Cheap Hostel Beds - Not Perfect,
But Not To Be Frowned Upon Either

If you don't mind roughing it, sharing dorm rooms with strangers and a bit of noise at night, cheap hostel beds will help your budget stretch quite far.

I can't say a budget youth hostel - which, by the way, aren't just for young people at all - is my all-time favorite overnight stay but if I'm watching my budget and am in the mood to meet other travelers, my misgivings magically disappear. Hostels are full of friendly backpackers, a good source of dinner partners or someone to travel with for a while. And don't think for a moment that hostels are only for the young. I've shared a dorm room with a man over 80, and certainly fitter than I was!

For those of you who have never known the joys of hosteling, there's good and bad.

Hostels are quite different from one another, even within a country, but they tend to share some basic characteristics:

• a common kitchen so you can do some basic cooking and get to meet other hostellers
• occasionally a curfew at night (this is increasingly rare)
• a locker to put away your valuables during the day
• communications facilities like long-distance telephones or Internet connections
• laundry service - washing machines or for a fee
• common bath and shower rooms (although some hostels have private rooms, which are more expensive)
• guests may be asked to undertake small chores or at least clean up after themselves - that's how prices stay low
• mixed dorms - some hostels may have same-sex dorms but it's not the norm
• tend to be near interesting sights or cities (and some are downright unusual - a jail cell in Ottawa, a mill in Ireland, a freighter in Germany)

Some of the posher hostels may have more facilities, like pools or saunas or private rooms with baths, but don't count on it. But all of them usually make you feel at home, providing a casual and friendly atmosphere where people mix and mingle.

And hostels are great places for women who travel on their own - whenever I go to a city with a high crime rate, I make sure to stay in a hostel first, because they are full of other travelers and there's safety in numbers, and second, because I can always find someone to join if I need to go out in the evening.

And don't forget to reserve! Hostels can be booked out during peak travel times and just showing up may mean you've got to find the nearest bridge. Guidebooks tend to have phone numbers and emails, and a number of chains have websites, some with sophisticated reservations systems.

The truth about youth hostels

As I said, hostels aren't for everyone, and you should keep this in mind when trying to decide how and where to sleep on the road.

Here are some reasons why you might NOT want to hostel. Hostels are not for you if you:

• dislike sharing a room
• sleep lightly and wake up at the first sound of a snore
• are uncomfortable half-dressed around members of the opposite sex
• love peace and quiet
• are radical about cleanliness (don't get me wrong - most hostels are clean but with all the coming and going, it's hard to keep them spotless)
• hate having someone barge in on you when you're brushing your teeth

As for any kind of travel, keep basic safety precautions in mind. Carry your money and important papers in your travel money belt, don't show off your valuables...

Cheap Hostel Beds Online

Booking should be done online, and well in advance, especially during popular travel seasons. The online reservation system of the International Youth Hostal Federation can be found at Hostelling International and the travel board BootNAll has a Hostel Guide. You'll also find a wealth of hostellng information on the Transitions Abroad website. To access an online hostel reservations portal, try Hostelz.