Comments on: Your Hostel SUCKS!

By: whizyy blogs

whizyy blogs — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 17:21:37 +0000

how to take care of hotel checkin/out nicely written

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 10:37:18 +0000

Re: Book swaps at hostels
There was a hostel where you could leave a book and take one.
Or else you could pay a fee and have a book.
I had a Lonely Planet book I didn’t need anymore so wanted to swap it for a book I would read. The hostel made me pay half of the fee you pay if you have no book to swap because my Lonely Planet book was published 2 years ago.
I gave the money, but roll eyes.
At another hostel they wanted to charge me 4 euros for a second hand book with 50 cents sticker the charity shop put on it, to sell to probably the one who left it in the book swap. I didn’t buy it. When I pointed out the price sticker and said another backpacker probably left that here anyway as a free gift for other backpackers. Discussion was clearly not welcome and the book was slammed back on the shelf by hostel lady.
And, there was the place that kept the books behind a locked grid and made you leave a book as well as pay if you wanted one.

I really don’t understand the book swap complications. I am one of the very few backpackers I see reading books. Seems like they should be happy to tidy the place up by letting me take the books.

By: Home Plix

Home Plix — Tue, 14 May 2019 09:29:02 +0000

Amazing post about the hostel. Your work is great. Thanks for sharing your interesting post.

By: prabha

prabha — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 19:43:54 +0000

I have a problem in my hostel about its maintanance facilities. it has so dirty washbasin in a toilet I found a leech there and it smells like hell all the time . And the hostel doesnot even have a boundary nor has a proper sound insulation. It is directly in contact with road and yhe window gets dusty all the time. What should I do I cannot even sleep properly but I m so tired :( .

By: Shanti Favorites #10 | My Blog

Shanti Favorites #10 | My Blog — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 16:03:17 +0000

[...] This post about hostels is hilarious! I especial enjoyed the irony and dark humor of the authour. I’m backpacking for 8 years [...]

By: April

April — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 01:08:13 +0000

I feel totally like I am missing out! I am 46 and stayed in my first hostel ever in Ecuador. The ‘folks’ here in Georgia thought we were going to be murdered in our sleep. In reality it was a wonderful place in Banos. I almost wish we had stayed in a rotten place so I could commiserate. Instead I was just entertained. Happy travels!

By: Jane

Jane — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 01:13:34 +0000

As some one who has used hostels as a guest, plus worked in a busy Melbourne Hostel and run a small back packers hostel along the Great Ocean Road (as well as a past owner/operator of a backpacker tour bus business) – I can see all angles. Your article is absolutely on the mark! All my pet peeves have been addressed here, apart from just one…Another thing many hostels do is receive a LOT of money from tour booking commissions. This is absolutely fine, but when I was working in a Melbourne Hostel I saw so many other hostels who would push the tours that they got the most commission from, regardless of the the suitability for the customers. A hostel can be old and bit ordinary, but as long as it provides a clean place to rest and friendly service that aims to do the best by travellers, that is the best thing.

By: Richelle @Adventures Around Asia

Richelle @Adventures Around Asia — Sat, 24 May 2014 16:38:36 +0000

I live in China and I’ve traveled all over and it’s very interesting to see how the quality of hostels change as you get away from the major tourist cities. You’d think you would pay much more in cities like Beijing and Shanghai but there’s so much competition it keeps prices down. The problem is when you go to cities with only a couple hostels, or ONE (looking at you Xining) and they can do whatever they want. I went to a hostel in Harbin where the walls were COATED in thick fuzzy mold and you had to buy toilet paper to use in the public squat toilet bathrooms. The hostel literally SOLD toilet paper. Then I go to Shanghai and for the same price I had a nice clean room with towels provided.

Overall it’s the horrible showers that get to me the most. I stayed at a hostel that literally never had water above lukewarm and the water pressure was nonexistent. Not to mention the showers were filthy and didn’t drain properly. After the first shower I just decided to be stinky for a few days. I also once stayed at a guesthouse that shut the power off at 10pm (Tibet). I was pretty upset about that only because A) the guest house was SUPER expensive for the room we got and B) I REALLY needed to charge my camera and they didn’t even turn the power back on in the morning! Thankfully there was an outlet in their kitchen they let me use while we had breakfast. No camera for a day in Tibet would have literally killed me.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sat, 24 May 2014 01:03:19 +0000

The staff are usually the big difference in any hostel. If they’re grumpy and look at you like they want to kill you then it usually bums out the vibe. The best times i’ve had are when the staff treated me as friends and even took me out for a beer. If you’re grumpy working at a hostel it’s not the job for you, try starbucks.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 06:43:14 +0000

I don’t think that’s how the hostel owner feels at all. It is a business that they run and their list was valid. A hostel is not a hotel, it’s somewhere that travelers have the opportunity to have an affordable night of rest so it would be hoped that as guests, they are respectful of the space and of other travelers.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 17:11:47 +0000

Dear hostelowner,

You´re clearly not happy with what you do or with your guests. So I suggest you find another occupation.

Regards,

Pat

By: Backpack ME’s Most Popular Articles of 2013 | Backpack Me

Backpack ME’s Most Popular Articles of 2013 | Backpack Me — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 08:29:34 +0000

[...] 10. Your Hostel Sucks [...]

By: Sophie Q. Pennington

Sophie Q. Pennington — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 08:22:48 +0000

You might be then thinking “don’t be such cheappos and go to places with better beds !” Well, to visit some remote places the truth is that you have to adapt to whatever is available, because there isn’t always good accommodations around. In fact, in some towns in Latin America , we have come across hostels that don’t even have beds but alternatively offer hammocks for you to spend the night in. I am not one to spend USD 10 (USD 5 if you bring your own hammock and only need to rent the space where to hook it) to sleep in a fetal pose in a hammock for 8 hours! You’ll faster find me laying on the floor with the bugs!

By: Carl

Carl — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 20:08:45 +0000

That small pic looks like possibly the worst hostel ever – Check out at 12am?! Good luck with that one haha :D

(Obviously guessing it was a typo/bad English though)

By: Hostel Owner

Hostel Owner — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 05:37:58 +0000

As a hostelowner, I would like to add my side of the story.

Backpackers accommodation is the cheapest out there, and although I try to keep my rates as low as possible, electricity, water, food and Wi-Fi costs continue to escalate, definitely minimising profits.

Check-out times – usually a problem. You may want to sleep until midday, and I do not want to wake you up to explain to other backpackers who arrive at 8am, after a long flight, and become very stroppy, when the beds they have booked are not available.

They would also like a clean room with clean bins, clean linen and towels. Time is needed to provide this. Hence check-in/check-out times.

A few hours of free luggage storage is fine, but a month, while you continue your travels, and then ring the bell at 5am to collect this is not fine. Check first if the hostel has 24 hour service.

An internet charge becomes applicable, if you would like to SKYPE for six hours, talking to everyone, including the family dogs. Free for you, but not for the hostel. SKYPE is expensive. If there are 20 or more guests using the Wi-Fi, obviously, this will slow things down.

Sufficient toilet paper is a must. But, it is difficult to replace rolls every 20 minutes, if one person uses an entire roll. clogging the loo, and then couldn’t be bothered to flush. This is not the fault of the hostelowner.

Yes, please use less water. Is it necessary to shower for 40 minutes and use all the hot water? Leave some for the others.

I once filled two sinks in the kitchen with hot water and detergent. The first of a group of 12, emptied this, and they lined up to wash a mug, bowl and spoons under the running taps, using a 2 litre bottle of detergent.

I do provide bathroom hooks. Please use them and do not leave soggy towels on the floor. If you blow your nose in the basin or leave a black ring around the bath please clean this with the materials provided. This is not your mother’s house.

If you use the kitchen, please do not spray pasta sauce over the walls and drip oil on the floor, so that other guests can write on TripAdvisor, about how filthy the kitchen was, or how they could not cook, as the staff were cleaning the kitchen all the time, to make it easier for you. Most people do not like a dirty kitchen, others do not care.

If the breakfast buffet is at 10am, please respect this, and get off the Wi-Fi. Also, please do not sit with your tablet or mobile at the table for an hour. Others would also like to eat.

If you would like to exchange a book, please do not offer me a tatty, food encrusted, dog-eared novel printed 10 years ago, for a pristine one printed less than a year ago. I buy these books from my meagre profits.

As you have booked a very cheap dorm bed, please do not complain to me in the morning that you could not sleep, as other backpackers, farted, snored, spoke to the voices in their heads, and screamed on SKYPE all night.

I have no control over this.

Please consider others and me, to have a pleasant and comfortable stay.