Rs guide to hostels
Summer is nigh and I though I’d write a little guide to hostels for anyone who’s not done much travelling but wants to
A few caveats. This is intended primarily for solo travellers who want to meet people while travelling and continue travelling with said people. I find this the most rewarding way to travel alone (mainly because you get to spend lots of time not being alone). Secondly, this is meant for cities and for multiple night stays in said location. Hostelling rurally usually involves more limited choice and an individual hostel is often necessitated by the hike one wishes to do.
First off, what doesn’t matter when looking for a hostel? I find being located smack bang in the city centre/kitty corner to tourists sites to be pointless. It’s fun to be in an actual neighborhood, the food is also cheaper and better. You don’t want to be too far away though, this encourages boomers and travel times to places you want to go can be a Hastle. Try to find that goldilocks zone, walking into town might take 40/50 mins but is doable.
Next, in regards to socializing, don’t worry about hostel run activities. They often suck, don’t facilitate good conversation, and attract vapid people. Instead it’s really ALL about the common spaces of a hostel. A patio or rooftop area? AMAZING. Bring a six pack, sit down with some folks and get the Craic. Look for reviews that talk about how nice the lounge/dining area/balcony was.
Thirdly, fuck massive hostels. It’s harder to meet people, you’re more likely to have a migrant worker moaning in bed all day, and they often lack character. Again, you want a middle ground though. A really small more expensive hostel that is too cutsy will attract an older more boring crowd. Try to find something that looks hip, maybe does a pub crawl (which you may not even attend, though pub crawls are less egregious than club crawls) and doesn’t seem too boring
Don’t worry about noise complaint reviews, bring earplugs, might mean it’s actually fun
People are really pernickety about cleanliness, don’t worry too much if there’s also lots of positive reviews and it’s a tiny bit grotty
Finally, when solo travelling please don’t book too far ahead. I typically book 2-3 nights in my initial location, and out of the dozens of times I have travelled solo I have always found people to travel with subsequently, often going wherever they happen to be off to.
Someone’s gonna call me gay for writing this but oh well