Backpacker Hostels
There are a number of hostel chains around the world that as well as offering budget accommodation have employment links and a travel agency. The hostels also offer welcome packs usually including your accommodation for a few nights as well as 'meet and greet' at the airport, bus or train terminal, phone cards and sightseeing trips. However, you should have a look at their individual websites to see what these welcome packs include. Most of them also allow you to book online. The contact details of the hostel chains are listed further on.
What hostels offer
Most hostels have a minibus offering a courtesy lift from the bus/train/airport. When they know you are arriving they will be there to meet you. Some allow you to call at any time for a lift to the hostel as many of them advertise at the airport, bus and train information centres.
Almost all hostels include free sheets, pillow cases and blankets in the nightly price or they can be rented at minimal cost. This will save you having to carry around your own sleeping bag and sheet which hostel chains such as YHA don't let you use anyway because of strict Australian hygene standards.
Air-conditioning is something to consider, particularly when travelling in the hot summer months, especially in Australia while heating is very important when staying in colder countries such as Norway. .
Twenty-four-hour access is also important as you don't want or need curfews. Most hostels have a security system, which you will be given access to so you can enter the hostel after hours.
Other things to look out for include: help finding work; personal lockers in rooms; fully equipped clean kitchen with enough room in fridge/s to leave food; TV/common room; laundry with a soap machine, iron and ironing board; telephones; travel booking service; luggage storage facilities; safety deposit boxes; fans (if air-conditioning isn't available in hot weather) and heating in cold weather; free tea and coffee making facilities; breakfast; party nights; free once-a-week barbecue; swimming pool; bathrooms that are cleaned daily; en-suite toilets and showers; an information lounge; discounts for seven-day or longer stays; elevator to all floors; prime site e.g. near the beach; fire safe (more information further on).
So, with all that is on offer, how do you choose a hostel to stay in? Fellow travellers are a great source of advice on hostels; they can either recommend or pan one. After all, isn't that what a fellow traveller is for? To pass on useful information!
You really need to have an idea of what you want from a hostel; do you want a party hostel or a quiet one? If you read their advertisements, you can usually tell what kind of hostel they are. For instance a small, quiet, family-run hostel should give you a good night's slept and have a communal area if you want to socialise. Other hostels advertise backpacker 'party nights' every night, so will probably be pretty noisy. Choose what suits you.
Accommodation in hostels is dormitory-style, with varying numbers of beds (bunks) in a room. The number of occupants per room can vary from four up to 12 or more. Some dorms are single sex while others can be mixed dorms. You should know what you prefer when booking or checking in. Some hostel owners (not many but there are some) have only $$$ signs in their eyes and if you don't request a bed in say, an all male four-bed dorm (if you are male or if female a four-bed female dorm), they could put you in an eight-bed mixed dorm. Generally the cheaper the room, the more people in it.
Some hostels offer single, family, double and twin rooms (which is good news if you are travelling with a special friend and only want to 'sleep' with them). Be prepared to pay extra to stay in them and note: they are limited so booking in advance, particularly in peak times, is a good idea.
Fire safety
It is imperative that you consider a fire-safety check before you agree to stay at a hostel. If you feel the hostel doesn't meet the following criteria, do not be afraid to leave. After all, your life is worth far more than $20 for a dorm room! These are the main things to consider:
- Are there fire stairs and exists and are these free of obstructions?
- Are there maps in your room and others clearly showing where the fire stairs and exists are?
- Is there a working smoke alarm fitted in your room and other areas?
- Can the fire exit doors be opened at all times during the day and night?
- Are the exit signs clearly marked?
- Is there an evacuation area if an alarm goes off?
- Are there fire hoses and extinguishers? Are these unobstructed and in working order?
- Is there an excessive amount of rubbish at the hostel, which may fan a fire?
Dorm living
Dorm living is an experience if you aren't used to it. You will be sharing with people you have never met before, but you should have a common goal.
Be prepared for people changing in front of you, having little or no privacy, people coming in late and getting up early, zippers zipping, bags rustling, alarms going off, snorers, talkers and even bonkers, who are usually embarrassed in the morning.
Even though you want to travel as cheaply as possible, I have met people whose health has been affected. A male friend always seemed to have snorers in his dorm and he was becoming crankier and crankier as the days passed from lack of sleep. If this happens to you, then paying a few dollars more for your own room in a cheap hotel may be worth it for a good night's sleep.
Security in hostels
Sometimes it's not professional thieves you have to worry about, but your fellow travellers. Be careful in hostels with your personal belongings, especially your valuables. There are transients who steal things like jewellery or cameras and sell them quickly. If possible, don't keep all your valuables together or, if you do, keep them with you at all times. You should even take them to the shower with you in a water-proof bag.
When unpacking or packing your bag, try to do it when no one else is around.
Be careful with all your belongings because popular items to go missing include that expensive shampoo and conditioner you've just bought to bring life back to your hair, or that new deodorant, or that carton of milk, or that new T-shirt. Unfortunately some cheap travellers don't have any regard for other travellers' belongings and it's sad to say, but that's how they survive.
Staying healthy in hostels
As mentioned, sleep deprivation is a health hazard. So are bad eating habits.
Hostels usually have a communal kitchen for you to use. Many single travellers feel self-conscious about cooking and eating in front of others who aren't. If this is you, maybe your room mate/s might want to share a cooked meal with you. Easy things to cook include pasta dishes - a bag of pasta and a bottle of sauce can be easily bought at supermarkets and are relatively cheap. So is soup and a bread roll.
It can be very easy when you are on your own to pop into fast food establishments for a bite to eat, but try to eat healthily.
TOP |
