Rome has over 100 hostels and budget accommodations. With so many options it becomes difficult to select the right place to stay. In fact, many hostels in Rome require a minimum stay of at least 2 nights. The typical backpacker approach of, “I’ll stay one night, if I don’t like it, I can find another [...] [...more]
There are thousands of youth hostels for you to choose from when you’re traveling, but they all boil down to two main types – the ‘corporate’ hostel chain, a well-known brand with different branches in different cities (the St Christopher’s, YHA and Wombats of the world), and the independent hostel, normally family-run or set up [...] [...more]
Community Bathrooms are a way of life for backpackers looking to spend less than $25 a night for a bunk. A community bathroom can be a biohazard style experience to be endured as quickly as possible, or a pleasant, clean non scarring affair. In most cases, a community bathroom will fall between these two extremes. [...] [...more]
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 [...] [...more]
This launches what I hope will become a recurring (read: weekly) column that discusses how to make the most out of time spent in hostels. The Kitchen Environment A hostel kitchen can be a very busy place. At peak meal time (12-2 for lunch 5-7 for dinner) a typical kitchen may contain half of the night’s guest [...] [...more]
A few months ago, we published a checklist for finding a good, or at least acceptable, hostels. Although helpful, this list fails to differentiate between a good hostel and a great hostel. To be fair, all that can be expected of a typical hostel is cleanliness, specifically in regards to the beds, kitchen(s) and bathrooms. [...] [...more]
