12 Ways to Avoid Staying in a Bad Hostel in 2025

I love youth homes. Even after more than nineteen years of traveling around the world, I still stay in the homes of youth because they are the best way to meet people and the cheapest option to stay in most of the world.

But what makes good hostel?

And how do you avoid a bad hostel?

After staying more than a thousand homes since I started traveling around the world for the first time, I became innovative in a very quickly discovery if young owners know what they are doing or if they wake up randomly one day and said: “Let’s open the youth house. It seems fun.”

While the hostel revolves around people, the administration can do some things to make their perfect frame to make your experience better. Some features make an unforgettable youth (joint rooms, group activities, and kitchens), while others can make them women-or what is worse (shower showers, general filth, and unknown employees).

All favorite youth homes share common features that make them better than the best in the world.

Here is a detail of what I will search for in a hostel to help you choose the best of your next trip:

1. Is there a common room?

I love meeting new people when I travel. Since I usually travel alone, I need to get out of my way to meet people if I want to be social. The joint rooms in the youth houses make this easy. They help me find people to chat with them, get tips from activities, do, or even travel with them.

In addition, it is good for enjoyment. They usually have billiards tables or video gaming panels, televisions/movies (perfect for rainy days), Fosebal, Ping Bong, and comfortable sofas (comfortable sofas is necessary!). If you want to be social, be sure to stay in a place with a decent joint room (or several). It is the best place to communicate easily with other travelers.

On warmer destinations, a common area outside it is also a large addition. Surface bars, combination, barbecue areas, and swimming pool – any outdoor social space is a must.

2. Is it a central location?

The site, the site, the site. When I am looking for a new hostel, I make sure it is near the things I want to see. I don’t want to spend all my time to move when I get a new place. For this reason, I always make sure that my home homes are in a central location and that they are close to public transport. In this way, I can easily circumvent and do not worry about having to waste taxis.

This is especially important in big cities where things spread and when they are on a shorter journey and time is the essence. Yes, they may cost more money, but you will save money on transportation. In addition, the most identified hostel is usually the most popular hostel, making it better places to meet people.

Do not waste your crossing vacation. Book somewhere a central!

3. Is it clean?

Budget travelers certainly love things cheap – but this does not mean that we love dirty things. Although young homes have come a long way in recent years, there are still many people who are poorly maintained and need comprehensive cleaning. Since it is easy to develop the disease on the road, avoid dirty hostel. Total bathrooms and bathing (as well as an increase in the risk of bedding) are not worth the risk – even if the youth house is cheap. Invest in yourself. You deserve a clean room!

Given that the pictures of photos that are published on their website and social media can be misleading, be sure to read reviews on sites specifically on sites such as sites Hostelworld For hygiene hints. If there is only one person, it may not be big. But if many reviews mention the lack of cleanliness, take it as a sign.

4. Have you read the reviews?

Always read reviews before reservation. Is the youth house calm or noisy? Is it a hostel for parties or more? Are the ranks comfortable? Is a bed of two stricken strokes? You can usually answer all these questions (and many others) by reading reviews.

Like web sites Hostelworld and Booking.com You have a lot of reviews to help you find a youth house that fits your needs and budget.

Although you will want to take them with a grain of salt (people love to complain), it is definitely useful when it comes to choosing the best hostel. Make sure to leave the reviews as well – Good reviews help the growth of youth hostels and bad reviews of your fellow travelers can warn so that they do not make the same error.

In addition, be sure to stay only in hotels with many reviews. Hazelnut may have a high classification on Wostelworld, but if he only has 10 or 20 reviews, I will likely stay away from that (it is easy to be fake classifications of that such). However, if the youth house has hundreds (or thousands) of reviews Still It has a rating of 8 or 9 out of 10 and then this is a good sign that it is a strong place to stay.

In general, I just try to book the youth hostels with an 8 or higher classification on Hostelworld.

5. Do they organize the activities of the group?

If you are planning to stay in a social hostel and want to meet people, choose a hostel that offers group activities. These can be walking tours (my favorite personal activity), a pubic crawl, trivia nights, cooking lessons, or barbecue. These events are a great way to meet other travelers and get to know your destination.

My favorite houses are always social houses organizing events. It makes your stay more fun and vibrant!

6. Is there a late exit?

Never remain in a go to the exit time before 10 am. The best hostels have 11 am going out times, and this good allows you to check the back. Sleep is valuable on the road because you rarely get enough of it. Young homes with exit times late understand this and are often more relaxed environments. There is something wrong about a hostel asking you to be crowded in the early morning.

7. Is there a tape?

Babies are not deals and there is a lot of great hostel without them, but they make a great place for social communication with other hostel guests. Hostel usually has a bar, they focus heavily on making sure that people who stay there enjoy interaction, interaction and celebration.

If you are looking to be social and meet people, you will need to stay somewhere with a bar.

8. Do they have cabinets?

It is surprising, but I was already in youth hostels not offering tanks or I will impose on you. On this day and this era, the tanks should be standard. You should not pay for security. This is to break the deal for me (especially since I travel with electronics). Always bring a lock with you, so that you can use the cabinets when it is provided.

9. Is there a kitchen?

Try searching for young homes with kitchens where you can then prepare your own food, reduce your food budget, and share a meal with your new friends. Nothing connects people to the closest of the common meal (and some cups of wine).

10. Do they offer breakfast?

Look for a place with a decent breakfast (i.e. more than bread and cheese) or at least a place that begins and ends when people are already awake (breakfast meals that start at about 8:30 am delayed). Breakfast is also a great way to download snacks for today, which reduces your food budget.

11. Do they have a pods?

The days of sleep were given to the loud metal parts. Whenever possible, find a hostel with a pods. This family provides a much better privacy and the noise around you so that you can sleep better. They usually have curtains, which are always a great addition in my book.

12. Are there lights and individual outlets?

Before reservation, know if sleeping blocks have their own outlet and light. This will not only guarantee that you can charge your devices without the need to fight for space, but this means that your travelers can run their small lamp instead of the main light of the room. (I hate it when people light the lights in the middle of the night. Use your bed lamp or a manual lamp!)

I don’t need to get all these things, but a really great hostel understands what travelers are looking for most of the above things.

In addition, with more and more people turning into a remote work, youth hostels began to accommodate travelers in the long run working on their own laptops. If you are a remote factor, these hostels are great places to stay because they contain a quick Wi-Fi network and facilitate connection and communication with the Bedouin Bedouin other digital. However, if you do not work online while traveling, avoid this hostel because most people will be on their own laptops, and this is a type of boring if you do not do it too. Instead, stay in a hostel that meets the needs of the traveler. It will be more fun and you will have an easier time to meet people.

In the end, what really makes the good hostel is people and even the worst hostel will be great if you meet good people. But removing people from the equation, I am looking for young homes that have some of the attributes mentioned above. The hostel you know what you want as a traveler is present to improve your travel experience, not just taking money from you for bed. I prefer to stay in a place looking to make sure I have a fun time.

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