To be honest, I have always been scared to stay in a Hostel until 2023! The fact that you “normally” only sleep is such a waste of money to drop a shit ton of money on a fancy hotel IMO.
I have been intimidated to share a room with people a lot younger than me. To my defense, every single time I have stayed at a hostel in the United States, Mexico, Austria, Costa Rica, Hawaii there has been at least one person older than me. I have even visited with couples older than me that rent a room in the hostel instead of a dorm room with bunkbeds.
Advantages to staying in a hostel:
Cost – they are a fraction of the cost of a hotel and nearly half the price of an Airbnb in most cases.
Convenience – If you are adventurous, you are going to meet like-minded people that are there to help. They will have been there already and know the lay of the land. The staff are also normally guests that get free accommodations and/or work experience which is a win-win.
Options – Most hostels will have options for every traveler for privacy (private rooms) or cost. (multi-bed rooms in different sizes (more beds/bunkbeds are generally cheaper), all women dorms, number of guests in each dorm (limits Noice, air-conditioning and not air-conditioning) for comfort or budget.
Food and drink – almost every hostel has free breakfast (pancakes), good cheap food, and cheap drinks.
I start my hostel search on Airbnb or Hostelword:
Airbnb – I put a ridiculously cheap price in the search to start and work my way up. Once I start finding properties, I will look at reviews of other guests. That will give me a hint if I want to continue to look at that property, move on to the next, or raise the price in my search.
Hostelworld – this is the best website if you only want to spend a set amount of money in a larger city. Example (London, UK,). There are a ton of reviews to cut right down to what your budget and room type too. London has many hostels to choose from along with most other European cities.
Below are hostels that I have stayed at and only had one bad experience and needed to leave:
Studio Jaco, CR – I have stayed here twice and will again for an entire month someday. There is an amazing Room2board hostel which is also a surf school. The studio’s rooms are twice as much but you will not find a cheaper place to eat and drink in Jaco. I hung out here for the pool, cheap food/drinks, and sports. The owner is from Philly, and we would watch hockey games together.
Studio and dorm Vienna, Austria – I downgraded myself to a dorm as I stayed a couple more days.
Dorm London, UK – I had an overnight and just needed a place to keep my bags, shower, and nap. The hostel with 15 minutes from Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the tube, the train station to the airport, and most importantly, there is a 24-hour pub in the basement.
Dorm Kona, Hawaii – this is an awesome dorm room right on the main street and across from the ocean. I stay here when I go fishing in Kona as it is a perfect location and run by an amazing Ukrainian woman, Viktoria. Tell her that Ukrainian Darrell sent you as she normally gives me a free upgrade.
Mad Monkey Nacpan, beach, Palawan Philippines – This was the nicest hostel that I have ever stayed at. It is right on the beach and the food, drink, and staff are amazing. The biggest problem for me was the weekend as they partied from 11 AM to 3 AM and I had to bail.
Several hostel chains have locations all around the world including Mad Monkey. If you don’t mind rolling the dice on landing in the middle of a party, they sell 30-, 60- and 90-day accommodations passes. The pass takes the nightly rate down to $7 for a dorm and you can upgrade to an a-frame bungalow studio if available which is what I stayed in while visiting Palawan, Philippines. They have locations all over Asia which can make for an adventurous and inexpensive trip within Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia. There are 18 properties to choose from on the pass so you can keep moving if you do not like your location.