{"id":9985,"date":"2019-07-22T15:47:30","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seeker.io\/?p=9985"},"modified":"2019-07-22T15:47:30","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:47:30","slug":"the-perfect-hostel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seeker.io\/article\/the-perfect-hostel\/","title":{"rendered":"A Backpacker’s Guide to Finding the Perfect Hostel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“What if we filled this 2-person hotel room with 16 more beds and charged people a little bit less to stay here?” \u2013 some<\/em> genius<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hostels are many things to many<\/em> people. To the backpacker set, they\u2019re a godsend: a way to travel the world on limited funds and meet some like-minded folks along the way. Non-backpackers often have a different view, dreaming up images of bed bug riddled mattresses, mould-covered bathrooms, and a flock of dreadlocked guitar players singing Jack Johnson on loop in the common area. These people are (usually) wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over a decade-long backpacking career, I\u2019ve had the pleasure of staying at hundreds of hostels. I\u2019ve been in the 30-bed dorm lying above the middle-aged, overweight traveller whose snore sounds a lot like the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. I\u2019ve also been to some truly stunning shared accommodation that feels more a boutique hotel than refuge for the travelling poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that time, I\u2019ve developed a bit of a blueprint of the perfect hostel. Today, I\u2019ll share what could potentially be millions of dollars\u2019 worth of intellectual property with you, for free. We\u2019re all broke backpackers after all.<\/em>
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So, feeling more than a little like Colonel Sanders, here are the six secret herbs and spices that come together to form my perfect hostel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mattress\/shower combo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Hostel, Bali, Indonesia. Ilya Sviridenko \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why does a backpacker choose a hostel over a night in a tent? The fundamentals are to have a good scrub and a sound night\u2019s sleep. It makes it odd then that hostels often treat showers as an afterthought, presuming that as long as water comes out, the guests will be happy. I once stayed in a hostel that used an electric shower head to warm the water, which unfortunately also electrified it. When I told the manager, he said that if you squat down the current doesn\u2019t get to you. Brilliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for mattresses. They\u2019re backpackers<\/em>, the owners might think, they\u2019ll be happy with IKEA\u2019s cheapest and lumpiest<\/em>. Wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A scandalous rarity: if a hostel boasts a clean shower with good heat and good pressure and a comfortable, spongy mattress, they\u2019ll automatically find themselves at the very pointy end of my personal hostel leaderboard.
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The best I\u2019ve had<\/strong>: Island Vibe, Port Elizabeth, South Africa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller dorms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Luxury hostel dorm room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most hostels will give you a variety of dorm sizes to choose from. These could have as many as 50 beds or as few as three or four. While the price goes up the fewer people you choose to share with, I\u2019d argue that there are two major reasons why this is one of the best investments a backpacker can make:
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