Or how to respect the unspoken (and even well-noted) hostel etiquette.
I cannot count the number of times I’ve been in a hostel and watched, flabbergasted, as someone pulled a move that I thought to be common sense not to do. Sometimes, hostel living can feel like a lawless land where the rules of civilization no longer apply.
I’m here to remind you all that hostels can still be a fun, social place to meet new people without dampening anyone else’s experience. Avoiding these hostel mistakes can also help improve your own experience and make your next hostel stay even better than the last!
Less Research, More Problems
Of all the hostel mistakes, the biggest one you could make is to not do enough research before booking. To have the best experience, you should be looking for hostels that fit the kind of atmosphere and experience you want. Using sites like HostelWorld gives you access to thousands of reviews and photos to ensure you’re making the right choice.
I beg of you, read the reviews! Rarely is a hostel perfect, but we can avoid disappointment by matching our expectations with reality. Once you determine your priorities, you can decide what sacrifices you’re willing to make for what you want.
For example, if your main concern is being close to the city center, you may be willing to forgive a loud bar downstairs for your ideal location. Or you may want somewhere that provides a lot of free or discounted activities for guests, but that means being more on the outskirts of town. Maybe you want easy beach access, but that comes at the cost of less than stellar bathrooms.
Learn from previous backpackers to get a feel for how the hostel will actually be like. Hostels can list things like amenities, but they don’t always capture the lived experience of trying to make friends or sleeping in their dorms.
But in the way that photos may be misleading, so can reviews. Over time, you’ll learn what’s normal for hostels and what problems have more to do with the guests than the hostel. I’ve seen some people give a solid hostel a low rating because someone in their room snored. That’s not really something the hostel can control, is it?
Not Reading the Posted Signs
I know, I know. Reading? No one wants to do it. My whole career in education was 80% trying to get students to read the most basic, necessary information. And losing 90% of the time.
But trust me, even just a quick scan around the reception desk and signs posted in the rooms will do wonders. Reception desks aren’t always open 24/7 so you need to be able to gather information on your own. They also set a good precedent to know the terms everyone else is operating on.
A few things in particular I encourage you to seek out: any quiet hours, opening times for the kitchen and other communal spaces, if the beds are assigned, and your check out expectations.
Oftentimes, there’s fun tidbits too – like upcoming social events, discounts for local attractions, and message boards for your fellow travelers.
The Night Out
A right of passage and staple in the backpackers experience: the night out. First off, do your research before booking your stay (so important it’s worth mentioning twice) to make sure you’re in the right place. If you want a wild night out, don’t book the quiet, family-friendly hostel. If the hostel is attached to a bar, you know you’re in the right place for a party.
However, you’re still coming back from your night out to a shared room (unless you splurge on a private room for our big spenders out there). Maybe you’re lucky and everyone in your room is joining you at the bar, but most often, not everyone in your dorm will be on the same sleep schedule as you.
Save yourself and your roommates the hassle, noise, and stress and prepare yourself for the rough late-night return. It’s annoying at the time, but avoid this hostel mistake and do some prep work before you go out.
Put away your getting-ready mess so you (and all your roommates) don’t trip on it. Set out your pajamas, toothbrush, and makeup remover on your bed before you leave. Leave a water bottle and some pain reliever out on your bed for the next morning.
Listening to someone sober open and close their zippers and rummage through their bags is annoying enough in the middle of the night. That becomes ten fold when they’re drunk. I once listened to a drunk dorm mate try to open her locker at 3am for five whole minutes before giving up. Don’t be her.
The Great Light Debate
Alright this one takes a bit more nuance and is far by my most common nemesis. With any shared living situation, the question of when to turn the lights on and off will always be important. Hostel dorms are a special kind of situation where not only are there more people to try to coordinate with, many of them are on different time zones and levels of travel fatigue.
It’s hard to blame someone for falling asleep early when they’ve just finished a 36 hour travel day, isn’t it?
The general guideline is to keep the lights off if someone is asleep. That means taking a look around the room before flicking on that light switch. Maybe pause that over-enthusiastic conversation as you open the door to check first that no one is trying to get some shut eye.
And if you’re the one going to sleep, consider your roommates as well. I would consider it a reasonable time to start expecting the lights to be off after 10pm. If you’re going to sleep before that, wear your eye mask and ear plugs so others can go about their nights.
Occasionally, there will be a group of you in your beds on your phones or laptops before bed. I always feel like this is a game of chicken to see who caves first because it can feel so awkward to turn the lights off in front of others. In this case, just ask the room if you can turn off the lights to give everyone a chance to either run to the bathroom first or say okay.
Waiting Until You’re Hungry to Cook
It’s an unfortunate reality that most hostels don’t have kitchens big enough for all their guests. If you’re lucky, your hostel will have room for a whole two people to cook at the same time! So when it comes time to suck it up and cook in your hostel, you need to be smart about it.
If you wait until you’re hungry to start cooking, that likely means it’s approaching mealtime for everyone else too. Which means more people trying to do their own cooking at the same time. And if you’re like most people I know, myself included, doing anything while hungry means less patience and more desperation.
Not a winning combination in a crowded hostel kitchen.
To avoid this hostel mistake, don’t wait until you’re hungry to cook. Yes, we all love a fresh, hot meal right off the stove or out of the oven, but in my opinion, that’s rarely worth the hassle of fighting off every other backpacker to eat.
Instead, cook in the off peak times when more people are out or still full from their last meal. I also try to have some cooking snacks on hand that are light so I can keep that hanger away without ruining my meal.
You can also split your cooking into segments, like prepping your ingredients and cooking/baking, and do one segment when you see there’s empty space in the kitchen. This way each time you do use the kitchen, you can be quicker getting in and out if you end up cooking at a busy time.
Looking for more hostel mistakes?
We’ve all made mistakes when backpacking, so be kind to your fellow travelers! If you feel like a hostel pro, share that wisdom with the beginners and make future hostel stays a better place. Any go-to hostel tips for our first-time backpackers? Mistakes you made before that you’d never make now? Share in the comments below! I’m sure I’ll have more hostel advice down the road, but you can check out my other Travel Resources in the meantime.
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