A Guide to Picking a Hostel Part 2

Last time we talked about making a priority list when choosing a hostel. Now, we’ll go into things to consider when choosing one. I hope that this list, and my experiences, will help you with finding the perfect hostel for you in the future.

• Showers: 
  • I knew I’d want to take a shower when I arrived at my hostel because of my lengthy travel getting there. So, I realized how important it was to consider what I needed to be comfortable in the hostel showers. For me, I didn’t care if the shower was hot or cold, or whether it had shampoo for guests, but what was big for me was whether the stalls themselves were individual. Luckily, this wasn’t an issue in Bath, but I struggled with the fact that I brought the wrong towel. I had one of those microfiber towels which saves room, but I wished that I’d just brought a regular towel because of how long I had to wait in the stall for my body to dry off. 

• What if I am a light sleeper?: 
  • If you’re a light sleeper, make sure you bring ear plugs and eye masks. This wasn’t an immense problem for me, but there were people inside of the room who would wake up in the middle of the night and turn on their flashlight as they sorted through their things. This woke up the person who slept on the bunk bed beside me, but I was completely fine. Mostly, people are very considerate throughout normal sleeping hours and won’t be screaming or playing loud music inside of the room when they know that people are sleeping. (The sleep mask also works wonders when you’re on the bus and the lights are on but you’re exhausted from sightseeing all day). 

• Padlocks will keep you safe: 
  • Make sure you bring a padlock. A lot of hostels will have lockers for you to put your precious belongings in. This is important for people who are afraid of their passports being stolen. But, not every hostel will supply the lock for the locker, so if you plan on using one, make sure that you bring a lock. 

• Sticky notes are an invention from God: 
  • Hostels oftentimes have kitchens that you can put food in while you stay. And like everything else on this list, they rarely provide the most important part of storing your food: sticky notes. Which, right? Sticky notes are important? Sticky notes are important because they help people label their food so others won’t eat it. It’s also a good way to label expiry dates, ensuring that anything left behind gets thrown away. 

• Pillowcases in hostels can be a nightmare: 
  • If you have sensitive skin like me, the pillowcases for beds will be the worst thing ever. But if you’re unlike me, you’ll actually care about taking care of your skin. It might be useful to bring a small pillowcase that you can pull over the pillow. So that your skin doesn’t cry itself to sleep as you slam into bed exhausted at the end of the night. 

• Should you wear more layers at a hostel?: 
  • You need the basics for your outfits, when it comes to hostels you’ll be saving money on your travels but you don’t want to make up that difference by having to pay overcharge fees for oversized luggage (ALWAYS, and I mean it, look at the luggage dimensions for whatever form of transportation you take because they will charge you if it’s too big). Also, because of taking cheaper transportation, it’s not always super clean, so what’s the use of wearing expensive clothes when it’ll be in a bag placed on a dirty bus floor? I always brought three shirts, two pairs of pants, and the basic toiletries. (Of course you can have more than that, but I’ll add the bare necessity list at the bottom of this article). When you bring so little clothing, you’ll probably need to bring your stuff to a laundromat for a longer stay. Yet, it’s totally worth it when you pay for dirt cheap tickets for the bus or train or airport. 

• Do I need a water bottle?: 
  • You need a water bottle. You don’t want to pay money every single time you want water. They don’t have free refills anywhere. 

• Policy on Shower Shoes: 
  • Bring shower shoes. That’s it. 

• Bare Necessities: 
  • 3 shirts 
  • 2-3 pants 
  • Underwear
  • Passport 
  • What toiletries you need and are under 100 mL 
  • Small hand towel (for after the shower) 
  • Flip-flops for the shower 
  • Water bottle 
  • Any medicine / doctor’s notes 
  • Small umbrella (like actually small OR raincoat OR wear a coat that doubles as raincoat (would be better) 
  • Plastic bag
  • Padlock
  • Sticky notes

Note: the less you bring the more you can buy -> wouldn’t suggest banking on buying clothes as they’re expensive, but you’ll have more room for trinkets, etc.

– Evan Carter (Norwich, England) English Major