What is a hostel, or How not to be mistaken with the place of residence?

Travel is loved by many of us, and, as a rule, everyone tries to save money: on travel, on food, on accommodation. It seems to me that someone who loves to visit new places has already heard about this now a popular way of accommodation.

Let's understand together what a hostel is, determine what it differs from, say, a hotel or a rented apartment, and also outline the list of its advantages and disadvantages.

What is a hostel? General idea of the concept

If we translate the word "hostel" from English, we get "hostel". Are they surprised? Yes, in principle, everything is correct. After all, this word can be called inexpensive housing, the owners of which can only offer an angle for one or several nights, clean bed linen, shower and light breakfast.

By the way, the availability of both hot and cold water in hostels is mandatory. Also in most places you will also be fed breakfast included in the cost of accommodation, however it is better to learn about it in advance from the manager when settling or booking.

Keep in mind that the hostel-hotel, as a rule, is equipped with a common kitchen, so there is no problem with self-cooking.

It is not necessary to hope that here the rules are much more loyal than in the hotel. Sometimes guests are struck by the cleanliness of all rooms without exception, and strict rules are able to discipline even the worst offenders of order. For example, it's forbidden to come later than midnight, and in some hostels guests can not be in the room after 11 am. Why? The fact is that at this time the stay becomes impossible, because All toilet facilities are closed, and the personnel subject them to the most severe sanitary treatment.

There are three types of rooms here:

• Individual;
• Designed for guests of the same sex;
• Mixed.

Although in large cities there are 24-hour hotels of this kind, provincial ones in most cases are closed at night.

Registration is twice a day: in the morning at 8-11 o'clock and in the evening at 17-23 o'clock. As a whole today in the world there are approximately 4,5 thousand similar institutions. Why so much? What motivates the host before opening the hostel? It turns out that this type of accommodation is much more profitable financially than, for example, a hotel, both for guests and owners.

Types of hostels

In Europe, two types of similar institutions are mainly distinguished.

The first is designed for long-term stay. It houses certain categories of the population: from nurses and students of local universities to drug addicts, homeless people and people awaiting trial. This kind is in essence an analogue of the usual student hostels, rehabilitation centers and shelters.

The second one is a kind of simplified version of a small hotel. The owners offer tourists or business travelers a short-term lease.

As you understand, these two types are so strikingly different from each other that it is recommended to be extremely cautious when searching for and booking such a habitat.

What is a hostel: its advantages and disadvantages

First let's talk about the winning moments.

• Of course, one of the main advantages of this type of placement is its price. Sometimes it is ten times lower than the cost of staying in any of the hotels in the city.
• In addition, stopping at the hostel, you get an additional opportunity to get acquainted with other travelers, as a rule, from all over the world, make new friends, exchange impressions and experiences. Throughout the world, hostels are places of youth gathering, and communication takes place in a more friendly and informal atmosphere than, for example, in a high-class hotel.
• The services offered here by the staff are aimed at providing guests with the maximum level of comfort. Usually the room has a laundry, equipped kitchen, hot showers, Internet access, as well as discounts for sightseeing and excursions.
• The staff working in such hotels are happy to suggest places that should be visited by those who wish to have fun and relax both during the day and at night.

Of the shortcomings, unfortunately, still can not do:

• In the first place this, of course, mass theft. True, in some modern hostels there are reliable storage rooms where you can leave money and especially valuable personal items for an additional fee without any problems.
• Absence of the so-called personal space. You have to put up with the fact that other people will be near you: some of them snore at night, someone can even lead a nocturnal life, listening to music, eating or working at the computer until the morning.
• Some special discomfort makes it necessary to use a shared shower and toilet.

So, in general terms we managed to find out what a hostel is. Now the choice is yours. Stopping in an institution of this type, you will definitely have to give preference to one thing: either monetary savings, or the presence of personal space.