How To Choose A Hostel As A Solo Traveler

When solo traveling, finding the right place to stay can be a challenge. Hostels come in many different varieties and cater to different audiences. In this post, I share my tips to pick the right one every time.

How To Pick Your Hostel

It was around 10 pm on my first night in Chiang Mai. My brother and I had just gotten back from exploring a few temples. I knew I had to get up the next morning for an excursion to a waterfall, but when I got back to my hostel, the night was just getting started.

The owner of the hostel was sitting around the bar area serving up his home-made plum wine, which was fantastic by the way. Around him, sat another 10 people, who had been strangers just a day before. Seeing us walk in, they invited us to have a drink. Hesitantly, I agreed and sat down. After a few drinks and a lot of chatter, we headed out to a local bar to enjoy a great night out.

Little did I know, it would not be the last time I would see my new friends. The following week, my brother and I left Chiang Mai to head down south to the beaches. On our first tour, we were shocked to see familiar faces, as our friends from Chiang Mai sat down across from us on the boat. Turns out, they booked the same tour we did. We got to catch up and explore all the islands in southern Thailand together.

Similarly, a few days later, we ran into another two people from our hostel in Chiang Mai. It seemed we were all on the same route through Thailand. At first, I thought this was a mere coincidence, but as I traveled more and more, I had similar experiences everywhere I went. These types of connections made a foreign country feel like home and cemented my love for hostels.

For those who don’t know, a hostel is a sociable lodge, typically with dorm-style rooms that you share with fellow travelers. Hostels come in all different shapes and sizes. There’s eco friendly hostels, party hostels, digital nomad hostels, and boutique hostels among others. With so many options, finding right one is intimidating. And while you may prefer one type of hostel over another, the people you meet will ultimately determine your experience.

Here’s a few things I look for when solo traveling to make sure I pick the right hostel.

Read Reviews

HostelWorld is by far the best website to find hostels. It is filled with all types of hostels around the world, each with a rating and in-depth reviews. While these ratings are a good baseline, the reviews are much more telling. For instance, a hostel can get a bad rating because the traveler wanted a quiet hostel but stayed at the party hostel. As you can see, the ratings can represent a personal experience and might not apply to your situation.

At the same time, the reviews tell you what type of hostel you are going into and what the vibes are. And if this is not enough, I always join travel Facebook groups to ask questions and peruse for good stays.

As a solo traveler, I will always look for the party hostel. It’s not because I want to party, but rather for the people and atmosphere. In my experience, party hostels tend to have the most open and friendly people and have the most social atmospheres.

Location is Key

Most of the time on your solo travels, you won’t have access to a car. This means you’ll likely be using public transportation to get around. While this allows you to see the city as a local would, at times, it can be difficult to navigate safely and successfully.

In Guayaquil, my family and I tried to get a taxi back to our hotel. The cab driver was parked in a single lane taxi line blocked off from the main street by a concrete barrier. To make matters worse, there were 3 other cabs parked in front of him. There was no way he could drive anywhere and we decided not to take that taxi. Sadly, these issues persist across the world.

In Morocco, people will ask if you need directions, only to lead you the wrong way and ask for money just to get you back to where you started. Similarly, Thai cab drivers will overcharge you if you don’t use the meter. I’ve even had a friend get locked in a car in Cancun.

I’m not saying this to scare you. For the most part, if you are smart and cautious, you will be ok. But the point is, staying in a location that is not only safe, but close to your itinerary makes all the difference. Thankfully, many hostels are centered in the major tourist areas with easy access to everything you need and all the main attractions. Just make sure to plan your stay close to your itinerary.

Planned Activities

Through my time as a solo traveler I learned that having a rigid plan can be a mistake. Sometimes, you don’t know what all there is to do at a destination, or find new adventures upon arrival. At hostels, you don’t really need to worry about planning.

Many hostels offer a variety of daily activities for guests to sign up for. Furthermore, if you have a tour you want to book, or need some ideas, hostels usually have amazing deals and recommendations.

Having these options will surely keep you busy during the day. And who knows, you may even find some experiences you didn’t know about through the hostel.

Bar/Common Area

My favorite hostels are the ones with the best common spaces. They make meeting people easier and give you something to do when you’re not busy being a tourist. And the best part is that these amenities often go far beyond just a common space with a TV.

I have stayed in hostels with pool tables, musical instruments, board games and much more. But by far, the best amenity any hostel can have is a bar, even if you’re like me and don’t really drink.

The bar areas of hostels are the places where people gather to socialize. There’s often nightly social activities such as beer pong, trivia and live music at the bar. Even without drinking, this makes for a great time. And to go even farther, I found that hostels without bars are far less social, especially in the night-time, when people decompress from their busy days.

Of course, this is all personal preference, but as I said before, when solo traveling, it’s all about connections.

Breakfast

Another optional suggestion and something that’s different person to person. As a solo traveler, I have both stayed at hostels with and without breakfast and have no preference either way.

On one hand, having free breakfast is a nice way to start your day and a great way to meet new people over a meal. I stayed a beautiful hostel in Iceland that had a locally sourced breakfast buffet that was out of this world. Plus, hostel breakfasts often serve local dishes, so you get to try local cuisines.

On the other hand, if you’re up really early to explore, you might miss breakfast or may not even need it to begin with. Add in that you may not even be up early enough to enjoy breakfast all together. If this is you, then don’t worry about your hostel not having a free meal to start the day.

Lockers

It may surprise you that not all hostels have lockers available. To me, especially with my camera gear, this is a deal-breaker. Safety and security are always the number one priority, so make sure you know before you go. Also, don’t forget to bring a lock.

Wifi

In this day and age, we all need internet connection, especially if you plan to work while you travel. Some hostels double as remote work spaces with office-like areas for digital nomads to use. Others, aren’t as remote work friendly, but will still offer a computer, a printer and other technological services. As always, this depends on you, so pick a hostel that has the right amenities for your personal needs.