10 Tips When Staying In Hostels

 

 

1. Keeping your valuables safe

Many hostels provide lockers to store your valuables such as passports, cameras, phones etc. But these can often be a target for thieves. If you do use room lockers make sure they are secured with a good quality padlock. Try and take your valuables with you as much as you can and don’t leave them unattended unless you trust your hostel room-mates.

2. Choose your room carefully

Often it is a good idea for female travellers to book into a female only dorm as these often tend to be cleaner and more comfortable than sharing a mixed room. Sometimes it’s not always the best option to automatically choose the cheapest bed when booking a hostel. Think about the times you will arrive and how long the journey has been to get there. You may decide it’s worth paying a few dollars more to upgrade slightly and get a much needed peaceful nights sleep after a 20 hour bus ride.

3. Don’t turn on the light

Inevitably at some point you will need to leave or arrive to your room in the middle of the night. It can be extremely annoying to your fellow room-mates if you turn on the light whilst they’re trying to sleep! Make sure you have a torch handy to find your way in or out of your room without disturbing people.

4. Pack the night before

Try and pack your belongings into your bag before you go to sleep. There is nothing more annoying than the rustle of 20 plastic bags being stuffed into a backpack at 4am. Do it before you go to bed if you have an early start so your ready to go.

5. Aim for a bottom bunk

Try to be on the bottom bunk if you have a choice. You’ll have a far better nights sleep than on the top bed as usually when a person moves around beneath you the movement is exaggerated up top. You’ll also find it easier to find your way into bed when you return from that big night out!

6. Keep up on your hygiene

You may not notice it but other people certainly will. We’re not just talking about personal hygiene here, make sure you keep your washing clean and dry out your wet towels before they start to smell.

7. Be sociable

Sometimes you just want to be on your own sure, but a simple hello or goodbye can often be appreciated as it’s just simple good manners. Try to be nice and don’t be rude to your fellow room-mates. Invite them out to dinner with you, or to do an activity.

8. Bring a spare sheet

A clean bottom sheet will not take up too much room in your backpack and will save you having to sleep on dirty sheets should you arrive late at a hostel with low standards. You can even buy specialist travel sheets that cover not only the mattress but also a handy pillow section too.

9. Pack ear plugs

A vital but small piece of backpacker kit is the common earplug which will save you on numerous occasions when you can’t sleep due to the noise of either your fellow room-mates or the hostels surroundings. Remember when other are people trying to sleep keep the noise to a minimum.

10. Don’t get too intimate

If you are lucky enough to hook up with someone whilst away don’t use the dorm room to get to know each other a little more intimately. People don’t want to hear or see you get laid so take it somewhere a bit more private. Book into a private room or go somewhere a bit more considerate!