How to Choose and Book a Good Hostel
How do you choose a good hostel? What makes one hostel better than another?
Let’s start by saying that what makes a hostel truly special is the people in it, though the building and the facilities certainly play an equally fundamental role.
After staying in hundreds of different hostels, I’ve developed a sixth sense for sniffing out the best ones, without systematically picking the one with the best average review score… which is often the most expensive one too.
What makes a good hostel
There are all kinds of hostels with all sorts of features: nice, ugly, luxurious, expensive, cheap, etc. etc.
Let’s look at what the (nice) hostels have in common, starting with the rule of the three “C”s: the three key points for spotting a functional hostel and – if you’re looking for a great place to sleep and setting aside the social side (common areas, activities, etc.) – probably the only ones worth considering.
Cost
Price is definitely the most important aspect. When you’re traveling on a budget, the tendency is often to always pick the cheapest option, no matter what.
Be careful, though: the cheapest hostels are often also the dirtiest ones, with the most uncomfortable beds. Spend a little more and your body will thank you.
Convenient location
Location is essential. A good hostel is a short distance from the tourist attractions and the public transport hubs – bus and train stations, subway stops. Ideally it would be somewhere that’s convenient for getting around on foot.
Cleanliness
You need a minimum of decency and cleanliness. I’ve slept in real dumps, but if I can, I avoid them.
If a hostel isn’t clean, you can be sure the reviews will mention it. Disgusting bathrooms? Bedbugs? No thanks.
Bar / Common area
These areas make it easier to socialize or simply give you somewhere to relax and read a good book – oops, I meant use your smartphone! The best hostels I’ve stayed in have always had a beautiful common area.
Casa Elemento hostel, Minca, Colombia.
Kitchen
Having a kitchen (and cooking) helps cut costs a lot. Personally I consider it essential for long trips, except in developing countries where eating out is extremely cheap. It’s also a great place to make friends.
Security
Maybe it’s because I’ve luckily never been robbed, so I don’t pay particular attention to whether there are lockers or whether the dorm can be locked, but these are definitely things to take into account.
Breakfast
Unfortunately, breakfast is very often poor. Booking lets you rate the breakfast and shows users’ scores for it. On Hostelworld, instead, you just have to scroll through the comments to find someone who talks about it.
Activities
The best hostels organize activities, often free ones, like cooking classes, walking tours of the city – the free walking tours – dance lessons, barbecues, etc. etc. The goal is to get their guests to socialize… everybody likes making new friends!
Free walking tour, Quito, Ecuador.
Staff
If there’s a cheerful, friendly person behind the reception desk, you can be sure you’ll like the hostel more. It’s no coincidence that both Hostelworld and Booking have a dedicated category for reviewing the staff.
Wi-Fi
Nowadays it’s offered pretty much everywhere and if it isn’t… being disconnected for a few days certainly wouldn’t hurt! It’s still worth checking.
Hostel search: how to find the best ones
For my searches I use Hostelworld, Booking and Agoda.
I tend to use Hostelworld for the actual search, while I use the other two search engines to save a few bucks, where possible.
N.B. Below I explain the process I use to thin out the options, speed up my searches, and find hostels that are both cheap and good.
Hostelworld
Hostelworld is my favorite platform when it comes to finding a hostel. Besides offering the widest selection of hostels, the site is well made and the filters are handy and intuitive.
Let’s see how to find a cheap hostel in Prague.
Once you’ve entered the destination and the dates, press the “filter” button, then “rating”, and finally drag the slider to level 7, or type the value directly into the box on the left.
Now sort the results by “price”. The arrow pointing up stands for “ascending price”, exactly what we want.
At this point you’ll have a list of hostels rated 7 or higher, with the cheapest one showing up at the top.
In this case the cheapest hostel costs 8.66€ a night. I usually take the price that shows up after the search as a reference and add 50% to work out the maximum I’m willing to spend. Rounding up, that’s about 14€.
Press the “filter” and then “price” buttons and drag the slider to the value 14, or type the number directly on the right.
Of the 150 properties available for the chosen date only 12 are left… not bad!
The last filter I always try to add is “free breakfast”.
N.B. Here you can add other useful amenities like “kitchen” (depending on the country you’re in), “free internet access” or “lockers”.
Among the 12 remaining options, there’s only one hostel that offers free breakfast, at 13.78€ per night. This is probably also the most expensive one on the list, given the 14€ limit set earlier.
I keep it in mind, uncheck “free breakfast” and switch to map view.
At this point I evaluate the options based on location/score.
The circled options are the ones I take into consideration. I rule out the 14€ hostel rated 8.4 simply because, at the same price and distance from the center, the hostel furthest north on the map has a higher score and offers free breakfast.
Meanwhile the hostels on the right, again at the same price/location, have a clearly lower score.
All that’s left is to read a few reviews, look at the photos paying particular attention to the common areas and the dorms, and make a decision based on your own needs and instincts. At the end of the day it also takes a bit of luck, and nothing stops you from changing hostels after the first night if it isn’t to your liking. Avoid booking for more than one night unless it’s an extremely popular hostel – something you can tell from the availability of beds for short-notice bookings – or your stay coincides with some holiday.
Tip: For each hostel, at the bottom of the “map” section, you’ll find directions – often extremely detailed – on how to get to the property by public transport. Remember that in 99% of cases public transport is cheaper than a taxi, especially if you’re traveling alone.
Booking
I only use Booking for promotional campaigns or simply to check the prices of the properties I’ve just found on Hostelworld – although sometimes prices can differ.
If for whatever reason you prefer Booking for your searches, then use the same search criteria as above.
Tip: Booking, unlike Hostelworld, lets you review the breakfast offered by the properties. To see the score, hover the cursor over the green text. On Hostelworld, instead, I just look for a few reviews that talk about it.
Agoda
Agoda is especially useful in Southeast Asia, where it’s also extremely popular. Although here in Europe and in South America it isn’t used as much by properties, it’s still worth a quick look. As you can see below, even though the site belongs to the same company that owns Booking, it offers more competitive prices, which may seem absurd!
That’s a 3€ difference, which in percentage terms comes to about 20% more… not bad!
Searching on foot
I don’t recommend this type of search in medium-to-large cities, at night, during any kind of vacation/holiday period, if you have little time available, or if you have a lot of luggage. If instead you’re traveling light and long-term, this is a great way to find accommodation typically run by locals: extremely cheap hostels that don’t appear on any booking site. I’ve often found a private room for less than the price of a dorm bed and, even though I love hostels, every now and then you need a bit of privacy.
Other useful tips
- Many travelers don’t know that hostels often have their own website where they offer more competitive prices than the ones on booking portals, to which they have to pay a commission.
- If you’re traveling with a group of friends or family, then book a whole dorm. You’ll have the privacy of a private room at the price of a hostel.
- Use Wikivoyage and check the “sleep” section for a given destination, you can find some real gems! Be careful though, because the Italian version of the site isn’t as complete as the English one.
- Don’t hesitate to contact the hostel directly and ask for a discount, especially if you’re traveling in a group. At worst they’ll tell you no.
- Along the classic backpacker routes – Southeast Asia and South America – you’ll often run into people coming from the direction you’re headed: ask for advice and have them recommend the hostels they’ve already stayed at.
- The bigger dorms, besides being the cheapest, are normally also the roomiest and you won’t have the feeling of being a rat in a cage.
Planning a trip? Check out these posts:
Which travel insurance to choose
Which travel backpack to choose
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