Travel-mart :: Youth Hostels

What are they, and why stay in one?
Travel is always changing. It wasn't so long ago that travel for most people meant a fortnight on a crowded beach in the Mediterranean. But rundown hotels and dreary package holidays have been swept aside in recent years as the world has opened up in a way that would have once been unimaginable.

These days, travellers are more likely to set off on a multi-stop trip to Morocco, a rickety bus tour around Thailand, a road trip across the USA, or a giddy charge around Europe from youth hostel to youth hostel. These days it seems we are, in effect, all backpackers.

Changing standards
The good, old-fashioned youth hostel - solid, if a little institutional - may still hold true in many places. But the backpacking market has definitely shifted upwards. 'Boutique hostels' and the rise of the 'flashpacker' have seen a new wave of smart, chic places spring up all over the world. Working for your keep and being locked out during the day are very definitely out. These days a hostel is more likely to be decked out with the latest design features - smart kitchens, laidback chill-out areas and piping hot power showers, meanwhile, are very much in. Hostels on boats; hostels in tree houses; eco-hostels; hostels in Scottish castles and stunning ancient buildings… Even hostels in prisons!

Low, low prices
And that's forgetting the best thing of all: the price. Prices typically start at around €15 a night for a bed in a dorm room in a hostel in Europe; if you stay in a South America hostel or a hostel in Southeast Asia, the prices can plummet to as low as €2/3! The Ritz it may not be, but a warm friendly environment with plenty of other travellers around to share stories and tips with, and a good, clean bed to lay your head down for the night it will be. At those prices, that can only be a good thing!