Hostels: the Truth about them & the Checklist Items You Forgot.

Sep 20, 2013
4 min read

Have you seen any of the three Hostel movies? Well, if you have you can understand how people can be easily turned away from hostels. I can tell you from personal experience that I have never been kidnapped and tortured going to, away from, or at a hostel. They're cost-effective and communal, I love it. Every hostel I've stayed in had more than one eco-friendly and Go Green policies. They are safe. I like to choose hostels that have a front desk person at all times and all call. Sort of like your RA on campus. Hostels give a respectful community vibe that is full of young adults. There are outdoor patios, community rooms with wifi and TVs (sometimes even a pool table and/or darts,) shared kitchens and eating areas. They also host mixers and pub crawls, I love hostels. 😛

I woke up to someone coming up the stairs and turning on the lights. I was on Amy's couch. A Brit I met while she was studying at Buffalo State. I pretended to be asleep, until I heard the kettle go off. "Yay! so British." I thought. I said my good mornings and began folding up my blankets, sitting them in a corner for the laundry. I hopped on booking.com and started my search with hostels. There wasn't any way I'd be staying at a hotel. I drank my cuppa Yorkshire tea and surfed my options. Hatter's were the cheapest per night and I would be allowed to pay upon arrival. Which would be great for me since I had a block on my debit card. 😫 This was because I forgot to notify them I would be traveling abroad. I was allowed maybe two or three purchases before my bank back home put a forty-eight-hour hold on my account. Moving on... Amy and I went over my hostel options and I decided on Hatters. I packed up & took a cab to City Centre. My friend and I lugged my things into the hostel lobby. Moments later I'm in a six bed, three bunkbeds, en-suite room. This cost just over two hundred US dollars for a week.

As for pricing, one bed in an eight bed room would be around one-hundred ninety dollars. These dormitories can be either mixed or women only. Some hostels also offer single rooms with a shared bathrooms, and double rooms with and without en-suites. The more lovely situations, of course the more expensive.

Here's my list of things to make sure you have:

shower shoes. I don't care if they're flip flops honey. Do not get in that shower without shoes on your feet. I use my Adidas Adissage sliders for this as well as my college showers back in Buffalo.
anti-bacterial wipes. I am not a germaphobe per se, however, I do like to wipe down the bathroom surfaces and door handles of the room.
hand sanitizer. Think about all the hands you shake, surfaces you touch, items and food you hold. Now think about how many times you sang the ABC's to completion while washing your hands, today.
one sponge. I have had dishwashers. Some I've trusted, some I have not. 😂 Some hostels have community kitchen areas. I don't know how long a sponge has sat somewhere or if it was rinsed and squeezed out. I don't want to rub it all over my dishes and then eat off them. When I cook in hostels, I wash my dishes and utensils before and after I use them.

I spent this particular stay at the Hostel for a week. The hostels usually do not allow you to stay for more than two weeks. It was an enjoyable stay for what I paid for, and what I received for my services. However, trust me. You do not need more than one week in a hostel. I stayed for a bit over that because the housing event wasn't held until a week after my check-in date.

A few days before the event at a Rooms4U location, I met an awesome American. After my mate showed me the Arndale after my check-in, I was hooked. So when I had become friends with the only other girl in my dormitory, we decided to eat there on a few occasions. We tried the food court upstairs as well as the one downstairs. We still ended getting lost on our way back. This young lady of an American was stood outside with a small group of people. In one hand, a rolled cigarette (No one buys cigarettes, here, they roll them.) On the other hand, a mug that was filled with wine. I was automatically a fan. Now, this was a Hatter's hostel, but not the Hatter's I had remembered coming back to previously. She explained to my Chinese hostel roomie and me that there were two in the city. We ended up bar hopping with our joint Hatter's rooms that night. Later, myself, the American girl, and a guy friend she had recently met attended the housing event together. As it turns we were all apart of the same student-exchange program. We all ended up moving into a flat together in Moss Side.