HostelWorld

Just checked into a hostel and noticed a few small dark dots on the mattress protector. Now I’m fully in my head about bed bugs. I feel awkward going down to reception over literally three dots… but I’m also terrified of bringing bed bugs home. Has anyone dealt with this? What...

Just a warning for anyone traveling solo or booking hostels. I’m heading to Amsterdam and got a pretty convincing email saying I needed to make a payment to secure my hostel spot, even though I’d already paid in full. For a second it had me second guessing myself like wait, did...

Stayed at a hotel in LA that charged a $33 resort fee. There were basically zero amenities. No pool, no shuttle, no bar, nothing that felt even remotely “resort”-like. At some point this just feels like a hidden fee. In theory a hotel could list the room for $1 and slap on a...

Currently staying in an 8-bed female dorm in Southeast Asia. It’s been chill all week with just a few adult women sharing the space, but when I came back today, there was a mom and her daughter (probably around 5–7 years old) settling into one of the beds. It threw me off, not...

Quick heads up for anyone using Hostelworld chats, especially in big cities right now. I’ve seen this pop up over and over. Someone pretends to be a fellow traveler and keeps pushing a “massive groupchat” where supposedly everyone is going to the same event. They hype up some...

Yeah, boxers only is a no go in a mixed dorm, so good instinct there. Gym shorts with no shirt is super normal in hostels. You’ll see way worse, trust me. Most people just want to sleep and don’t care what you’re wearing as long as you’re covered and not making it weird. Shorts...

Had someone lose it because a girl arrived around 11pm on her first night, unpacked a bit, took a shower, normal stuff. Was it a little noisy? Sure. Did it bother me a bit? Also yes. But that’s literally hostel life. As long as someone is being reasonably considerate, some...

I’m 32 and recently spent a week in Budapest. I used to love staying in hostels when traveling great people, fun conversations, easy social vibe. I picked quiet, non-party hostels this time, but still felt about 10 years older than everyone else there. I ended up switching to...

I run a small boutique hotel in Albania (8 rooms, about 20 guests max). For years we’ve offered a simple plated breakfast eggs, toast, cheese, coffee or juice, and a small dessert. I’m thinking of upgrading to a small buffet instead eggs, pastries, fruit, yogurt, maybe a few...

Stayed in a hostel recently and learned some people have zero awareness. Two guests had alarms going off at 5:30 every morning and just slept right through them. Even worse, they’d hit snooze so it’d start again every few minutes. I couldn’t even tell whose phone it was, so I...

Booked a hostel through HostelWorld, supposed to check in at 11 a.m. Got there at 2, they said “2 more hours.” Came back 3 hours later, same story. Other guests said they’d been promised rooms for days and some were leaving. Manager ignored my calls, but staff let me cancel on...