bibowj

Hello All,
Now that Ive booked all my various transportation around my main cities of choice (london, edinburgh, paris and rome), Im now doing the research on where to stay....ie hostels. Luckily, there is a wealth of information to be had about all the available hostels in most cities, however they're often conflicting.

Heres my question: Im 33, and traveling alone. Im a VERY social person, who loves to go out.. have some beers and socialize so in my my mind the social type of hostel is exactly what Im looking for. The problem Im running into is that Im only finding two types of hostels: The quiet non social long termer type or the frat house style ...Now, Im by no means a boring person and was once that frat kid, but that was years ago. Now Im in that weird place somewhere between abercrombie and eddie bauer if you get my metaphor. So i want a social and friendly hostel, but I dont want one where people are doing keg stands in the living room ...and i DONT want one where mom dad and the 4 kids are there either...


Does anyone have any advice or input on this?

pinknic38

Well that isn't necessarily an accurate generalization, I think every hostel I've ever been in has had it's own personality -- what makes it is the city you're in and the people that are there too. You might visit one hostel and have the time of your life and come back the next year or at a different time of year and have a lame time that time around.

That being said, there is ALWAYS fun to be had.

Where are you trying to travel, amongst the veteran TP-ers here, we've been ALL over so wherever you're going, I'm sure there's a reccomendation out there. Also check out the thread for the hostel reccomendations on the main page, that should give you a good start.

__________________
SO FAR: USA, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan
UP NEXT: Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Grand Cayman Islands - Feb 2012

tpunk gallery * twitter

lost in texas

I think Nicole's right, and my experience had been the same. Some hostels may cater toward a certain crowd more, but for the most part, it's all about who happens to be there when you are. It helps to read reviews on hostelworld.com, if everybody mentions it's noisy or a has a big party scene, that's probably the way it is most of the time. In general, but not always, hostels that have ONLY gender-separate dorm rooms suck.

As far as specific recommendations go, I would highly recommend Budget Backpackers in Edinburgh. It's probably the nicest/coolest hostel I ever stayed in, and there's a good mix of party and laid back atmosphere. I stayed there more than once over the course of my trip, and it was always excellent. St. Christopher's in London is really cool too.

__________________
"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds."
-- FDR

bibowj

I will be specifically in the following cities for the days listed in January..




Bath-3 days
York 2 days
Edinburgh- 6 days
Paris- 6 days
Rome 5 days
London 6 days


I know I was being a little too general, but Im just going on what ive read in various posts on here and other sites

MIKEHONCHO

if you are going to be staying in Rome you gotta stay at yellow hostel, they had 15 euros for two hours of unlimited drinks at a bar, just remember to know how to get home

__________________
My dream is to visit 30 countries before the age of 30. 1/3 of the way there
Countries I have visited: Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Mexico, USA,Vatican City, Australia

joe7f

David and Nicole are both spot on who happens to be staying at the hostel determining the mood, but I thought I would add that HI hostels tend to be more strict so you may want to keep that in mind. In general if a hostel has the following attributes it will be right up your alley.

_Near town center
_No curfew
_Run by 20somethings
_Mostly 6-8 person dorms
_Has its own bar

I stayed at Pop-Inn in Rome but would not recommend it for someone in your situation. Have fun on your trip

--Joey

__________________


Countries visited: USA, Netherlands, Norway, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain (and Gibraltar), Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Austria, Ireland, UK, Japan, Canada , Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Andorra, Croatia, Montenegro

Next up: Mongolia, China

"I sought trains; I found passengers" - Paul Theroux

Help Travelpunk's continued existence with a small donation

MeTurk

I tended to go for hostels wth bars but had the best time at a hostel with none that one of those guys at the train station brought me too. Just take it as it comes.

That's my holiday for next year sorted.

__________________
"It's nice to have a nun around. Gives the place a bit of glamour." Fr Ted
Couchsurfer (:_irritainment_