Shall i book a private room or Hostel? - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

Chocolaty Claire · 09-06-2007, 02:12 AM

I will be flying direct from the UK to Australia in a couple of weeks and am trying to decide weather to book my first few nights in a hotel or a quiet hostel say in a 4bed room.

I'm travelling solo and think it would be great to be with other people for my first couple of days but I'm not sure if I would need this time to recover from my jetlag.. The flight is 28 hours long

and is the longest direct one i've taken.. i flew to Bangkok which was 10hrs and didnt suffer much with it.

Can anyone advise me?

**benna2** · 09-06-2007, 04:29 AM

What's your budget like? A private hotel room will be a lot more expensive than a hostel but it will give you a chance to get a couple of good nights sleeps.

If you go straight to a hostel though, you said it yourself, you will be able to start meeting other travellers right away and get the party started!

**lauren313** · 09-06-2007, 04:56 AM

Why not book a private room in a hostel, for the first couple of days, then you can have the best of both worlds - the privacy for sleep, but you can meet people in the common areas and the kitchen?

Whereabouts are you going in Oz?

**maracle** · 09-06-2007, 07:02 AM

I pretty much slept for a day and a half when I got to Sydney, kind of felt like I was wasting my trip! But I reaaaaly needed a good sleep. Anyway I was in a regular dorm and it was no problem, it was deserted during the day. Obviously that can vary quite a bit.

If you go to the Sydney Central YHA (not sure where you're flying in) they have 4, 6 and 8 dorms, so I vote for the 4 bed room. Get a bit of privacy but still have a chance to see people in your room when you're awake.

Chocolaty Claire · 09-06-2007, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lauren313

Why not book a private room in a hostel, for the first couple of days, then you can have the best of both worlds - the privacy for sleep, but you can meet people in the common areas and the kitchen?

Whereabouts are you going in Oz?

Not a bad idea, i'll look into it

I'm flying into Cairns, have you been to Aus Lauren?

**omisan** · 09-06-2007, 10:15 AM

When I was in Cairns, I found that *no one* hung out in my 6-person hostel room at all during the day time. It's a fun town during the day (lots of adventure) and a party town by night, so it felt like people were only in the room to "sleep it off."

**lauren313** · 09-06-2007, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocolaty Claire

Not a bad idea, i'll look into it

I'm flying into Cairns, have you been to Aus Lauren?

Certainly have! We actually had a private room in Cairns, it was at the Caravella hostel, it wasn't right in the city, probably about a 10 minute walk or so, but they did a free mini bus in the evenings too.

**lost in texas** · 09-07-2007, 10:41 AM

If you really want the privacy/quiet having your own room can be cool, but in my experience the 3 and 4 bed rooms are worse than the big dorms. You're in close quarters with other people, so you don't have any privacy anyway, and the rooms are small enough that you're guaranteed to wake up anytime someone comes in or out (and you'll wake them up). I'd take a regular dorm room any day, it's better value and more fun.

Of course if you bring someone home you may get funny looks the next morning, but they get over it.