9 Practical Reasons to Stay in a Hostel ...

Perhaps the most important on this list of reasons to stay in a hostel is the simple fact that it is considerably cheaper than paying for a hotel. With certain hostels, depending on whether you are sharing bathroom facilities or a bedroom, you can end up paying less than $20 for a night’s stay in the centre of the world’s most expensive cities; just a fraction of the price you’d pay for a hotel in the same location.

One of the good reasons to book a hostel is that you can have a much more relaxed and welcoming experience than you are likely to get in a hotel. While expensive hotels ask for dress codes and may issue guidelines on how guests should act, hostels are the complete opposite, allowing you to do what you want, whenever you want to do it. Hostels are very relaxed.

Gone are the days of hostels being grubby and dirty without any mod cons; nowadays hostels regularly have technology such as Wi-Fi and televisions in the rooms. In fact, some of the newly-built hostels, generally in more affluent areas, will have facilities which rival those of a multinational hotel chain. Honestly, don’t base your opinion of hostels on traditional views; give it a shot and you’ll see how great they are.

When you choose a hostel, the staff and locals that you meet are the friendliest people on the planet. You can ask them for directions, advice on where the best places to eat are, and if you are especially lucky they might even offer to take you on a guided tour for a small fee.

Hostels want to attract your business, and so many will offer discount coupons for major attractions and local restaurants. It is this sort of insider knowledge that can lead to hostels providing some great experiences on a small budget.

If you want to know why choose a hostel, it might be something as simple as the experience you get of staying somewhere that isn’t a regular building. There are hostels that have been made out of converted caves and disused warehouses. It really will open your eyes to what some parts of the world are really like!

While there isn’t as much choice as there is with hotels in terms of location, you might find that hostels open your eyes to new and exciting places to stay. Often hostels are in the depths of cities, but usually in the places that tourists are less likely to frequent; you can learn what it’s really like to live in New York or London, rather than getting the typical tourist experience.

One of the advantages of booking a hostel is you might have access to a guest kitchen to prepare simple meals. This is a great way to save even more money, as local restaurants can be expensive and takeaways are not cheap either. A hot meal cooked in a guest kitchen can be a really good way to meet other people while not spending lots of money.

In a hotel, you are much more likely to keep to yourself and not meet other people. Ina hostel, however, you are almost obliged to speak to other guests. You might find yourself extending your trip to spend more time with those that you met, or you might just simply share tips and knowledge that comes with traveling in foreign countries. Whether you are a sociable person or prefer to stick to yourself, you’ll meet people that make you want to forge friendships.

The truth is that even all the best reasons to choose a hostel do not suit everyone– you really have to try and see for yourself the advantages and benefits. Would you give it a go?