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A good hostel can make or break your stay in any place. Over the years I have stayed in countless hostels around the world, some good and unfortunately, some bad. There are times, however, that the hostel can be perfect yet let down by the clientele staying at that time. Hostels are community living spaces and a little bit of decency towards your roommates can go along way. Most people you meet in hostels are great but there are always one or two that need a lesson in hostel etiquette in order to make everyone’s stay better. Below are my 10 Rules of Hostel Etiquette, rules that I feel should be put into action by all.
1. Respect
If there are specific rules laid out in a hostel, (and there will be), it’s important that you FOLLOW them. All of them! Don’t think for one second that these rules apply to others but not to you. Follow them, not only will the staff respect you for it, but you will also find that others tend to follow suit. Be a good example!
2. Organisation
I know, you’re on holidays, but it’s vital that you have some kind of basic organisational skills. When checking out early, have your bags packed from the night before. There is nothing worse than being woken at 5 am by a disorganized neighbour, rattling around, trying to find a shoe or packing their bag from scratch. You know what time you will be checking out at so prepare for it. If you arrive late for check in and people are already asleep, don’t be that person that needs to unpack everything. Just do what you need to do, the rest can wait until morning. BE READY!
3. Personal Space
When staying in a dorm, you will have your own bed. This is the bed you will sleep in, sit on, stand on, do whatever on. Nobody wants to come in after a long day of sightseeing to find a stranger (or strangers, in my case) flaked out on their bed. To be fair, this seemed to only happen in China but is still supremely irritating. In regards to luggage, most hostels will have lockers or sufficient space to keep your stuff away from others. If your bag is under my bed, move it before going rooting. I don’t want to wake up and be almost face to face with you in the middle of the night.
4. Food
Sometimes there’s nothing more appealing than the thought of curling up with a movie and a bag of snacks from the local supermarket, even if you are staying in a dorm room. Be warned though, most hostels don’t allow eating in the dorms. If they do, try to pick food that won’t cause offence to other’s senses. Strong smelling or noisy food should be avoided. Nearly every hostel in Asia bans Durian and for good reason.
5. Alarms
Recently, I met a really nice guy in a dorm, however, he lost all my respect when his alarm went off persistently for seventeen minutes one morning. (He set it by mistake, wasn’t even going anywhere!) If you need to set an alarm, be sure you will wake when it rings. Also, avoid the snooze button, please! Remember that your alarm will not only wake you but possibly the entire room.
6. Alcohol
Drinking is probably the most common activity among backpackers. Please though, bear in mind that you are potentially sharing a room with eight to ten strangers. This may not affect your decision to get so drunk you can’t find your room, let alone remember which bed is yours. However, these strangers might have to catch an early morning flight, might be only in bed off a long train, etc. Please try to control your drunken self. I am no stranger to arriving into a dorm room intoxicated in the early hours. I do know that when I enter, all talking stops and I am going straight to bed.
7. Tidy
Some people were born to create a path of destruction as they walk through this life. When staying in a hostel, there isn’t usually regular housekeeping, (it’s not a hotel). For this reason, all litter should be put in the bin immediately. If you don’t do it, no one else will. When taking stuff from your backpack, make sure you take out what you need and return the rest to your bag. No one wants to be climbing over all your clothes to get to their bed. These people are usually the first to complain if something goes missing.
8. Personal Hygiene
This one is very personal, I can’t stand when someone refuses to shower! Yes, we may be in a hot country, but use the facilities, for everyone’s sake. There might not be hot water sometimes, but anything is better than nothing. A personal story in regards to this was on one of my more recent trips to Bangkok. The guy in the bunk next to me arrived stinking and did not shower for the forthcoming days. In his slight defence, he was unwell at the time but that was no excuse. Eventually, a hostel staff member made up a complaint from a guest in order to get him to shower. To be honest, this doesn’t even apply to just hostels, how anyone can go days without showering is beyond me.
9. Snoring
My personal pet hate. Most offenders, especially loud snorers, know that they snore. You tend to not go through life without someone telling you. If you snore, respect that others have paid good money to stay there too and avoid dorm rooms. It is never the snorer that can’t sleep. I have been in four-bed dorms where three of us are awake all night because of one guy’s snoring. He, however, slept through perfectly. It might cost more money to book a private room but it is you that is snoring. Better that than a room of people paying to be awake all night at no fault of their own. Personally, I feel that if a hostel has space then they should have snorer only dorms, but that is just my opinion!
10. Get Dressed
I don’t get some people. When I shower in a hostel, I bring my change of clothes in with me and come out fully dressed. However, some people treat hostels more like a gym. They return to the room in their towel and then proceed to get dressed. They might not think anything of it but it can make some people quite uncomfortable, especially in a confined space. Of course, guys are the biggest culprit of this. There is literally no difference in getting dressed in the bathroom and the dorm room, so why do it with an audience?
Despite what the above might suggest, I actually like hostels. For the most part anyway! Maybe, it is because they are incredibly cheaper than hotels in some places, but I have no problem staying in them. I just feel that with a little hostel etiquette among all guests, everyone can have a better stay. I know that certain people might disagree with some of these rules and others might have some they would like to add to these. If you have any personal rules for hostel etiquette, drop me a comment below!!
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Great writing! Take about 20 paper copies of this article and tack one up in every hostel you stay at this year. If we all do that, eventually we’ll get them all!
I’m sorry but you wouldn’t say “pay more” and “avoid dorms” if that snorer was doing so through no fault of their own…after all it wasn’t very long ago people would have said the same about transgender or other races. That is unacceptable. I have trouble with people coming in at all hours and motorcycles rumbling down the road but I’m not going to tell the city to enact a curfew am I? Some people are born with a deviated septum and they should not be shamed for or have to pay !ore because they are born with something that they cannot control. Ignorant. What if the reason that they snore is that they have cerebral palsey, are you going to tell that person to “pay more” and “avoid dorms?”