If You Are Nervous About Staying in Hostels....
Posted by brian in Athens, General, hostel, Paris
First let me say our get together in New York City last night was incredible! Those of you who missed it, I am sorry you did.
I'll have pictures of that over the weekend. If you were there, please send your pictures to me asap and I can incorporate them into any future blog posts.
One topic brought up last night by last by loyal reader Nicole and her friend Sylvia was staying in hostels.
The dorm room style with multiple beds is not the only option in hostels. You CAN have a single room, all to yourself, with a private bathroom in a hostel! Just depends on the hostel you pick.
Two advantages over hotels:
A single in a hostel can still be cheaper than a 3 star hotel...with the same amenities. Anywhere from 20%-60% cheaper....even more.
The hostel has the advantage of being able to make quick friends and providing resources for cheap or even free activities and events, like tours, museums, bars, clubs, etc.
So don't throw out hostels because you don't want to have 5-10 people breathing your air at night. There are other ways to save costs and be COMFORTABLE in a hostel.
Some more places I've stayed in:
This is St. Christopher's Inn in Paris. I stayed here for about $30US a night. A new hostel, just opened in the last year, you can tell they took the mistakes of other hostels and learned from them.
They had a bar/restaurant on the ground floor of the building and free WiFi. Free breakfast (toast, coffee) included. No kitchen for your own cooking.
The lockers that hold your valuables are under the bed and can be locked with a combination lock. They make a lot of noise when you pull them out and open them so you will disturb others if you need something when everyone else is asleep. I affectionately call them "shark cages".
In Athens I was at a hostel called Athenstyle for about $26US a night. Very nice place and since Athens was quiet (except for the protesting farmers!) I had the 4 bed hostel room to myself for the 5 days I was there. Only thing: 5 Euro ($6.33US) to wash one load of clothes! Too, too much Athenstyle!
They provided free breakfast (toast, coffee) had a full kitchen for cooking your own meals and a rec room downstairs for playing pool and screening movies.
This type of room is called an 'ensuite' because the bathroom is in the room. Meaning you don't have to walk down a cold hallway half naked with your towel and toothbrush.
Claudio, a cool Italian from Milan working at Athenstyle. You'll find that most of the people working at hostels in Europe are not locals, but travelers who decided to stay in a foreign country and found work at hostels. Definitely adds to the international flavor when you're in Greece and the guy who checks you in is from Italy, Argentina, Canada, etc.
