Hotels vs Hostels

Which do you choose?

I believe I have found the best of both worlds — a private room in a hostel or airbnb. Why stay in a hostel?

When I first started travelling in 2011, there was only one reason — price! Hostels are cheaper than hotels. My family and I travelled for 4 and half months around Europe — 3 months on a Eurail rail pass. There were 6 of us, so mostly, hotel stays were out of the question although we did stay in some cheaper “hotels.” This required us to book three twin rooms or two triples so even a cheap hotel wasn’t so cheap.

Hostels however gave us the option of booking an entire dormitory at per-bed prices. We were cheeky and booked hostel dorm accommodation hoping that we’d get the whole dorm to ourselves. Cheeky or not — it worked. We never shared with anyone. We were travelling in Europe’s winter so off-season. This may not work in summer.

Hostel in a castle

I’ve found you are more likely to get unusual or quirky accommodation in a hostel. I’ve found that hotels seem to be the same-same wherever I’ve gone. But not so hostels! We stayed in a tower room of a castle on the River Rhine. It was a 10-bed dorm but we took up the whole dorm — and the bathroom all to ourselves. We chose beds with views up and down the Rhine and stacked our luggage on the other beds! The cost of this “staying in a castle” experience? 17AUD each per night — and this included an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast!

Dinner was extra — nothing fancy. After pre-dinner drinks in the castle courtyard (moselle of course!), we managed to push our way through the excited school group to a delicious dinner of spaghetti Bolognese (of which I had two helpings), fresh artichokes, olives, cucumber in a dill sauce, and lovely fresh German bread and ham. And a tinned pear for dessert! All of this for 7.50 euro! The only negative about our stay at Castle Stahleck was the noisy kids — but my sister and I, both being teachers, thought it was worth this one inconvenience.

Hotel, in name only

On that trip, we found not all hostels are named as such. Take the Hotel Internationaal in Amsterdam. A few rooms above a bar with a shared bathroom does not a hotel make! But what an experience! The stairs were more like a ladder than a staircase — what fun to go up and not come down! It is now a one-star hotel but I can tell you the best thing about it is its proximity to Centraal Station — oh and the free marijuana you’ll inhale if you just open your window.

Hostels with a view

Another wonderful hostel we stayed in on that trip was the AthensStyle Hostel. The view of the Parthenon from our verandah was amazing, especially at night. Yes — our room had its own private verandah complete with outdoor furniture where we ate our two-euro gyros for dinner and played cards whilst looking out upon the Acropolis. We knew we were in Athens! We may not have had the same experience in a private non-balconied room in a hotel.

Hostels with the best breakfast

I always choose a private room in a hostel, but don’t worry about a private bathroom, but I do ask for a room close to the bathroom. I’ve never had to wait for a shower — I think I live on a different clock to most younger people so it’s never a problem. I always choose a hostel which includes breakfast — it’s a big saving if you head out sightseeing with a full belly. Breakfasts can vary in quality and quantity whereas hotel breakfasts are pretty much the same all over the world.

One of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had every day of my stay was the all-you-can-eat pancakes straight out of the pan in the eat-in kitchen at the Knight Hostel in Tallinn. The chef was also the receptionist. The convivial atmosphere of other guests sitting around the kitchen table eating pancakes, cereal, toast, and drinking tea, coffee or juice could never be replicated in a hotel.

Check out their website . I can highly recommend staying here if you’re ever in Tallinn. This is not an affiliated link.

Hostels are the only affordable option

In some cities, we had no option but to choose hostel accommodation. The price of hotel rooms was simply out of the question. Bergen, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark were two of these. I don’t remember much of Bergen (I was not well and didn’t venture far from my bed) but Cabinn City Hostel in Copenhagen was the cutest — and smallest — room for three people I’ve ever seen. The mint green colour scheme for all bedding was unusual and one I hadn’t seen before or since.

Hotels are mostly the same worldwide

In China, we stayed in hotels in Beijing, X’ian and Guilin. The rooms were identical. I couldn’t tell where I was when I woke up in the morning. I could have been in a hotel anywhere!

On the last night of our European trip together, Stacey and I decided to splurge on a hotel and booked the Ayre Gran Hotel Colón, Madrid. We chose this hotel because it had a gorgeous rooftop area where we could see the fireworks, but were told on check-in it was only used for private functions so we could not access the rooftop at all. It was the main picture on its website. False advertising! We felt ripped off. This posh hotel — well posh in price — AUD192, what a disappointment! It was nice but after all of the wonderful, dare I say unique, places I’ve stayed over the past 3 and a half months, it just seems like any other hotel anywhere else in the world.

We had planned to go out to celebrate but finding every restaurant in the city booked for NYE, we thought we’d stay in and eat at the hotel restaurant even though we knew it would be expensive. However, they were fully booked and would not accept a booking. It would have been nice to have received an email at some stage saying “We see you are staying with us on NYE. Would you like to book dinner at our restaurant?”

We decided to order room service and stay in - burgers, pumpkin and mushroom croquettes and custard flan with fruit for dinner and champagne to toast the New Year which turned out to be the most expensive meal of our entire trip including the memorable meal we had in Cádiz.

I haven’t talked about any of the “hostels” that have actually had a room in a private house. Medina Hostel in Casablanca was a memorable one. The Moroccan breakfast was worth more than the total cost of the accommodation which was comfortable but basic. The helpfulness of the family more than made up for the basic facilities.

Have you had any experiences staying in a hostel? Or do you prefer the blandness of hotels? I'd love to hear of hostels you can recommend me for my 2023 trip.

I started staying in hostels because of the price but have continued to stay in hostels for the reasons I’ve mentioned. Their unique features, the camaraderie and friendliness, the views, the included breakfasts and the fact that I can travel for 4 months for the same price as I could have a 4-week holiday in a hotel. And if I wanted to have a 4-week holiday in a hotel, I could just go down the Gold Coast an hour from home — many people do — but they don’t know what they’re missing!

Aarti Tailor inspired my story — the first one I wrote after my knee surgery. Thank you, Aarti.