Hotel or Hostel?

One of the most popular options between young travellers is to stay in a hostel. Probably you already know what it is. It's kind of a mix between a guesthouse and an inn, a small building normally, where you can find rooms of all kinds; for 4, 6 or 8 people; female or mixed (I don't think I ever saw one exclusively masculine). Some hostels have private rooms available too and the principal benefit of these places is that they are usually cheap. A typical website to look for a hostel is http://www.hostelworld.com. Here you will find what you are looking for without a doubt, but just in case, there are other websites you can use like for example http://es.hostelbookers.com/ o http://www.hostels.com.

A hotel is a hotel, of course, with its made beds and its clean towels. The comfort is never going to be comparable to a hostel (there are hostel better than some hotels though). In a hostel you will maybe have to “rent” your sheets or towels, so that means to pay a little extra money or to bring them with you. And obviously if you want the cheapest deal you will have to share the room with a few strangers. The more people in the room and the “more mixed”, the cheaper it will be. Once I shared a room with 12 people!

It is also recommended to choose a room depending on the season you are travelling. In peak seasons, hostels will be full, but if you travel in low seasons or out of the weekend, it's very easy to end up in a room full of empty beds. The picture of the post, for instance, is from the hostel I stayed in Budapest with a french girlfriend who was travelling with my around Europe. Even though it was a room for 8 people, we were completely alone and the price was exactly the same as if it had been full. We paid 20 euros each for 3 nights. It is also very common in a hostel that each booking stays in a different room, it means, it's possible that there are a few rooms with people at the same time, but all of them incomplete. In that way they are pretty cool and don't squeeze people together in a room if it's not strictly necessary. That's the best it could happen, to get a cheap room because you are supposed to share it with a lot of people and that it turns into a private room because there is nobody else. If you travel with a group of friends this option is great because depending on how many people you are you could actually fill up a room just for yourselves.

It's not the usual that the hostel is empty anyway. In my case I had to share a room with strangers most of the time, but it was actually fun. Hostels are normally full with young people who are doing the same you do, to travel and to meet people, so you won't have any problem. If you travel alone, as a woman, I recommend you to stay at least in a female room if you can, although it's very weird that you end up in a room full of guys. They pay attention a lot on that too. I didn't travel alone that much to tell the truth and nothing happened to me when I did so, but If you can avoid some awkward moments, cause I did have some of those, better than good.

My experience in general, without any doubt, is positive. Hostels are the accommodation I usually use. Hotels are sometimes too expensive for young people and not everybody can afford it. If one night in the cheapest hotel can cost 40€, in a hostel could be 10€. The different is big. The price depends on the city you are, of course, and in the location of the hostel. Personally I found hostels of all kinds. I stayed 2 nights in La Paz for less than 10€, but I paid almost 40€ in Brussels for the same amount of time. This is what it is, you can find really good deals or a pain in the ass.

The hotel is more private, cleaner and safer in general and, theoretically, you are going to rest better. In a hostel you are not going to sleep as good as you like because most of the beds are bunks, there are a lot of people and it can get very noisy, but you are going to meet people of all kinds and it will be much more fun than if you stay in a hotel. Apart from that, there usually are lockers where you can put your stuff (not always), but regardless of that I never missed a thing. I would pick a place depending on what kind of trip I'm going to do, with who I'm going to do it and what is my budget. Even if hostels use to be cheaper, it's good to check everything because sometimes you find great offers.

Although, no matter what happens, I can't help wondering: Is it maybe illegal in a hostel to use furniture from another place but IKEA?

Spanish Post