MargotA hostel is a form of accommodation where you get a bed to sleep, a shower, and a shared room to cook and eat in, but you usually get to use all the facilities yourself. There are traditional hostels, where beds are laid out in dorm rooms and shared bathrooms, as well as more private dorm rooms that you can reserve in advance. There are also luxury hostels with elegant furnishings and beautiful peel and stick wallpaper that provide all the amenities. Despite offering nearly everything a hotel has to offer, these spaces are more budget friendly than hotels.
Sleeping in a hostel can be a fun experience, especially if you are just starting out in hostelling. However, being new to hostel life can be a bit daunting; you’re not sure what you need to pack or what you can expect when you arrive at your hostel. To get a good idea about what to expect and what you should consider packing, read this brief guide.
Why Would Someone Stay in a Hostel?
First-time travelers are often intimidated when they think about staying in hostels, but not for good reasons: Hostel life is often a blast. We are talking about any kind of hostel, from a simple backpacker’s dorm room to a luxurious high-end hotel. The main difference is that hostels are usually cheaper than hotels and don’t come with the bells and whistles that ordinary hotels do, but they allow you to experience real life.
There are many reasons why you would want to stay in a hostel for the first time. Some of them can be quite obvious, like meeting new people or just getting away from home for something different. There are also the extroverted ones, those who get amazing experiences and friendships in hostels, and the introverts, who enjoy the comfort and privacy of their own place.
Make Your Stay Worthwhile with These Tips
Being a newbie in a hostel can be pretty scary, but luckily, there are a few things that you can do to make your first time feel a whole lot less unfamiliar. Check out the following tips:
- Make sure you have a solid plan. It’s best to find a hostel near the beach since the weather will be more conducive to a beach vacation unless you’re traveling to a place where the weather is always warm.
- Research the area you are staying in on the Internet. You can find out where the nearest things to do are, how to get around, and even learn about the local customs and history of the area.
- To stay in a hostel, it is a good idea to know the basics before you go. One may, for example, want to decide between the lockers and the locker rooms. There are two types of lockers, and you should carefully assess what the pros of each are, as some, such as the lockers, maybe less cost-effective than others, such as the locker rooms.
- Introduce yourself to the other travelers. While it’s a small world, you will quickly realize that the first step is the hardest. Being friendly and introducing yourself to other travelers is an easy way to make a friend.
- Avoid sleeping in the common room if you can. If you must sleep in the common room, then make sure you bring earplugs.
- Keep your belonging safe. Theft is a very common thing when you are a traveler on vacation so have a look at safety guides like this one on Cell Phone Deal before you set off to make sure you and your belongings are safe.
- Find a hostel that has all the amenities that you might need. They should have wifi, hopefully, they have looked into internet options by address to make sure they have the best for their tenants, a kitchen, a common area, and a washroom (and you should definitely be able to use the shower). Whenever possible, we recommend booking hostels with kitchens as they make meal planning much easier and it’s much more likely that the facilities will be clean.
- Be considerate of others. Think how you’d like to be treated and how you’d like to be treated when you are on the other side. In other words, treat the other person the way you’d like to be treated.
- If you are traveling alone, you may be able to bond with your roommates and even go on to explore new places with them. You could buy something like Elite Trainer Boxes ahead of time and bring them with you so that if you make a new friend during your trip, you can spend some quality time together. You could even share drinks with them.
We’ve all been there – the first time you stay in a hostel, what to do, what to do, what to do? Now, if you’re a seasoned traveler, it’s not a problem – but if you’re just getting started, then it can seem like a foreign world. If you’re unsure of what to do or how to act, just remember the above tips on how to make the most of your first hostel stay, and the rest will follow.
