What are your top tips for hostels?

I’ve traveled around the world and stayed mostly in hostels for the last few years. This is a great option, especially if you want to travel on a budget and meet other travelers. I’ve made a lot of friends, including many I still keep in touch with by staying in hostels. I also love that hostels often have tour options or provide tips on how to take local transportation and visit the best attractions at a low price.

Other perks of staying in a hostel include that they often have a bar or restaurant, which allows you to order food or drinks from the comfort of “home.” However, if you haven’t traveled in a hostel before, you might be concerned about how it works and how safe they are! So, here are my top 11 tips for staying in a hostel as a solo female traveler.

My top 11 tips for hostels

1. Use HostelWorld to find hostels and good deals.
2. Prefer to have your own space? Book a private room in a hostel!
3. Bring a sharpie: you can use it to write your name on your food in the common fridge.
4. Want to keep things safe? Bring a locker! You can use the hostel’s lockers for your stuff, but usually, very few of them come with a lock. You can also borrow one from the hostel, but it’s easier if you bring your own lock.
5. Take your breakfast and the hostel and start small talking with the other travelers.
6. The easiest way to stay in touch with people is through Instagram. I still have friends I met at different hostels around the world and follow their adventures on Instagram.
7. Ask your hostel for tours and other extra activities. For example, I hiked Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador through a tour organized by the hostel.
8. Be considerate of your neighbors in the dorm. If you need to leave early in the morning, pack ahead so that you won’t wake up everyone at 4-5 am.
9. Pack your bags the night before checkout. There’s no point in hurrying in the morning. You can enjoy your breakfast and chat with the other travelers before leaving.
10. Ask the reception if you can hang out at the hostel after checkout time. Most of the time they will say yes!
11. Don’t know how to approach the other travelers? Keep it simple: start a conversation with a “What’s your name?”

My hostel experience in El Salvador

My most recent hostel stay was in El Salvador, and while it was nice, I’ve realized that now that I have the funds to stay in a private room while I’m working and traveling, that is the ideal option for me. It is a pain to set up and take down my workspace multiple times a day, and I like having a quiet space to work from. If I were on vacation and not working, I’d definitely still choose a hostel, but for now, I’ve been transitioning away. Another good option is to rent an Airbnb like I did in Cancun, Mexico.

However, hostels have served me well and I have a lot of great memories of staying at hostels in the last several years of traveling alone.

What are your top tips for hostels? Share them in the comments!