Learning the signs of a good or bad hostel, and knowing what they are about will make you enjoy your hostel life so much better. Again we look at what sort of backpacker we are. It is no good being a easygoing hippie and staying at a soulless East Coast hostel, you will not like it.
Similarly if you like your ‘Duff Duff’ music and are a bit of a rebel than you would love the carnage of a good pumpin youth hostel, with it’s own Bar, ClubIt is footprints opinion to try and stick to smaller backpacker run youth hostels as these tend to give the backpacker a much better experience. Staying in a ‘cash cow’ such as X-Base or Bunk backpackers may be fun for a day or so, but the lack of a care for the traveller and a feeling of they want my money, really does get tired.
Other problems with the big commercial youth hostel is they are so strict wore than any boarding school. One of the biggest factors is you are not allowed to have your own alcohol, you must buy it all from their bar at bar prices. Backpackers are not here to make companies like X-Base and Bunk rich, they are here to live and love life and travel.
One night at one of these hostels can cost as much as a week in Sydney and staying at a great hostels near the beach! For every one of these huge money making commercial hostels, there are 5 around it, smaller more fun ‘cheaper’ and run by backpackers. Support the industry that helps and supports you, stick to the smaller more homely, communal fun adventure youth hostels like The Arts Factory in Byron Bay.
I am not saying never grace the door of one of these youth hostels but do think about why they are there. Just to make money from you every thing they do for you costs you. Lets look at a smaller hostel, which takes you on guided tours of Sydney, ‘free’, takes you kayaking, ‘free’, takes you on scenic walks, ‘free’.
Now lets look at say X-Base at Magnetic Island does all the same and heaps more but every singe bit of fun costs you, and this is a huge corporate funded hotel backed hostel that will not give you the smell of it’s proverbial. So why support them, you get back from a fun day out, and you have some idiot shoving a microphone in your face trying to get you to’ have fun’, nick off.
A smaller hostel run by fellow backpackers with a focus on your backpacking adventure will always leave you with a feeling that people cared about YOU.
Smaller hostels, normally are run by people staying there, even though it is a high stress job and take it from me backpackers never leave you alone when you live and work in a hostel. Although this is the reason they are so much fun, there is a real focus on you enjoying yourself. With the smaller size, people are friendlier, everyone talks to each other.
In the big hostels you can be there for ages and hardly communicate with anyone, just there sheer size makes them un personal. Give the smaller places a go you won’t be disappointed.
What sort of hostel do you want to stay in? Again, this is going to depend on your personality and also your location, time of arrival, budget and length of stay. When we first fly in or arrive in a new place allot of the time we just want to drop our backpack and collapse. This as I have said before is called the landing hostel, most of the time as long as it has a bed it qualifies, we can leave tomorrow.
When travelling I have sometimes played the game with a companion of the first hostel we see we go to, this can have some amazing varied results. I never want to push my ideas upon you only strongly advise my opinions from being there. One of the best parts of travel is finding places that end up being special to you for whatever reason, explore the places the masses do not go to, to me that is discovering places. Walking around islands, camping and having a hammock.
Depending on where you are travelling will depend on your level of caution needed, for example using the land anywhere option in Sydney, the worst result can only be a nightmare seedy Kings Cross hostel. Using the same system in South East Asia, can have far more serious ramifications.
One of the resources we are building at footprints is hostels recommended because ‘of’ and that is the crux of the recommendations it has to be a good reason, not that it was a nice stay blah etc.
Power to the people, the way we thought of footprints was a community for backpackers built by backpackers, and that seems to be holding well.We constantly encourage your recommendations, the way towards un-biased travel resource is it being filled with many opinions and places people have stayed. Your opinion may matter to many others as well, and knowing some one else had an even better time because they stayed / explored / tried some thing because of your experience thats pretty cool.
I do give the larger commercial backed hostels a hard time but in the end they only jumped on the ‘backpacker wave’ so I do not think they deserve any more than that. ‘If plastic is your scene than there the place to stay’
When you walk in to a new hostel you can pretty much get an idea of the place by the attitude of the, backpackers around you and from the reception staff. I have not stayed any many good hostels where they had unfriendly staff on the counter, but have come across many unhappy reception workers. (nearly every time they are not backpackers)
Happy staff is a good hostel happy backpackers show a great vibe, feel the vibe what you feel as you travel will become a good indication of where you should or should not go. ‘always follow your gut instinct’ With this do not be afraid to explore, with some common sense and travel companions we can pretty much backpack anywhere.
When you do come across some one you believe you will travel well with together, make sure you do a small test trip. A travel companion or companions can make or break a trip and you have to really know you get along. I nearly always travel with someone but know them well, male or female.
If you are staying in a city hostel for work, then you really should look at the smaller hostel, as you will find one in most areas where that is why people are staying there. Pease and quiet to sleep with a vibe you can walk in on and participate if you wish is a good mix.
Most hostels have different vibes or feels about them this is in part generated by the occupants both current and previous and the hostel owner and managers. Staying in a hostel then venturing out and having a look at the others in the area will make you meet more people, and maybe uncover a place you would of missed.
Check out the bed linen when you arrive a good hostel will not let you use any of your own bedding, because travellers bring in bed bugs. ‘sorry but how do you think they get there - hitch hiking buggers’ The linen should smell clean, not be warn out and be a good set with a pillow you don’t mind putting your head on. If it is not ‘tell them and leave’
footprints is putting together there own recommended list from our own opinions of places we have stayed, in that list is a wide choice all meeting great standards. Don’t stay in a crappy place. Vote with your mouth and feet because there are plenty more out there better. How do the staff treat you when you arrive, if there is no security i.e. passport no, or other photo ID - do not stay they do not take your safety seriously.
Does the hostel have a safe? You may not always find lockers, thats okay, if you lose something out of your dorm and it is a constant problem in the place then it is a bad hostel. Be smart and keep valuables ether on you or better in a safe, every good hostel has a safe - if it does not than do not stay they do not take your valuables seriously
Does the hostel have camera? they may not be great but security is a concern when you travel more from the people getting in, than the people staying.
With that though while working in youth hostels I have been involved in 3 cases of backpackers travelling and thieving their way around a country. Bad people travel too.
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