12 Things to Look for When Booking Hostels
If you’ve never stayed in a hostel or are simply new to the game – the process of finding the right place can seem overwhelming. Being from the United States, we really hadn’t met anyone who had tried out hostels by the time we started our travels. That being said, we’ve come to love them and typically opt for hostels now over budget-friendly Airbnbs or hotels. However, it’s always good to know what you’re getting into.
Hostels drastically differ from your average hotel. While they’re similar in layout, with most having a reception desk, kitchen area, bar, etc, the atmosphere is an entirely different story. Hostels tend to attract like-minded backpackers and remote workers, so the social atmosphere you’ll find can give way to countless new experiences and friendships. People are often quick to join group events and excursions and sharing space in a crowded dorm room means you’ll have ample opportunity to meet fellow travelers.
Because of their generally low rates, hostels make traveling more accessible. Second only to flights, accomodations are going to be a big expense, so why not make your trip five times longer? We’ve stayed in everything from last-minute (expensive) hostels in Europe, to cheap "party hostels" in South America, to $5 stays in the middle of the jungle. Through all these experiences, we’ve learned what we like in a hostel, what will be annoying, and what we just won’t book anymore.
So, here is our guide to booking hostels and the top things we look for in a stay:
1. Where to Book
There is one main site we browse when booking our stays: Hostelworld.com. The site works relatively similarly to how you’d find a hotel. You’ll input your destination, arrival and departure dates, and number of travelers. From there, you can search and filter by what you’re looking for and can use the map feature to narrow it down. We’d also highly recommend downloading the Hostelworld app on your phone for when you might not have a computer handy.
While we prefer Hostelworld, we’ve also had great experiences using Booking.com. It’s often a good idea to check Booking.com before you book a trip through Hostelworld. Though they're typically the same price, sometimes the stay will be cheaper and you can save a few dollars!
Finally, Airbnb.com is also a great option (especially if you’re traveling with others). It’s pretty common that we’ve found amazing Airbnbs that would equate to the price of two dorm beds when split between the two of us!
2. Focus on Location First
Once again, this step will require some research and is probably one of the harder parts of deciding which hostel is right for you. You’re going to want to spend some time on Google Maps and look up articles on the best spots. Are you going to want to be in walking distance of certain monuments or the beach? Is there a grocery store nearby? If you can’t be in walking distance, how much are taxis, Ubers, and trains? Are there areas that are safer than others? (We’ll talk more about that in the next tip.)
If you’re visiting a city, typically steer toward the central areas where most hotels are located. You can also look up common hostel chains (like Selinas and Viajeros in Central and South America). These will most often be located in the best areas, so you can search for these hostels or others near them.
3. Time Your Stay Well
While it's not always possible to plan far in advance, we highly recommend doing some research on the timing of your stay before you book. For instance, will you be traveling during peak season? Are there any major holidays, festivals, or events going on while you’ll be there? Hostels will amp up their prices when more people will be in town, so you’ll most likely end up paying more than you otherwise would have.
For example, when we visited Antigua, forgetting about the Semana Santa (Easter) holiday, the hostels were packed and we paid approximately three times more than what we would have had we gone a week later.
4. Safety & Security
Prior to even considering your hostels and booking your trip, the first step should always be to check out local travel advisories. For the United States, you can find official government advisories at Travel.State.gov. Here, you can find country safety rankings and more details about areas to steer clear of and things to consider once you’re there (like avoiding political speech or being out at night). It’s also always good to check the status of political events before booking.
Once you’ve determined the trip looks a-okay for you, it’s time to consider hostel safety. This really boils down to a couple of fine details.
Number 1: Is the hostel in a safe part of town? If not, does the hostel have a gated entry and do they have security at night? Often in lower income regions, you’ll find that hostels hire out security guards to patrol the entry at night. This is a big plus!
Number 2: Lockers! Lockers are a key element of hostels. You really don’t want to spend your trip lugging around all of your important belongings in fear that they won’t be there when you return. Read reviews before you book to see if there’s any complaints about lockers not being big enough or not closing properly. Also, always bring your own lock! We’ve found it’s about a 50/50 shot that hostel lockers come with a lock – so you're better off packing one along.
5. Check In & Check Out Times
This has become a major reason that we opt for certain hostels over others. Typically, the standard check-in time tends to start around 3PM, while the average check-out time is approximately 11AM. It’s extremely important to understand these times before booking.
If your bus or plane arrives at night will there be someone to check you in after hours – or does the hostel not allow check-ins after, say 9PM? Also consider your check-out time and your plan for getting to your next hostel. If there will be a large chunk of time between the two, does the hostel allow guests to stay in the common spaces after checkout? This is common as tourists don’t want to be lugging around their heavy bags more than they have to, but we’ve definitely come across hostels that kick you out right after your bill is paid. You can usually find information on this in the hostel reviews.
6. When & How is Payment Due?
This really differs from hostel to hostel. While Hostelworld will always take a small portion of the cost upon booking as a form of downpayment, the rest of the costs will differ. Some hostels require full payment on arrival. Others require full payment on departure (often adding up a tab of drinks, food, and tours purchased to the bill). The method of payment also differs. Particularly if the hostel requires payment on arrival, you’ll need to find out if they accept credit cards or if you’ll need to hit up an ATM and take out local currency before you even arrive.
7. Hostel Vibe
Basically, this boils down to: Is it a “party hostel” or no? Party hostels typically have a bar and pool and tend to be more popular destinations. You can usually tell them apart from others on Hostelworld if you see pictures of large groups of people dancing and drinking. These hostels are excellent places to mingle with fellow travelers, do a pub crawl, and experience nightlife. What they’re not good for? Sleep.
We’ve stayed at a number of party hostels, with some resorting to strict quiet hour rules where partiers need to leave the hostel to continue their fun, and others where the dance floor sits right outside the dorm rooms and you’re ultimately in for a sleepless night. Overall, sometimes party hostels are the vibe and sometimes they’re just not, so do your research in the hostel reviews section.
8. Splitting Up Your Stay
Can you split up your stay to avoid extra costs? This can get a little complicated, but is fairly easy to figure out if you’re willing to move from hostel to hostel during your trip. While larger party hostels can be fun and provide a good chance to meet others, they tend to raise their prices on weekend nights. If you want to stay in one of these hostels but don’t care whether you do so on a weekend, it’s definitely worth considering booking a smaller, cheaper hostel over the weekend to save a bit of money.
Something to also note, most hostels (especially party hostels) are very tolerant of outside guests coming to visit for drinks or events because it brings them more money. So just because you may not be staying at one of these hostels over a weekend doesn’t necessarily mean you need to miss out on the fun!
9. How Much Privacy Do You Need?
Traveling via hostels means you’ll have a lot more opportunity to meet people, but that comes at the expense of privacy. We’ve seen dorm options range anywhere from 2 to 25 people in a room, so it really all depends on your comfort level. Will you need a private room? Can you share a space with 5 other people? How about 16? Will you feel better in an all-female/all-male room? Consider what’s going to work for you and your sleep habits.
10. Understand the Amenities
Like tip 9, this step also requires having an understanding of what you’ll need to feel comfortable. For this, you’ll have to consider the dorm rooms, common areas, food, and other amenities.
For dorms, you can often get the best judgment of amenities by looking at photos. The two biggest things we look for are curtains on the bunks and fans – if there’s air conditioning, even better! Curtains on bunks are a huge plus because they provide a sense of privacy when you sleep, block out light from windows or phones, and can be used to hide your less valuable items during the day. Fans are essential for not only cooling, but minimizing noise. Other things to keep an eye out for include outlets in the bunks for charging phones and the size of lockers.
For common areas, check to see if there’s a decent seating area to facilitate meeting people. Is there a bar to socialize at? Will you want a pool if it’s hot? Also consider how much time you’ll be spending at the hostel. Is it unsafe to be out at night (making it worth the price to have these amenities), or will you barely be spending time there?
For food, consider your price range and whether you’re planning to cook or eat out. If you’re planning to cook, is there a common kitchen you can use? Is there free breakfast? Is there potable water available if you’re in an area without safe tap water?
Other considerations you might want to think about: the strength of the wifi (especially if you’re planning to work remotely), number of toilets and showers, hostel activities, and laundry (or whether there’s a cheap laundromat nearby).
11. Activities
Given that they’re known for their social atmosphere, hostels often host events and activities throughout the week. These include everything from free dance classes, yoga flows, and trivia in the common areas, to pub crawls and discounted tours. So, if you’re hoping to meet people on your trip, check out if your hostel offers these kinds of events before booking.
12. Read Reviews
Our final tip has come up a few times already, but read reviews! On Hostelworld, the reviews add up to give an overall score to the hostel so you can easily compare them to one another. You can learn so much about a hostel by what your fellow travelers have had to say about it. Are the lockers too small? Is the wifi spotty? Do half of the outlets not work? Is the free breakfast just a piece of toast?
There are certain comments we tend to look past like dirty bathrooms and freezing showers (a frequent issue in Central & South America), but there’s others that ensure we won’t be booking and you shouldn’t either – like bed bugs or no lockers!
Overall, booking hostels can be a little challenging with so much to consider, but in time you’ll learn what you like and don't like and will get into a groove when booking.
Here are some examples of great hostels we’ve stayed at to give some perspective:
(Note: all prices are for weekdays in September 2024, but they’ll always fluctuate)
Mandala's Hostel, San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala – 4 Bed Female Dorm – $10.81
Hostel Oasis, Granada, Nicaragua – 4 Bed Mixed Dorm – $12.23 / Private Room – $17.04
Media Luna, Cartagena, Colombia – 8 Bed Mixed Dorm – $17.38
Aquarela do Leme, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 8 Bed Mixed Dorm –$17.93
The Journey Hostel, Santa Marta, Colombia – 12 Bed Mixed Dorm – $19.54
Way Hostel, Madrid, Spain – 12 Bed Mixed Dorm – $22.47
Viajero, Medellín, Colombia – 10 Bed Mixed Dorm – $26.62
Five Elements Hostel, Leipzig, Germany – 8 Bed Mixed Dorm – $27.99
NAP Hostel, Naples, Italy – 10 Bed Mixed Dorm – $38.65
PLUS, Florence, Italy – 8 Bed Mixed Dorm – $40.54
Ecomama, Amsterdam, Netherlands – 12 Bed Mixed Dorm – $57.99
Comments