Before you book Make sure you know what a hostel is and the type of people you will share your vacations with. How many times have you booked a hotel/hostel because it was highly rated on line only to discover it really was not for you? This does not mean it was a bad property, it might just not of been to your taste, if you were looking for a quiet stay like the Blue Almond and ended up at a party hostel/hotel then that review that got you there was simply no good.

What Is a Hostel?

A hostel is a type of budget-oriented accommodation, similar to a guest house or hotel in many ways, but where at least some of the accommodation is shared. So instead of rooms, a hostel typically rents beds. Many hostels also offer private room accommodation, but to be considered a hostel the property must offer shared accommodation.

In a few countries, such as the UK, Ireland, India, and Australia, the word hostel sometimes also refers to establishments providing longer-term accommodation (often to specific classes of clientèle such as nurses, students, drug addicts, court defendants on bail) where the hostels are sometimes run by Housing Associations and charities. In the rest of the world, the word hostel refers only to properties offering accommodation to travelers or backpackers. These types of long-term charity hostels are not related to the hostels for travelers described here.

There's no official definition of a hostel (not one i could find gratyfing) so i ihave decided to come up with my own, highly shaped by hostelmanagment.com's one.

A Hostels is an establishment that provides short-term (under a month), private or shared dormitory accommodation and bathrooms for individual travelers known as backpackers which typically have some or all of these features:

• Accept individual travelers
• Often accept groups
• Short-term stays are allowed
• Common areas for guest interaction
• Communal facilities such as self-catering kitchen (if there is one)
• Bathrooms can be shared or private

More Features of Hostels

• Clean, spacious dorm room
• Common area and kitchen
• Hostel common area
• Hostel bathroom
• Secure lockers

Who Stays at Hostels Backpackers: budget independent travelers usually visiting more than one spot in the lenght of their trip. Flashpackers: typically refers to backpackers with higher budget Individual or group travelers. Student or activity groups. Bicycle tourers, hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts. People needing a temporary place to stay while moving to a new city for work or school.

Unlike package tourists, who often pay for all-inclusive vacations to companies in their home countries, hostel travelers support local economies by spending their money at local businesses.