Langholmen Hostel, Stockholm, Sweden.
What’s the first thing you think of when you imagine a hostel? Cramped, uncomfortable and packed full to the rafters (literally!)? Here is a round up of ten things which may surprise you about hostels…
1. The 100th anniversary of youth hostelling was celebrated this year: The first permanent youth hostel opened on Aug. 26, 1909 in the Altena Castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It was built by a teacher named Richard Schirrmann who came up with the idea of a low-cost hostel while he was sheltering from a thunderstorm one night during a school trip with his class.
2.Flashpacking hostels are here to stay – Boutique and luxury hostels are spreading fast as hotels up their game and techno savvy backpackers start to expect more – for example, when Sydney Central YHA opened in 1997, it was one of the first hostels to have keycard room entry. It is also one of the biggest hostels in the world, with 550 beds in 151 rooms, a rooftop pool and sauna.
3. They take up a huge portion of the current travel industry – It is now estimated that there are two million hostels across the globe. With the current economic climate, the budget travel industry has exploded in all areas with cheap flights, cheap accommodation and freebies coming as a standard.
4. Prisons make great hostels – Many former prisons have been renovated to become huge hostels for travelers. Check out the former Crown prison – now the Langholmen hostel in Stockholm or the Ottawa Jail Hostel in Canada.
5. Planes aren’t just for flying – The Jumbo Hostel in Stockholm is actually an old jumbo jet plane! The best room to book is definitely the front of the plane where the exclusive cockpit suite is located.
6. They’re for everyone – So many more people are taking career breaks, holidays, and travels later on in life meaning that hostels are no longer exclusively for young backpackers. Families, couples, professionals AND students make up the vast backpacking community which now exists across the globe.
Plus Prague
7. Mixed dorms are not a rule – Many hostels offer single sex floors, or dorms. If they only offer mixed dorms, chances are that they also provide private rooms for a slightly higher price. Hostels such as the Pink Hostel in New York and the Cairns Girls Hostel in Australia two of the first exclusively women hostels.
8.The Facilities are as good as Hotels – One of the most important groups to be aware of is Hostelling International, a non-profit organization composed of more than 90 different Youth Hostel associations representing over 4500 Youth Hostels in over 80 countries.Today, many HI hostels are as upmarket and high-tech as major hotels with facilities such as en suites, WiFi, smaller dorm rooms, and experienced professional staff (rather than travelers working for free board).
9. Famous people like them too – Hotel 17 is a New York hostel offers budget style accommodation for travelers, backpackers…and Madonna. Located in Downtown New York near Greenwich Village, it has many claims to fame including the filming of the Woody Allen movie Manhattan Murder Mystery at Hotel 17 onsite. Prices start at just €23 a night.
10. Hostels have kitchens – It can be hard to save money even when you stay in a cheap hostel due to the high prices of food in many city destinations. Many hostels now provide kitchens you can use to prepare meals in – it’s also a great way to meet other people and perhaps even pick up a few handy cooking tips! As well as being found in a family hostel, kitchens are becoming more commonplace in youth hostels, and even in some of the flashpacking hostels. It can save you a huge amount of your budget if you prepare and eat two of your daily three meals in your hotel.
"It is now estimated that there are two million hostels across the globe."
I had no idea there were so many hostels!
Hi Dave,
Yeh it's a big figure, although thinking about it… there are quite a lot of hostel around that aren't even on the web.
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
Its kinda funny I travelled when I was 18 to England stayed in Hostels Near London paid about 5.60 pounds per night , I fell in love and have travelled all over in them ,Wherever I was in Indonesia or In Vietnam , but have to say in Asia allot of the mini hotels call them selves hostels , which is cool ,cause you get a room all to your self for about the same price.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comment. I’ve staying in many hostels and guest houses in Asia, as you say they tend to not have dorm rooms but you actually get your own room. Sometimes I found this a little less social, but other times it didn’t matter as the communal areas were quite good.
Thanks,
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
Hi David,
A cool article again 🙂
However I think that the picture above does not belong to Pink Hostel, New York. It belongs to Plus Prague Hostel in Prague!
Sorry, I do not mean, I just have a good memory.
Awaiting for the new articles.
Thanks
D.
Hi D,
Not sure about the photo, it's one of hostelbookers and is labeled as the Pink Hostel.
Thanks for the comment,
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
Definitely Plus Prague:
Photo 8
http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/czech-republ…
Cheers M,
I think HostelBookers have it labelled incorrectly on their flickr account!
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
There are not anywhere near 2 million hostels around the world. Maybe 8,000 to 10,000 would be a more reasonable guess.
Hi Josh,
You better ask HostelBookers.com the guys from their blog wrote the article. I’m not sure, it depends what you class as a hostel really. If you include guest houses, there are probably a huge amount.
Thanks,
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
@Paul
I can only imagine that it’s a typo or a mistake that their editor missed. I’ve been in the hostel industry for 8 years and the “2 million” number is just not anywhere close to reality.
A guesthouse is a completely different class of accommodation than a hostel. Hostels have shared accommodation. There is sometimes overlap (a property might be a “guesthouse and hostel”), but properties without shared accommodation are not hostels. I could send you some links to discussions about it if you are interested…
Hi Josh,
Yeh post the links, it would be an interesting read. To be honest I would have no idea how many hostels there are :D.
Thanks,
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
@Paul
Here is a 12-page discussion about it involving people from the hostel industry around the world:
http://www.hostelmanagement.com/forum/f15/definit…
The condensed version extracted from that discussion is here:
http://www.hostelmanagement.com/glossary/hostel.h…
The largest hostel booking engine in the world claims to list "29,439 Hostels and other cheap places to stay worldwide". I'm guessing that only about one third of their properties are actually hostels (i.e., ~8,000 to 10,000). There are many hostels that aren't listed on that specific website, but it's in the hundreds, not millions.
That's why I think it has to be a typo…
Hi Josh,
Thanks, I'll chase it up with Hostelbookers and see what they say. Interesting discussion anyway.
Thanks,
Paul @
TravMonkey.com
Another great ex-jail hostel is Hostel Celica in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It's awesome!!
I love this article. Grungy hostels are a thing of the past. There is really a new breed of chic and stylish hostels opening up – in London and across Europe. My point #11 would be that most now have en-suite rooms too. No more communal showers down the hall.
Thanks
Mandy