Alright, so when most people hear the word hostel they think of either a dangerous murder house(courtesy of Hollywood films) or dingy unkempt accommodations. I gonna be honest by saying that at first I didn’t really know what to expect, nobody I knew had been in a hostel and most everyone had the same safety concerns when I brought up the option, but I had a limited budget and needed options outside of traditional hotels. So while I had a good amount of trepidation about looking into hostels as a viable option for accommodation I knew that I needed to at least look at them if I wanted to travel as long I did. This turned out to be an excellent idea, and I am know of a mind to recommend hostels to anyone trying to travel on a budget. As it turns out there are a surprising amount of hostel options all over the world and they are really well designed to understand traveler needs.

Reasons to choose a hostel:

• First, and most obvious, is the price at most places I stayed at the cost was under 100 dollars for multiple nights. This allowed for my money to be allocated to other things like entrance into museums, food, and souvenirs. It probably wouldn’t have been possible to travel to as many places if not for hostels freeing up extra funds.

• Second, is that hostels tend to be pretty understanding when it comes to travelling needs and unexpected circumstances. More than once I had to contact a hostel to inform them that I was either going to be arriving later or needed an extra night. Things are bound to go awry when your traveling and it was nice to have the ability to correct when things didn’t go quite according to plan. Many hostels also offer lockers to hold your luggage while you wait for check-in and lead city tours that can give you a better idea of what to explore in the city.

• Third, even though hostels a primarily known for dorm style accommodations many offer private rooms as well. So if you don’t want to share space with other people, you don’t have too, and those rooms still tend to be less than the average hotel. There are also hostels for different sensibilities, maybe you want a quieter hostel that has a chill vibe or you want a hostel with its own nightclub attached. Either way you have options regarding what type of stay would be right for you.

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• The fourth reason centers around the social aspect of what hostels can offer. Many of the places my friend and I stayed at offered multiple opportunities to meet people within the hostel. There were karaoke nights, movie nights, game rooms, group tours, parties hosted in the hostel. This is great because it gives you the opportunity to meet people but still in a relatively contained way.

Now while I will say that hostels present a safe and budget friendly option when traveling you still need to be smart about how you select where you stay. Here are some tips for picking the right place for you.

• First, and in my opinion, most important is to know the rating/ reviews of where you are choosing to stay. This is true for really anytime you are choose a place to stay wherever you go but it it still warrants mention. Looking into the reviews can give you important insight on how that establishment is run. Do they keep the bedrooms and bathrooms clean? Are the employees helpful? Is it too loud? Is it too quite? Sometimes a hostel can have a great review but be more geared towards 21 year olds ready to party or, on the flip side, be further from the town center and geared toward relaxation. Know the rating, read the reviews, and figure out what works for you specifically. This seems like a lot to look for but I used a specific website HostelWorld (https://www.hostelworld.com). They have a huge catalog of hostels and include ratings, reviews, directions to those hostels, bookings, and direct communication to the hostels on their site.

• Next, there are certain qualities you should want in a hostel no matter what sort of vibe your going for. There should be 24hr front-desk service because even the best laid plans can go wrong and you want to be able to check into where your staying no matter what time. Level of security is also a something you will want to know. A lot of hostels will use key cards, lockers, and cctv but you will want to double check just to make sure. Location is another important thing you want to look for, the closer to the city center the easier it is to navigate the city if you don’t have car. Most hostels will include laundry but, again, its always good to double check just to make sure. Free wifi should be on the list as well, at least it was for me. Last, but not necessarily as important, is free breakfast. It helps to cut your spending cost and its nice to have one less thing to worry about.

In conclusion hostels are a pretty legitimate option when looking for a place to stay when traveling abroad. There are ready made activities, food that can be included, cheap prices, and private rooms at a fraction of what they would cost in a regular hotel. However, if its still not for you that is totally fine and a lot of this advice can be applied to however you choose to stay while visiting another country from bed & breakfast to regular hotels.