel websites have mostly true hostels--difficult to find a private room with a bathroom for the dates I need.

The STA site lists a few places that look right for me, but I can't for the life of me get the website to work. (I put in all the info, click "continue" and nothing happens. Ever).

Are there websites other than STA that actually have one- and two-star hotels? Should I suck it up and choose between a hostel and a three-star? Should I go to an in-person travel agent? Any thoughts welcome.

how to find work at a hostel?

Lisa S — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 06:41:32 -0800

I'm graduating from college this summer and have the travel bug. I'd love to work at a hostel somewhere wild and interesting, like Prague or Amsterdam. How does one even go about getting a job there? And any advice from anyone who's had the experience?

Running A Youth Hostel For The Clueless

divabat — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 21:05:26 -0800

Running a youth hostel: what does it take? I've been interested in setting up a youth center/youth hostel for a long time now, but I haven't the slightest clue where to get started.

I envisioned a house whose rooms are converted for different things - a creative space (with computers, art supplies, etc), a Bookcrossing-esque library, full use of the kitchen and bathrooms, performance & presentation space outdoors, and a bedroom with a couple of beds. (amongst other ideas!)

I don't envision this to house tons of youths; it'll be more cozy and small, to host the occasional traveller or wanderer. Somewhere in between a house and a typical youth hostel.

It's common where I live (Malaysia) to convert houses into NGO offices or small businesses so I suppose thos can be done. But beyond that - what do I do? Any licenses I should apply for? Memberships? What should I do or not do?

Thank you!

Japan fun, Tokyo to Yokohama

nintendo — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 14:31:10 -0800

Japan, Japan, Japan, I've been living in Japan 6 months now, and have a sister coming to visit for four days. I want to show her the best and brightest as quickly as possible. She's Flying into Narita, so I'm thinking one night in Roppongii / Shibuya area, one day in Kamakura / Yokohama, and then I don't know. Any ideas as to specific bars/clubs, I'd like to stay away from the hip hop scene, but also am not looking to take her to any big tourist sites. Also, ideas about cheap (youth hostel) places to stay, I like the "comunity" type housing, not so much the isolated individual rooms. Hi, Arigato!
P.S. I know the situation, but any good ideas as to where to start looking for some recrataional drugs?

Budget accomodation in Brighton

jwhittlestone — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 05:40:49 -0800

Where is a good *cheap* place to stay in Brighton, UK? Hostels, B+Bs, guestohouses, campsites and budget hotels? Any good or bad experiences? Places to go or stay away from? I want to get a list for people to stay the night on New Year's Eve.

wild stab in the dark filter - anyone know of any cheap youth hostels in Genva?

jwhittlestone — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 06:54:02 -0800

wild stab in the dark filter - anyone know of any *cheap* youth hostels in Geneva? anyone......? We're flying to Geneva for skiing in March and want to stay in Geneva after the outbound flight and before the inbound return home to ensure extra mountain taming time!

Help me get away without going broke

hamster — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 12:23:27 -0800

Please help me plan a week-long vacation for two people for $2000. All crazy ideas welcome! My boyfriend and I are planning a trip from Minneapolis in October or November of this year. We're both outdoorsy, into museums, restaurants and cafes, and love to be near water. Cold weather isn't a detractor--we're from the tundra anyway. We're extremely laid-back, don't need a fancy hotel (just a room to sleep in, really), love an adventure.

The hitch is that we'll each be able to save about $1000 by then, maybe a little more. We don't want to blow it all on airfare or hotels. Does anyone have experience with hostels in a city they really liked? We're considering Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Portland, Boston, and Ireland or Europe if we can find a really excellent deal. Ideally we'd find somewhere interesting enough to fill an entire week. Has anyone been on a similar trip they'd recommend? Do you have any advice for us? Are we just dreaming?