A Yankee in a New World: Travel Tip - Finding a non-Hostile Hostel

So, like I told you, I've done a bit of traveling about Europe - my friend and I spent some time traveling around the Eastern Front about a year or so - I always thought we did it backwards...Doing the Eastern Bloc in the dead of depressing winter and then doing Western Europe this summer, when it is sweltering. However we did get pretty savvy about the whole traveling on a budget - We're only students after all!! We take what we can get...in style. (Did you guys see Blank Check when you were kids? S-T-Y-L-E...STYLE!! ) Here's some tips to having a great and safe Hostel experience:

1.So, first of all, scope out possible Hostels beforehand and book them on the website in advance- This way you dont just show up and not have anywhere to sleep!

Some websites I found helpful
http://www.hostelz.com/
http://www.hostels.com/
http://www.hostelworld.com/

2. Set your pricepoint of how much you are willing to pay. This way, you can make a budget of about how much you can spend on accomodation

3. Know if you want to sleep alone, with your friends only, or would be willing to share a room. Dorms may be crowded, but you're never going to be there other than sleeping, b/c you'll be out seeing the town!! On the otherhand, you might like the privacy of a room with just your friends or just yourself, to quietly relax after a long day of site-seeing (or shopping!)

4. I can not stress this enough - READ THE REVIEWS of the hostel. The reviews by other travelers are invaluable! You can learn about things not listed in the site - like cleanliness, safety,courtesy of the staff, how convenient(or not) the location is and much more!

5. It's easiest, I've found, to pick a hostel either close and easily found from the train/bus station or airport or right in the center of town, just to minimize confusion and the chance of getting lost.

6. Make a list of things you want in a hostel. Our List:
* Free internet access - So you can be the envy of all the ppl you email as you gallavant about!
* Lockers to lock valuables in - Keep your friends close and your stuff closer!! You don't want to spend money of souvenirs just to have them stolen!
*Breakfast included - we had the sly trick of nicking extra stuff, like bread or nutella at breakfast and making it last for lunch or even dinner. We spent wayyy less on food, and were able to shop more or eat out a nice restaurant towards the end of our stay in the city
*Laundry service - or at least a washer/dryer so we can clean clothes along the way

7. Note - just because a hostel is hostel, doesnt mean it cant be really amazingly nice. So dont nix the hostel idea before you've even checked it out! Check out this one we stayed in in Prague:
...And yea, it totally did look like that. No lies in those pictures - It was heavenly!!

8. A Hostel with a bar or lounge area is great for students. In Vienna, having that bar there allowed us to find ppl to go out with, find tips about what is fun/cheap/interesting in the city, get inside tips, and make money off foosball bets with drunk Aussies!

9. A Hostel with a kitchen is also a nice touch. Its another way to save $$ on food, by buying cheaper food locally and cooking yourself. Also, I've found going into grocery stores is a neat way to look at another facet of local life and people, and to giggle at funny product names:

This definitely would not be legal at home!!

I wonder if Carrie knows about these...maybe she wouldn't have missed him so much...(If you're not into Sex and the City...it's a funny name anyway =0 lol)