Hostel Tip #02: Try Before You Buy: Your Bed
Posted on 04 March 2009 by Justin
Checking into a hostel does not resemble checking into a nice hotel. At a hotel, guests pay a relatively large amount of money for the hotel staff to cater to their needs. At a hostel, a backpacker pays a small sum for basic amenities. The point is this: never assume the $25 you pay for a bunk will live up to your expectations. The basic rule here is “do not make assumptions”. Before giving the hostel any money, ask to see your room. Make a careful inspection and do not allow the front desk guy (usually leering around while you look at the room) to intimidate you into a less than detailed examination.
While examining your room, ask if guests are allowed to bring in their own bedding (blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, etc.) If guests are allowed to bring in their own bedding be very careful. Most hostels prevent guests from bringing in their own sheets and blankets because they are trying to prevent bedbugs. Hostels that do not practice good biosecurity can easily pass their problems on to you. Bedbugs can get into your skin (seriously), your clothes, and your pack. If you pick them up, getting rid of bedbugs can be more difficult than delicing a kindergarten class after an aggressive attack that started with the smelly kid who sits in the back corner of the class.
Room Inspection
Inspecting a room is all about your personal tolerances. No hostel is perfect and almost every establishment will be irritating from time to time; however,no matter what your standards, be sure to do a thorough room inspection. If you find parts of your room dissatisfying but livable, it may provide some room to negotiate the price.
- The Mattress: Lay down on the bed. I know this may feel awkward, but you want to know if the mattress is going to hold your weight. Nothing sucks more than smacking your hips on the hard plywood plank that supports the mattress every time you roll over.
- Sheets and Blankets: First, take a close look (get your eyes millimeters above the sheets) and see if the sheets are clean. Some hostels are dirty and you should be able to tell if they wash their bedding. Next, examine the quantity of bed coverings. Is there a sheet fitted to the mattress? Is their an additional sheet you can cover up with? Is there a blanket? How long is the blanket, will it cover your body or will your feet be sticking out all night? Remember that most hostels do not regularly wash the blankets. The blanket you will be using tonight was used last night by the guy who only showers once a week. Having something between you and the blanket is just good hygiene. If you want to know what a hostel washes, take a look at the clothes line or what the cleaning person is taking in and out of rooms.
- The Pillow: Don’t take off the pillow case. You really do not want to see if the pillow is clean or not. This will not help you sleep better. Check to see if the pillowcase is clean. In all likelihood, the pillow will be very very flat. Get used to it. And don’t steal the pillow from a nearby bunk. Your neighbor will notice you have two pillows and they have zero.
- The Floor: Does it look like the floor is allergic to a vacuum? Give the floor a once over and check to see if it is regularly cleaned.
- Location: Is your room located near a bathroom? Does the bathroom door slam loudly every time someone enters? Is your room situated above a loud club or bar? (I know this sounds extreme but it happens more often than you would think.) Is your room next to the laundry facilities? Do the laundry facilities close at a specified time?
- Other: Does the room come with a sink? Confirm that both the cold and the hot water work. Does your bunk come with a locker? Be sure the locker can be closed and locked. Does the room have power outlets? Do they work?
Face it. If you want a clean room that is private and quiet, you could cough up enough coin to stay at a hotel. A hostel is not a hotel and will never claim to be anything other than a budget accommodation. If you could afford, or wanted to afford, something else, you would not be staying at a hostel. Nevertheless, you are paying for basic budget accommodations. Do a room inspection and stand up for what you want.
Complaining after you pay for your bunk will always put you at a disadvantage.
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Tags | Hostel Tips
Good tips – thanks guys!
Don’t know if I ever told you this. We had bed bugs at one of our houses a year ago. (I didn’t even know bed bugs were real. I thought that was just something you said to scare kids.) They were a major pain to get rid of. It took over 6 months and a lot of time. We learned that they can live for up to a year without eating (your blood). So you can think you got rid of them but they could be in hiding and come out later. Major, major pain. However, the major concern with bed bugs is psychological. In reality they are not much different than the common mosquito.
Sounds like a drag. How did you eventually get rid of them? In the hostel business, if word hits the internet that you have bed bugs you are pretty much finished. I agree with you that the effects are mostly psychological. I generally like spiders as they eat other bugs that bit me. However, a couple of mornings back I woke up in the car to find that a spider had made a web all over the inside door handle – about 6 inches from my face. It bothered me a bit to know the spider was doing his think while I slept obviously near by. Ah well.
Initially, we tried one of those fogger bug bomb things. But they are useless agains bed bugs. In the end we went with a combination of things: Steamed all carpets/couches, sprayed “Bed Bug Patrol” product in cracks and baseboards where they were suspected to hide, put down fossil dust around perimeter of rooms, and put covers on mattresses. (You can find product at http://bed-bug.net/index.html) Essentially you can kill bed bugs with heat (steam) or cold. Otherwise you can use acidic products to kill them upon contact or put down “dust” that cuts their shell when they climb over it which causes them to dehydrate. We entertained the thought of hiring an exterminator. However, we were amused to find that they give no guarantees to their work against bed bugs. One guy told us he would give us a tail light warranty…as long as we could still see his tail light while he was driving away – he would warranty the work.
These are great tips. And not just for hostels. When I go into any hotel that’s not, say, The Four Seasons, I’ll ask to see the room. Even if all the rooms are fine if you ask to see one in advance the desk person is more likely to put you in a good one.
Headlight warranty! Nice. If I meet any places with bed bug infestations, I will pass this along. Thanks.
Good Thinking. I will give that a try next time I stay at a hotel.
i always bring a silk sleeping bag liner to slip between the sheets. it’s compact, easy to keep spotless and offers a barrier between me & thinks that might bibble on me. (mine is from http://www.dramsacks.com and not scratchy like some “discount” sleeping bag liners.)
Smart move! Light weight and easy to pack.