The hostel experience

I believe most of you should already know roughly what a hostel is. Most of you have probably been to one, for example on some school trip. Still, not every hostel is the same, there are quite a few exotics out there! But let's start with a normal one:

A hostel is a place to live for when your traveling, which means not staying anywhere longer than a few days. It'll probably be your cheapest option. Hostels are generally situated within less than 2 kilometers from the city center - if it is a city hostel. Obviously the price varies depending on quality and region. I've seen everything from 40$ and more in Australia to as little as 8$ per night in eastern Europe (and I haven't really been to south-east asia). And there is definitely a margin left in both directions. Of course, there is a relation between price and quality, but it is by no means strict. Most hostels offer different types of accomodation. Whilst I always go for the biggest and cheapest dorms, you can usually get a room just for two as well. In most places I've visited, both genders shared rooms, while especially women can get a female dorm if they wish to, most of the time. The most common dorm size should be something around eight beds, but ten, twelve and more are also possible. You will get access to amenities, sometimes they are enclosed to your room, sometimes they are shared by all hostel guests. Something to have a look at is the kitchen, if you wish to cook. There is everything from no kitchen at all, to greasy old pots, disgusting stoves and overflowing trash bins, to nice and neat kitchens that have teflon pans and complimentary spices, oil and vinegar. In many hostels it is also possible to work for accomodation, instead of paying for it, which many people happily do.

How to get a good hostel for a good price

I know of four ways to book a hostel. I've used three of them.

• Go there, hope they have an empty bed, which is often the case, and book as many nights as you want to. Sometimes you can get a discount if you stay longer, and at some places you can get breakfast for an extra fee. This has worked for me quite often, but it may not be the cheapest or safest way, because once in a while a hostel is fully booked
• Almost every hostel has a web presence where you can see pictures of the rooms. I found to be representative of the situation in very few cases only. You can book a room from there. I wouldn't recommend it. It's extremely hard to tell good and bad places apart and you'll hardly ever get discounts of any kind
• Hostelworld is a website (which I've never used) and an App (which I use all the time), where almost every Hostel is registered. Each of them has pictures, a description, and - most importantly - a score that is made up of evaluations of people who stayed there. It is very easy to find good hostels and to see how far they are form the city center. That makes it very convenient, and also the price is almost always significantly lower than if you book directly at the hostel, since there is a lot of competition. I believe that sometimes they also have special deals
• booking.com is also website and App. It lists much more than just hostels, so be sure to use a filter unless you wanna pay 300$ plus per night in some fancy pants hotel. Once you've done that, it's very similar to Hostelworld. I believe it has special deals more often, though. These can include very cheap prices, sometimes even half, or something like included breakfast

It has happened to me that I stayed in a hostel in the same dorm as somebody else who paid less AND had breakfast included, just because he or she booked smarter than I did

The most important part: What is so great about hostels?

Some of you might think: Is it really worth staying at a possibly filthy place with seven other snoring or partying guys in my room, just because it's cheap? The answer is YES!!! I would always go to a hostel, even if the price wouldn't matter at all! It is true, I have had bad experiences. Sometimes you meet very strange people along these corners. If you're a light sleeper, you might have difficulty getting a good rest sometimes. And sometimes it's just not what you expect it to be. But the truth is that most of the time the people in your room will be friendly, respectful and gone most of the time. You will be able to conduct your plans just as you planned. That is what you should expect. But here comes where the true magic of hostels is buried: From time to time, but more often than you'd expect, you'll come into a room that will feel like home just moments later. Consider this: All the other people are most likely in the exact same situation as you! Far from home, traveling the world for excitement! They will have seen many different places, will be able to recommend all the good things around, and most likely will tell you stories that will make you add even more places to your bucket-list. They will be from all around the globe, speak different languages, have different cultural backgrounds and will always be looking for a good time! I've come into hostel rooms where one of the first questions asked was: What are we doing tonight? I often meet people who know more places in Germany than I did! And the more places you've visited, the greater will your own repertoire of stories and tales and ability to relate to those of the others be. The variety of people out there is amazing. You've never seen anything like it! They will always make you want more of this!

I don't know if this will make you want to go to a hostel more, or will shock you so much that you will never try it, but I think you should know this: Yes, people have sex in those dorms. More often than you might expect. People get drunk...