The most memorable hostel where you have stayed?

Hi Andy and welcome 😊

I tend not to stay in hostels nowdays because im old LOL...however, I was young and broke once upon a time 😉

About 27 years or so ago I was in the south of France with very little money and headed to Marsaille where I met an elderly man selling cheese who owned a little farm with the remnants of a very very old stone church and stables who offered the use of his farm and mentioned I could either sleep in the church or the stables.......and offered to throw in the use of the farm donkey for me to get around on. I spent the first night in the church (no electricity so candle light only) and found it extremely spooky because it looked like some sort of church x transylvanian castle out of the frankenstein movies and thunder and lightning outside just added to the spook factor. I decided to stay in the stables the next night because I couldnt afford any proper hostels (I think from memory I paid him about the equivalent of 15 cents per night) and had convinced myself the church was haunted. The stables had what looked like WW2 stretchers for beds which actually turned out to be quite comfy and no windows so I bedded down and fell fast asleep only to be woken up in the wee small hours by a chilling thudding at the stable door. I had visions of an axe murderer trying to bash the door in so armed myself with a swiss army knife (possibly the most useless weapon on earth...i shall use the corkscrew to unscrew your eyeballs mr murderer and then file your bones into sharp points and fashion them into a stake to drive through your heart to make sure you are really dead!) and hid under the cot trembling when the stable door smashed open .......

It was Pierre the donkey wanting his stable..I found out later that i shouldve picked the next stable along which had luxury items like a gas lamp, a table and chair and a jug of water and bowl to wash in... and wasnt Pierre's home.

If you could replicate an accomodation experience like that Id pay more than 15 cents per night 😊

A fantastic backpackers I stayed in while working at Ningaloo when evacuating into town (Exmouth) during a cyclone had great little cabins, dorms, and a viewing/chilling out raised platform area with beanbags and TV with a dvd every night to watch or just chill and watch the sun go down over the ocean.
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Hi Andy,

Welcome to TravelBlog!

I am convinced from reading your questions that you do indeed have some entrepreneurial blood running in your veins. I feel certain that you have a bright future ahead of you.

In my opinion part of the key is to honestly represent your property-- its pluses and minuses. I have arrived at many properties to find that the description of the property was based in fiction and fantasy. People will always come stay with you when you are a budget hostel or hotel as there are many people who need budget accommodations. If you are honest and they get more than they expect they will leave happy. When you embellish and your guest get less than expected they will walk away disappointed.
So my advice if for you to be honest.

An example, part of this problem is the each country rates their properties differently. In America a three star hotel might be rated a 5 star hotel in Europe or another country. The same goes with budget properties.

2nd-- always keep your place clean. Budget or not people should receive clean accommodations even if they are basic.
Word of mouth is the best advertising especially among backpackers. They will send people your way if you are good at what you do. Your business will be booming.

I highly recommend that you do not have rats on your property and don't lock people IN at night. Ah, ha, now I have your attention. We were staying at Rory's Guest House in Phomn Penh, Cambodia. Ok, so here's the story-- We had the nicest room(still very low end) in the place and I still woke up with about 10 bites on my body. We stayed three nights. It was located above an Irish Pub. Our last night we got up early to catch the bus to Siem Reap. We always came down the staircase and entered through the pub to exit. That morning it was locked. There was a heavy duty chain with a sturdy lock blocking our exit. We realized they must do this every night but because we were up a couple of hours earlier on this day it had not been unlocked.
We thought to ourselves- that is nice-- how safe. We continued on down the back stair case assuming it would take us to the alley and we could exit. Well our assumption was correct as it did take us toward the alley. When we got to the bottom we saw a metal door with chains and locks blocking our exit from the building. We had the most awful feeling realizing that each night we had been trapped in this building with no exit and if there was a fire or another emergency. At that moment I looked in the garbage can that was right in front of me at the foot of the stair case and there was a giant RAT and I do mean giant rat jumping up and down trying to get out of the garbage can. I am terrified of RATS so I started yelling, turned around and ran back up the staircase knocking my husband out of the way. I was hyperventilating and screaming. My husband agrees that the rat was big and he hints that the rat gets bigger each time I tell the story. I was gone back upstairs to our room-- my husband could hear me yelling so he knew where I was. Dave went on down the staircase and shouted through the metal door and got the attention of a guard that was on duty during the night. He unchained us and set the rat free in the alley. Everyone had a good laugh when I finally got talked into coming down.
So- if you want pets in your place I recommend a resident dog and not a RAT.



A few weeks ago we had a conversation going on in the forums about snoring and how to deal with that in a dormitory setting.
You may want to find it and read it because there were some very passionate views.

Post any rules and guidelines where everyone can see them.

We stayed at the Outback Pioneer Hotel near Ayers Rock. In each room they have a giant can of bug spray. It was needed. Each afternoon there was an army of ants marching around the room. Twice a day we would spray the perimeter of the room.

I think it is important to make the community room comfortable so that everyone will hang out in there and make friends.
Have computers available and wifi if you can afford it.
If you have some refreshments you can charge for them if you have wifi.

The Blue Star Guest House, Kanchanaburi, Thailand was a good example of a cute, comfortable dining area. They kept a well stocked library where you could exchange books. They had bus schedules posted. They have information on all the things to see and do in the area and would help with booking if you were interested. We took a fantastic Thai cooking class and had the best time.

Snoring in a hostel





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