Saying Goodbye To Hostel Dorms

I’ve been a huge advocate for budget travel my entire adult life. I’m a strong believer that travel is much more attainable than people would often imagine. One of the things that allows people to travel on a budget is finding alternatives to hotel rooms that are much more affordable. There are many alternatives like AirBNB, hostels and guesthouses. That said, I do believe that I have bid farewell to my old friend, the hostel dorm. 

THE HOSTEL THAT TURNED ME OFF OF HOSTEL DORMS

When we were in Copenhagen, we found a hostel in an unbelievable location, so we instantly tried to book a private room, but they were totally booked. So, we thought, what the heck, we’ll do the dorm thing for a couple of nights. The location was just too good to pass up, right on the beautiful Nyhavn Harbor just behind all the brightly colored facades. I will forever rate this hostel a 10/10 for location, but I was so unimpressed with everything else about this hostel.

IT WENT FROM BAD…

We had to make our beds and put the duvet cover on the blanket – apparently this isn’t that uncommon, but through all of my travels this is the first time I encountered it. While it annoyed me, I thought, Seh… I’ll get over this. So, I went up to slip it over the duvet only to find my bed had one that was totally blood stained. Then, I was told that’s what the cover was for. So, I begrudgingly place the cover on the duvet and had tried not to think of how they got there. I tried to lock our more valuable items into the lockers, and lo and behold theirs is the only locker I’ve ever used that my lock didn’t fit. So, of course, we had to pay for another amenity, the lock we had to rent. The floors were filthy, the showers weren’t anywhere near the dorms and the toilets were gross.

… TO WORSE

I somehow managed to have the shittiest of all the bunks in this dorm. It was a ten-bed dorm and it’s in an old building with big wooden support beams. So, they built the bunks in and around these beams. That meant that my ladder to get up to my bunk had limited space. It was only wide enough for me to get one foot at the time on each rung. The opening was also super small. I wiggled my way up into the bunk and found one of those beams stretched right across where my legs go. Oh, and that’s not all… there was also a line of ducts right over my head that ate up even more of the space in my bunk. It was terrible.

WHY WE’VE GIVEN UP ON HOSTEL DORMS

LACK OF PRIVACY – Now that we’re a married couple, it’s just not fun to share a room with 13 other people. Honestly, it’s not always fun anyway, but it’s a whole lot less fun when you’re coupled and want to cuddle up with your significant other or spouse at night.
I REQUIRE A WHOLE LOT MORE SLEEP THAN I USED TO – When I was 24 or 25, sure things about staying in hostels annoyed me. I hated when a girl would blow dry her hair at midnight in the bunk below my or drunk people rolled in at 3 a.m. (Admittedly, once or twice I was even that person.)  Now, at almost 29, a lack of sleep can send me spiraling into a deep, deep rage, and I now politely ask the girl blow drying her hair late at night, to excuse herself to the bathroom, much to her surprise.
I LIKE MY PERSONAL SPACE/CLEAN SPACES – I am a big fan of being able to put my stuff down and spread out or stay up late if I want to. Or, for the love of of all that holy, just not having a pile of someone else’s crap laying around. So. Flipping. Annoying.

WHY WE HAVEN’T GIVEN UP HOSTELS COMPLETELY

At Oldtown Hostel in Bangkok, Thailand we had some insanely delicious free brunch and great company!

However, Matt and I really love staying in private rooms in hostels. I love the sense of community of hostels. The common spaces are great places to meet people, learn tips about cities from fellow travelers and just be social. We would obviously prefer to have our own bathroom. Who wouldn’t? But it isn’t a dealbreaker for us. We found that in many hostels, it’s almost the same price to (or not much more) to do a private room instead of paying for two bunks. Also, the employees and owners of many hostels are so hospitable and always willing to help out!

Plus, some hostels are flat swanky, like our favorite hostel of all time: D Hostel in Kanachanaburi, Thailand. We paid $25/night for a private room with a stellar mountain view and dock access. So, if you’re saying goodbye to dorms, don’t rule out hostels all together, just maybe look at them a little differently.

IT’S ALL PART OF THE EVOLUTION OF TRAVEL

I believe that your travel style, much like everything else in life, evolves and changes. And guess what? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s funny to think about, though, and look back on those things. This post is in no way saying hostel dorms are bad, or that people should never use them. It’s just a part of our travel evolution as a couple that I wanted to share with you.

What do you think? Has your travel style evolved? What’s something you’ve said, “Goodbye!” to in your travels evolution?

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