12 Reasons to Choose a Hostel on Your Next Trip

”Should I stay in a hostel? Are hostels safe? Are hostels clean?”

These are questions many people have before they stay in a hostel for the first time. Hostels are not what they used to be, and the media portrayal of hostels is generally inaccurate. More travelers are choosing to stay in a hostel each year, and there are numerous reasons why you should choose to stay in a hostel on your next trip.

Hostels are typically filled with young backpackers, but this is not always the case. There are different types of hostels. Some are designed for the atmosphere and parties; some hostels are made to be quiet; other hostels attract surf bums, adventurers or even families.

The simple answer to the previous questions is “Yes.” If you’re uncertain whether or not to choose a hostel for your next trip abroad, here are 12 reasons to stay in a hostel:

1. Social Benefits of a Hostel Stay

“The loneliest I’ve ever been was traveling for two months and staying in hotels.”

Those are the words of a friend I made in a hostel. This man decided to start traveling more after an early retirement. Initially, he stayed in hotels. After months of hardly socializing with anyone, struggling to meet people, he decided to give a hostel a try. He hasn’t stayed in a hotel since.

Obviously, hotels serve their purpose. But many backpackers and solo travelers choose hostels for more than the affordability. Hostels are THE BEST WAY to meet people when traveling. 

They are essentially a haven for travelers wandering the world alone. Solo travelers quickly realize that, if they want any sort of social connection on the road, they have to speak up and break out of their shell.

Introverts might cringe at the thought of constantly having to be outgoing and socializing with strangers. That’s understandable. I cherish my time alone, at home and abroad. Eventually, though, the innate desire for real, in-person human connection makes it easy. And if you don’t start the conversation, someone else will.

The common result in hostels is a room full of solo travelers looking for some kind of human interaction. Total strangers suddenly become inseparable for days. Friendships begin quickly and can last a long time.

2. Social Events in Hostels

If small talk isn’t your strong suit, most hostels offer plenty of social events to help ease the friend-making process. Whether the icebreaker is food, drinks, games or movies, these events make stepping into the community of a new hostel an easy task.

A lot of hostels offer these social events for free. It all depends on the destination. In Portugal and Spain, every hostel in which I stayed offered happy hours with cheap or free drinks at some point. Others had free tapas.

Movie nights are also common and a great way to comfortably meet new people without the pressure of maintaining conversation for very long. I have even stayed in hostels that have cooking classes. Whether you’re a trained chef or a total novice, this is one of the most enjoyable ways to meet other travelers in a hostel.

With limited seating & space in most hostels, you’re bound to sit next to a stranger at some point. Unless you enjoy awkward silences, these social events are a great way to meet new people and one of the best reasons to choose a hostel for your next trip.

3. Hostel Walking tours

Most hostels, especially in bigger cities, offer walking tours. The concierge desk at a large hotel can certainly set you up with a great guide and tour. But for how much?

Walking tours at hostels are free or cheap, generally operating on tips. With large groups, gratuities usually add up to a decent sum for the guide. No one has to worry about the tour costing more than a few bucks, if it costs anything at all. 

These free walking tours are a great way to explore the destination and map out your plans for the coming days. Many of the guides on these tours, often local residents or lingering backpackers, have great first-hand advice and experience and the answers to all sorts of questions about the destination. Hostel walking tours are also a great way to meet other guests.

4. Support Local Business

Large hotels are often owned by individuals or corporations thousands of miles away. They provide good jobs for communities, but that’s about where the positives end. Don’t let a seemingly local staff at a hotel trick you into thinking this is a local experience.

Most hostels, on the other hand, are operated and owned by locals. These locals work hard, and the revenue from travelers is far more likely to stay in and support the area. 

The owners of these hostels know they have to work harder to give guests the best experiences and earn more business. Without millions of dollars to spend on marketing, local hostels often rely on word of mouth of travelers. As a guest in these local establishments, you feel like a priority to the staff rather than guest number 2 in room 17 on floor 12.

Large chains of hostels do exist and are popping up all over the world. These hostels offer travelers familiarity and comfort in consistency of service. Many of these chains succeed in providing a positive experience, but local hostels are the way to go.

The advantage of staying at a locally owned and operated hostel goes beyond the support it provides for the community. That’s just a feelgood bonus for travelers. The best reason to stay at a local hostel is the knowledge of the area. 

Who’s going to give better advice for where to eat local food, where to find local bars, the best times to visit a market or how to avoid a scam? The local guy born and raised in town or the one from a different city shipped in by Hilton to run the front desk?

Local hostels have a wealth of knowledge to benefit guests. Staff at these hostels will be able to help travelers based on first-hand experiences of life in their town. Businesses that have a higher reliance on customer satisfaction will accommodate and value those same customers, i.e. hostel guests, greater than customers who are little more than a number.

5. Family Dinner

Family dinners are group dinners commonly served by hostels. Depending on the hostel, family dinner may even be free. 

The appeal of free family dinner is obvious. Even if the food is subpar, free food is free food. When family dinner costs, it may still be worth signing up. Nothing brings people together like food, and family dinners in hostels are an excellent way to meet other travelers.

Family-run hostels often have impressive spreads of food for their guests. On many occasions, the cook at these hostels uses deep-rooted family recipes. Guests are often lucky enough to enjoy local dishes not found in restaurants.

In Morocco, I enjoyed a free mountain of couscous at a hostel. While traveling in Vietnam during Tet, myself and other hostel guests were treated to a special holiday breakfast treat not found in stores or restaurants. In Portugal, the entire hostel was welcome to eat a massive feast of Portuguese tapas. 

All of these were free and part of the family atmosphere found in so many hostels. To the delight and surprise of many travelers, hostels are a great way to find local food.

6. Cheaper Accommodation

The most obvious reason to stay in a hostel is to save money. There are exceptions for couples – two hostel beds may be more expensive than one cheap room in a guesthouse, depending on the destination – but hostels are the smart choice for solo travelers and backpackers.

Hostel dorms are the cheapest route. Generally, the more beds in one room, the lower the price will be. It’s not what you think, though. Dorm rooms in hostels are not a haven for wild parties and debauchery. That stuff happens on occasion, but it is the exception and easily avoidable by choosing the right hostel – a guide on how to choose the right hostel is coming soon. Most hostel dorms are quiet, and most guests are respectful.

If you really need some privacy, most hostels offer private rooms. The room may not be the Marriott or the Four Seasons, but it will have everything you need. For travelers who wish to actually experience their destination, rather than spending all their free time in a hotel bubble, stay in a hostel. Even the private rooms in hostels are cheaper than most hotels.

7. Cheaper Food

Most hostels serve food. Sometimes the menus consist of local dishes and surprisingly fantastic spreads. Other hostels may stick to cheap backpacker food like pizzas and burgers. Whether the food is simple or not, most hostel grub is affordable. 

I’m the first one to encourage travelers to eat local and search for off-the-beaten-path food. It’s usually the tastiest and cheapest option, but there are always exceptions. Travelers that choose to stay in hostels are there for a variety of reasons. And there are plenty of reasons to stick around the hostel for a day. 

Some travelers may need time for a lazy day. Others may need to stay in to work. Travelers have plenty of reasons for not venturing out every single day (just don’t make a habit of it). Eating at the hostel is often the practical choice.

Hostel food is not always as cheap as the truly local restaurants, but it will certainly be cheaper than touristy places or hotel restaurants. Cheaper, convenient food is an easy reason to stay in a hostel.

8. Safety & Security in Hostels

Most hostels are far more secure than hotels. People cannot freely walk in and have a seat in the lobby of most hostels. A lot of hostels only allow guests on premises, with access restricted by secure doors and staff monitoring everyone that enters.

An additional benefit of hostels is external safety. For a night out in a foreign country, safety (and peace of mind) is in numbers. After making new friends or spontaneously joining other guests from the hostel, you will feel much better about having a few drinks or a late-night walk when there are others with you.

If you are staying by yourself in a hotel or apartment, there is much less opportunity to encounter other travelers to join you for a nightcap. And, maybe it’s just me, but there is something creepy about meeting people in a hotel bar. I probably wouldn’t want to go out with that person in a foreign country.

Hostel safety and security goes beyond partying. Most dorms in hostels have at least one locker for your stuff. It’s always important to pack a small lock among the other little things in your bag, but these lockers often have built-in locks. Guests can securely lock up valuables. 

Personally, I have never had anything stolen in a hostel – *knocking on wood* – not that I know of, at least. It does happen, but as long as you don’t leave your things unattended in the open, it is highly unlikely anyone will steal your stuff.

Hostels are not dangerous or scary. Although I have stayed in some terrible hostels, these are the exception. Not once have I ever felt unsafe in a hostel.

9. Cook for Yourself

For travelers on a more rigid budget, eating out for every meal grows costly. Most hostels have full kitchens. Guests are allowed to shop for their own groceries and use the community kitchen to store and prepare their own meals.

The same benefits apply to health-conscious travelers and those with dietary restrictions. Cooking your own food is the best way to make sure meals are in line with health goals or food allergy sensitivities.

Don’t worry about hostel kitchens being crowded. Aside from times when the staff is preparing large meals like breakfast or family dinner, hostel kitchens are usually empty. Most guests rarely use the kitchen. And the honor system of labeling your food in the fridge is sufficient, so there’s no need to worry about someone sneaking in to steal your ramen.

Hotels with kitchens open to guests are exceedingly rare, and renting an apartment is expensive for most solo or couple travelers. For travelers wanting to monitor exactly what they eat, community kitchens are a great reason to choose to stay in a hostel.

10. Hostel Guests Have THE Best Travel Advice

The absolute BEST reason to choose a hostel is the abundance of first-hand travel advice. The social and friendly atmosphere in so many hostels leads to a lot of sharing. Travelers share stories, itineraries and a whole lot of tips that aren’t found in any guidebook.

Personally, I have traveled to a destination with a vague idea (at best) of where I will go next. On numerous occasions, the decision of the next destination has been made strictly on the advice of other travelers. These travelers, other guests in the hostel, have first-hand knowledge of other places because they’ve already been there. 

In a hostel, you may learn about an empty and beautiful hike, a bucket list city that’s actually overrated, a hidden gem for local grub that’s off the foodie trail or even something as simple as which bus to take to the airport.

Just as I have knowledge and tips for my hometown, where I live and where I’ve been, so do other people for their respective homes and experiences. The reason to choose a hostel is that it is a place of exchange. People in hostels constantly share information and experiences. Listen to them!

Another safety benefit of hostels is learning from other travelers. The experiences travelers share in hostels includes safety information. Your new hostel friends may have tips about scams, seedy areas or hotspots of street crime. 

Information changes rapidly, and it’s impossible to know exactly what corner of a neighborhood in a foreign city is safe. It’s impractical to rely entirely upon guide books and travel blogs (yes, me too). Travel writers cannot possibly possess and update every detail of every destination in real-time. The most reliable, up-to-date information is always on the ground.

11. The Best Locations

Large chain hotels need space. You won’t find a Hilton, Ritz or Intercontinental on the hilly, narrow streets of Alfama in Lisbon. They aren’t lining the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Big hotels aren’t on the narrow streets of the city center in Yangon, Myanmar.

Hostels are there, tucked into the fabric of cities. And they’re not what most people expect. A lot of hostels are large, stylish, comfortable and nice. Really nice.

You also won’t find big brand hotels in the far, remote corners of the world. Hostels are there.

Hostels are not as large as massive hotels. Hostel owners have gotten very creative with their spaces, and the result is cool places to stay in the best locations. Choosing a hostel is an easy way to stay in a prime location without the price (or inconvenient spot) of a hotel.

12. The People

When it comes to traveling, there is no better place to meet people than a hostel – not just local people, but travelers from all over the world. Most of these friendships will not last. Not to be overly pessimistic, but I’ve met a lot of people in hostels. It’s hard to stay in touch with everyone, though I look forward to someday meeting up with several friends with whom I’ve lost touch.

On occasion, these friendships really do last. Take it from me, personally:

Several years ago I met a Korean guy in a hostel. We became friends and exchanged information. We actually stayed in touch. A couple of years later, he came to the US and I showed him around Portland for a few days. A couple of years ago, I went to South Korea. He showed me around his hometown, and his mother actually prepared a fantastic feast for her guests. 

Meeting people in hostels isn’t all about making lifelong friends, either. It’s about regular people coming together, having fun and exchanging cultural ideas and values. What better way to understand another culture – aside from eating, because that’s my favorite way to learn about culture – than from its people? I hate to sound like a hippie, but it’s true.

On a recent trip in Spain, I had a great experience with people from around the world. The group from my hostel included an American (me), a Chilean, a Spaniard, an Israeli and an Iranian. At one point, the flowing beer made me think: “This has got to be the only place in the world right now where an Iranian, an American and an Israeli are currently drinking and laughing together.”

I mean, my God, that is not a common party in the 21st century. The political differences between our countries were mentioned. The understanding was clear and immediate. We were a few normal dudes drinking some beers and having a good time. Whatever problems exist between our respective governments is not between us. 

Now, THAT is a great reason to choose a hostel for your next trip.

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Hostels are my first choice when backpacking anywhere in the world. Whether for the travel tips, social events, free food or something else, there are plenty of reasons to stay in a hostel. 

Hostels aren’t just for rambunctious, partying 20-year-olds. They aren’t reserved for broke backpackers. Hostels welcome all types of travelers. Whatever the reason, the decision to stay in a hostel will pay dividends sooner and later.

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