Hostel vs Hotel share your good and bad experiences

davepatr07

Gota feeling this might be moved to the travel thread but sure it may contain some AH language

Hostel or Hotel, any preference when travelling and any really good, bad or even unusual experiences?

Still Hostelling in my 30's, not really into the 5* home comfort ****.
Worst thing about hostelling of course is people coming in all hrs of the morning in a 10 bed dorm or having your room situated right over the local Copper Face Jacks. Remember a tramp staying in the same dorm as me in Toronto, never forget the smell of the place.

Each have their benefits.. I only do hotels if I feel really rough or if I arrive in a place really late and just want a good sleep. Hostels all the way.

Rabies

Last time I stayed in a hostel was when I came here first over 4yrs ago, even then I stayed in hotels too. I was 26 back then.
Now, only hotels. Quality isn't a major factor. Safety and comfort are.

Badgermonkey

Blood on a hotel mattress displays with a chocolatey hue.

Hostel, much more of the vivid traditional reddish colour, particularly in Wet Hostels I find.

ScumLord

Many hostels have private rooms too, they can sometimes be just as expensive as hotel rooms but it's the best of both worlds.

kowloon

Stayed in a hostel in London that had the highest density of beds I've ever seen. The room had stairs up to a second level but both levels were open, like those bed decks you see in some open plan barn conversions.
The layout was like one of these pod hotels with three tier bunks, and another three tiers above that with access from the stairs.
There was a thin sheet of ply between one bunk and the one adjacent and a similar sheet at your head/feet for bunks either end.
The air was unbreathable and every movement by the person opposite, above or either end of you ended up in them banging the wooden partition.
I would never stay there again.

I stayed in a Hostel in Cashel that was the complete opposite, lovely place.

mickdw

Hostels? yuk. Last time I stayed in one of them I was a student.
A decent hotel room can be had for under €50 per room per night.

strokemyclover

I wouldn't be too surprised to hear of another immaculate conception in the next few years caused by faulty springs and remaining stains left on Hostel matresses.

Jesus freaks will be making pilgrimages to Clifden and Salthill in their thousands from all over the world after that.

This will cause the end of the recession in Ireland.....it has been predicted!

Badgermonkey

I stayed in The Mercure in Indonesia in 2009 and received a phone call from the lead singer of the band playing in the lobby.

She apparently had missed her lift home and needed to lay her head somewhere for the evening.

Also, in Tokyo Hotel Hanzomon, I had a tough looking guy knock on my door with a pretty girl on his arm, He preceded to speak to me in Japanese but I think I caught the jist.

The Samoan U-20 Rugby team were staying in the same hotel, big boys, so I imagine it was their room service of sorts.

roxybalboa

stayed in a hostel once.... just needed a place to nap. lifted the covers to find a used condom.... NICE!!!! :eek:
pretty lame but all i got

HalloweenJack

I stayed in a hostel in Madrid before that was a nightmare experience, though it was the people I stayed with, not the hostel.

I was sharing a room with three North Americans who were the noisiest shower ever. While they were there, they would talk to each other unnecessarily loudly and would dump their dirty clothes all over the place. There was a fridge in the corner which they'd stuffed their boxers in to keep them cool in the Madrid heat. They soaked their dirty clothes in the bidet too.

They'd come in at five or six in the morning after a night out. After being in a club, they'd still be shouting to each other when talking. All three would proceed to have showers before heading to bed and then one of them would listen to his CD player full whack til he drifted off. I was raging though thankfully I only had one night there.

orourkeda

It's more difficult to **** and shag in a hostel.

WindSock

I don't have any interesting experiences but I am going to take this opportunity to list all the exotic places I've been to to show how well travelled I am.

Fart

Bru Bar hostel in Cork, 2006.

My mate and I needed somewhere cheapish to stay in Cork City because we were going to see Robert Plant play at the Marquee.

We got to the hostel, got the keys and told what number our room was. We entered it, this American guy on the bottom bunk was lying down but jumped a bit when we got inside. He had a red face... speculations were flying :eek:.

Anyways, we got to know him and he was cool. The next day, along came a girl from Bray. She was staying with us in our room. (2 bunk beds btw).

The last night, I drank too much so went to bed early. The next bunk was shaking, I was on the top and my mate on the bottom of ours.
My mate got up and said: "Here man, **** that, I'm going to Leisure Plex for an hour or too, yer mans balls are flapping in my face, can't get a sleep".

He fecked off to Leisure Plex and I was left there with a squeeky bunk next to me. I didn't have a fap, even though I should have. It was really awkward, and didn't know what to do.

So the next morning the American dude said: "Sorry about that lads".

Jahsus, I'll never forget that.

Oranage2

Haven been in 25+ countries I've stayed in a hostel or 2.

I've seen and did crazy stuff!

rossie1977

hostels, wow have had some interesting experiences in those, a hostel in dublin down near the green, communal showers, walk into the bathroom one morning, huge, fat, old hairy guy buck naked wiping his ass with a towel, this guy was just behind the door and there was a girls dorm directly across with the door (with their door open) so they got an interesting morning view :eek:

hostel in vegas in the middle of a ghetto, walk outside two steps and you had people coming up to you asking to buy crack or hookers, the 7/11 on the corner had someone getting arrested every day i went by there, the hostel itself had metal bars on the windows, i had a private room (private outside the giant cockroaches that is)

stayed in a lovely hostel in geneva, generator hostel in berlin get the thumbs up from me too, very good bar, stayed there couple of days before and after new years eve couple of years back

usually i will always choose a hotel before a hostel

MagicMarker

Oranage2 wrote: »

Haven been in 25+ countries I've stayed in a hostel or 2.

I've seen and did crazy stuff!

Cool story bro.

Oranage2

MagicMarker wrote: »

Cool story bro.

Thank you -

ejmaztec

With my relatives spread across the planet, I never needed a hostel, and was always quite happy to do a bit of sponging.:o

I do like reading reviews though.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowUserReviews-g186613-d282951-r75036517-Finnegan_s_Holiday_Hostel-Tralee_County_Kerry.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

“A scary night's sleep - such a shame”
Finnegan's Holiday Hostel - Tralee

aimeemac 11 contributions
Bradford
13 Aug 2010 | Trip type: Family



Such a shame. We stayed here twice in the last two weeks during a walking holiday and both nights we had a terrible nights sleep. The first night was due to rowdy guests but the second night was due to the actual staff. The 'host' got incredibly drunk and proceeded to assault his friends, guests and people in the street. We were awake for 3 hours in the night listening to swearing, screaming, glass smashing, fire extinguishers being let off, music played at full volume and the 'host' running into the dormitory and calling the guests names and trying to get in their beds!!!
It's a real shame because the hostel is beautiful, in a great location and has a good kitchen and good rooms.
Good luck if you stay here!

Stinicker

Have done Hostels and it was experieince as part of the "oz thing" when I went around the world this summer. Hostels weren't really nice at all and for the price for a private room you are better of stretching a few more dollars for somewhere like the travelodge etc.

Memorable incidents, I spent several nights in Perth two of which were in a place called Underground Backpackers and it is full of Irish mainly - (not good!)

This was the first time I ever stayed in a Hostel in my life and we decided to do it for the craic and to test out our "Lonely Planet" guidebook!! and I had to make my own bed, like jeez I'm after travelling half way around the world, the last thing I want is to be doing that, I'd have brought the housekeeper from at home if I knew I'd have to do that! I also injuried my back hauling the girls 38KG suitcases up their stupid stairs (No lift)! The whole place was occupied by hippy type backpackers (complete with dreadlocks!) and Irish alcoholics. Weird incidents being when one dreadlocked fellow decided to take a shower while I was shaving, I left the bathrooms with exactly one side of my face shaven. After two nights (mainly sleepless) I booked us into a 5 star hotel in Perth and oh the joys of hot water and privacy.

I think I have had my fill of hostels for my life !!
Got booked into a pure dump hole in Hungary another time but immediately left and found a nicer hotel. It had bedbugs and I always check the bedsheets and mattress in every hotel etc. I stay in and had I been stupid not to check and had stayed there I would have been eaten alive!

Kerikosan

I've never really had a problem with the actual hostels themselves. I've always booked well reviewed places in the counties I was staying in.
but I wouldn't go back to a hostel unless I was with a group of friends.

One time I went up to a seminar up in Dublin on my own and stayed in a hostel only 18euro for the night. I was on my own in the room for most of the day and that night then the biggest ****ed up druggie id ever seen walks in I knew at that moment I

1. Was not going to get any sleep
2. Possibly Robbed
3. Had to deal with this ****er

That night when I came back my stuff was still in my locker (thank god) but when I went to bed he started crying and screaming all angry looking my way and then rambling.. ****ing Scary **** :eek:

I didnt get a wink of sleep that night for fear of getting stabbed or god help having to talk to this mess. I left the hostel at 7am and got the first bus home.

Never again!

W.Shakes-Beer

I remember years ago on a transition year trip to London; we got into the room and a friend of mine decided he'd take one of the bottom bunks, he lay down and hanging out of the bottom of the top bunk was a used condom, hanging fairly close to his face, thought he then had aids.

There was also a piece of **** in one of the other rooms wardrobes.

Carl Sagan

I'm young and don't have a lot of money, so hostels. I'd normally get a private with my friends if possible - it's a bit cheaper than a hotel but there it usually feels less strict or something, and there are generally a lot more people our age around that are willing to talk.

kumate_champ07

if you want a good night sleep and can afford the extra cost choose a hotel.

if you want a bit of craic and the chance to meet people(usually 18-30yrs) from aound the world choose a hostel. Ive never had anything bad happen to me in any hostel, you just gotta be smart with valuables.

best hostel experience I had was in NYC. London also has some great hostels, Ive made some lasting friendships from alot of my hostel experiences


If you plan on staying in a hostel for a week its probably a good idea to book a private room for the last 2 nites, just for comfort and privacy. it can be a bit tiring after a while having guests coming and going at all hours from your dorm, early flights etc.


worst,best and most bizarre hotel experience was the Chelsea hotel a few summers ago..

Sergeant

While I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for hostels, I stayed in many brilliant examples over the years. Just see what others are saying on hostelworld.com and follow that. The shítty ones always seemed to be in major cities, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome. The only one that was so terrible that we couldn't stay was in Nice, like something from a Saw movie.

Gummy Panda

Hostels? Fúck that!

I'd rather pay the extra for a hotel

bnt

I did one night in Glendalough (which was OK-ish), and three nights in Cork about three years ago with a bunch of fellow students from UCD, all of them half my age.

The Cork place was like a jail - breeze-block walls, tiny barred windows - and no-one wanted to go to bed sober. (Now I know what those half-size bottles of vodka are for: they fit neatly in to girls' handbags.) I took the bed next to the door, so I got more fresh air, but I also got all-night door slamming next to my head. By the last night I was putting out my arm to catch the door in my sleep, at the risk of losing my fingers. I think I've learned my lesson: I'm too old for that sh!t.

Dave!

Hostel if you want to meet people, otherwise hotel

El Horseboxo

I've stayed in a couple of hundred hostels over the years and i reckon 90% of them have been grand experiences. I would read the reviews beforehand and you'd see people going to the whole bother of logging on to review it and complain about their pillows not being fluffy enough or some stupid shít like that. The 10% that were bad experiences were just filthy lifeless ones with horrible showers and dickhead staff. I love loud party hostels with a bit of a heartbeat in them so i've a high tolerence to what people might call a bad experience.

Dudess

Prefer hotels - I hotels . And you can get very reasonably priced hotels which are still really good quality. Not fancy but any hotel at all that's clean and comfortable and I'm in heaven. Hostels are a great laugh though - and you can get a room for just two, it's not always the several-to-a-room thing. That's fine but it can be a bit weird at times sharing with loads of strangers - although it's mostly good fun. The last hostel I was in (Barcelona) a really big fight spilled from the street into the hostel itself and it was a bit of a big deal - knives and all, and the police arrived. So we were kinda freaked... but no probs in the end.

It tends to be an age, and moreso money, thing.

Sergeant

Dudess wrote: »

It tends to be an age, and moreso money, thing.

I wouldn't always agree. I won't mention the place, as saying you've visited anywhere outside Ireland seems to annoy certain posters, but I was in a very large city in another country in another continent. I was getting paid and was staying in a lovely hotel.

After about a week I realised I was going nuts. I moved to a hostel around the corner, met interesting people from all around the world, had a lovely private room, experienced different cultures, and the owners of the place remain good friends of mine to this day. And the restaurants off the tourist trail were astonishing.

What could have been a very long and lonely 4 months, became an interesting and enjoyable experience.

Hersheys

Depends on the type of holiday you're on.

Backpacking around Europe on a budget? Hostel.

Rosemantic weekend away? Hotel.

DazMarz

Prefer the oul bit of security and comfort of a hotel. But hostels are better craic if you're going with a group of 3+ or so.

I have to say, any hostel I ever stayed in was exemplary, and I had absolutely zero complaints, but I always kinda build up a fear of them in my head, imagining cockroach infested hovels.

-Hostel in Brussels. Gorgeous spot. Really lovely room, clean, en suite bathroom with the room. Lovely building, plus the downstairs rec room had 3 very decent pool tables, internet access, a nice enough bar and so on. Was nearly like a hotel, tbh, except we could come in locked and no one cared.

-Hostel in Amsterdam. Same as above, really. Only gripe was with the stairs up to the rooms, as they were so freakin narrow, they were lethal if you were in any way inebriated. And this was Amsterdam... oh dear.

-Hostel in London. Again, a grand spot. Only problem was that the room was communal and myself and another bloke were bunking with complete strangers, which I was not too enamoured with, but they seemed sound enough after a while.

Hostels on the continent or in the UK seem to be of a very high standard, I have to say.

Any hotel I've ever stayed in has been very good, thankfully. Caesars Palace in Vegas is the best ever tho. My God... sit out by the pool and bake and let the grape girl feed ya grapes off a gold platter... Lovely............:D

Also, I think now I'll always be in a hotel if I'm away. "I'm getting too old for this shít" is the order of the day for me on hostels, tbh...

catbear

I stayed in a great one in KL, full of chinese gamblers with good English. It was an education that other pay thousands for.

bnt

Speaking of culture: if you stay in a hostel, be sure to pack some flip-flops or similar and wear them all the time, even in the shower. There can be things on the bathroom floors that should stay there. :eek:

BraziliaNZ

some hostels are nice. Have stayed in some great party hostels, great for meeting girls etc. But comfort it ain't. I like hotels but get bored in them if I'm on my own.

mconigol

Hostels are awesome, i've stayed in loads, some like hotels, some complete ****holes! Always have a great time though, never had a bad experience! The occasional crazy pensioner or people having sex but sure that's all part of it

FreudianSlippers

I've never stayed in a hostel before... don't think I would like it though.

Up-n-atom!

^^^ I stayed in a decent enough hostel in Amsterdam a few months ago, it wasn't in the main red light district though, that's where most of 'em are - the place I stayed was near the Museum Sq to the south of the city.

I've stayed in 50+ hostels, most were really good experiences. They're the best places to stay if you're travelling alone and want to meet people. I've stayed in some of the lovely, homliest places (esp family-run ones) where you feel like you're bunking with a friend. Worst experience was last year in Melbourne - stayed in a really crap hostel due to my stupidity in booking last minute, and ended up sharing a room with a group of Welsh party boys. They were talking about going out and finding a nice fat bird to bring back to the room to bang, and maybe pass around between them. It would be funny listening to them if I wasn't thinking that I'd wake up and see them doing what they said they'd do! They didn't, thankfully, find a lady friend, but they did come back pissed, forget their key cards and one almost kicked the door in. The same guy smashed his phone up when he came into the room. The lights didn't go off for at least an hour and a half - that was a fun night!

I've stayed in dorms before where I'm the only girl, is usually totally fine - in fact, mostly the guys are very considerate and friendly

demille

Some of the best travelling experiences come from hostels. Favourite was probably a hostel in Rio with aptly named "favela" dorm. It was the best of times,it was the worst of times but looking back now it's the people we met and the craic that stand out, not climbing up the 3 tier bunk beds or the other 25 peoples sleeping habits.

Gillington

Stayed in a hostel in LA,first night I got fluthered,cleaner came in about 7 am hoovering around the place.I didnt wake up but fell from my top bunk right onto the hoover,still didnt wake up!

The people in the room couldnt wake me up apparanetly they were real worried,they took it in turns to stay in the room and look over me make sure I was alright til I woke up! Fair play to them,my back was in bits though