I’m sure we’ve all heard the horror stories that surround staying in a hostel, from the never-ending partying, to the dirty, drug-filled hostels that are not safe for anyone.
I’m not here to dispel the myths of hostels, not in this post anyway.
I’m here to tell you about my first experience of staying in a hostel.
I stayed in a hostel for the first time on my solo trip to Bucharest in May. The hostel I stayed in was called First Hostel and here’s a little insight into my stay.
Contents
Price
When travelling alone, staying in a hotel becomes quite pricey. What I ended up paying for four nights in a hostel, is around what I would have had to pay for one night in a hotel.
With all the travelling I need to do to reach my goal of visiting 25 countries before I turn 25, I am all about saving some coins! ?
Roommates
Before my trip, for some reason I had already decided in my head that I would be sharing my room with two women and one man. So imagine my shock when – wait hold on! Mum if you’re reading this, please stop now! ?
So, yes imagine my shock when I found out that I would actually be sharing a room with not one man, but three! ?
I know some of y’all are probably thinking what a scandal and coming up with all kinds of stories, but I came back home with my honour intact thank you very much! ?
It actually wasn’t that bad…
By the second night, one of the guys had left the hostel and another had changed rooms, so it was just one guy for most of my stay.
Thankfully, all of the guys were pretty nice, although none of the conversations I had went past “Hi, how are you?”
However, most importantly, none of them were loud snorers! ?
If I do find myself staying in a hostel again and there is female only dormitories, I will definitely be staying in one. I was lucky this time to be sharing a room with some nice guys, but I don’t want take the risk again of putting myself in an uncomfortable situation.
Social life
As much as I am all about saving some money, for the sake of having my own space and most importantly my own bathroom, I wouldn’t have minded forking up some more money to stay in a hotel.
However, on this solo trip, I really wanted to meet and connect with other travellers. I also had the challenges set by y’all to complete and I thought that staying in a hostel would make it easier to complete.
Unfortunately, this was not the case.
The other guests in my hostel were friendly, but they kept to themselves or were travelling with their friends. During my whole stay, I didn’t have a proper conversation with any of the other guests.
Maybe I just need to work on my social skills, okay yes I know I definitely need to work on my social skills ?, but I think it may have also helped if I had chosen a different hostel.
The hostel I had chosen was more on the quieter side of things, while there are some hostels that organise a different social event for each day of the week.
Staff
The staff in the hostel were very friendly and helpful. I had more conversations with the staff than I did with the actual guests.
Food
My hostel stay included free breakfast. I’m kind of a picky eater lol, especially when it comes to breakfast, so I didn’t have high expectations of the food that would be provided.
The breakfast in the hostel included cereal, bread and cold meat slices. I’m not a fan of any of this; I’m more of an eggs and bacon kinda girl.
I ended up eating out for breakfast for my whole stay and I wasn’t too fussed about missing out on free food (which is a change lol) since I hadn’t paid much for the hostel in the first place.
Amenities
The hostels amenities included WiFi, Netflix and board games. There were lockers in my room (thankfully large enough to fit my laptop) and each bed (even the top bunks) had a night table with a plug and a USB charger.
Cleanliness
This is probably the most important factor; I can’t stand staying in a dirty place. Thankfully, the hostel was very clean.
In the hostel, there were three bathrooms, one of which was in one of the bedrooms, not mine unfortunately. The other two were accessible to everyone else.
Understandably, when a bathroom is used by a number of people, it can get a bit messy. Although, there was a housekeeping staff that was always present in the morning to keep the bathroom clean, it is not possible or feasible for her to clean up after each person.
I have a bit of thing when it comes to using public showers… I shower in my flip flops. ? Is that weird? I just have a thing with not letting my skin touch the bottom of the shower, especially after seeing people’s hair and stuff there. ?
Well that was my first hostel experience. If you have any funny, bad or even good hostel experiences, I would love to hear them, so please do share them in the comments below. Also, if you have any questions about my stay in a hostel, feel free to ask. ?
Well, until next time guys!
Debbie???
Follow my travels as I work towards my goal of visiting 25 countries before I turn 25:
Great info! This blog has me feeling more comfortable with the thought of staying at a hostel.
Nice to see that you had a good stay in your hostel! I admit, when I first started travelling, I was incredibly worried about staying in them because 1) cleanliness 2) people (I have some awful social skills as well! 3) safety (thought my stuff would be stolen and 4) snorers. I’m a very picky sleeper who needs pure darkness and quiet, so yep, snorers worried me.
But now I LOVE hostels, and actually prefer them to hotels (price certainly helps there though!). I’m still awful at speaking with others (but have found a few gems and interesting conversations!), but I always find the staff brilliant and love gossiping with them.
I have to say though, I always try to stay in female only dorms. The one time that I stayed in a mixed dorm in Europe when I was solo travelling, I had a guy come onto me pretty strongly… and that’s pretty damn awkward when they’re sleeping in the same room as you! Luckily, someone else then showed up, haha. Glad you had a good time, babe!
“However, most importantly, none of them were loud snorers!!” Now that’s definitely something you got lucky with!! ? ? I am yet to find a dorm where I can have a quiet peaceful nap without someone snoring across the room, but then that’s how it is ?
I am glad you had a pleasant first experience in a hostel. Personally speaking, I absolutely love them although I still prefer staying with local hosts wherever possible. But I must admit that my social skills developed immensely because of these hostels and I cannot thank the hostel culture enough for that.
Wishing you the best of health and times for your future journeys. Keep sharing your experiences with all of us. ?
I am happy you had a great experience. I stay mostly in hostels and have always had good experiences. Researching and reading a variety of reviews help to choose good places.
Wow! cool post you know, one turn off about staying in a hostel is when it has a poor sanitation and unclean enviroment but am glad you enjoyed your stay in first hostel and also am really choosy when it comes to food so I really try to eat foods that am great with to avoid stomach problems. I always loved hostels(hostel experience is one of the best)
Thanks for sharing your adventures. I love how consistent you are with your blog.
i nominated you for a travel blogging award: https://vamejotravel.wordpress.com/2017/07/11/my-first-travel-blogging-award/
I loved reading this post. Staying in hostels for the first can be really daunting – especially if you’re uncomfortable in a room full of men! I remember my first time and yes… I was also glad they didn’t snore! Sorry to hear you didn’t stay in the most social hostel though! But there are so many to choose from that hopefully your next will have lovely female dorms and great activities!
Lol I shower with my slippers when I go to the Philippines. I get that
Lol – you are not the only one, I shower in my flip flops too!
Lool I can be such a germaphobe sometimes, especially when I have to share a shower with strangers ?