What is a hostel?

Answer 1

A hotel kind of place where you share rooms, mostly rooms with bunk beds.
From 4 to a room to 20 or more to a room.
Mostly much cheaper than hotels and in hostels it is mostly easier to make contact with other guests.

Answer 2

Hostels provide accommodation where guests can rent a bed, sometimes a bunk bed in a dormitory and share a common bathroom, kitchen, and lounge. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex, although private rooms are increasingly common in all types of hostels.[citation needed] All hostels are generally cheaper for both the operator and the occupant; many hostels employ their long-term residents as desk clerks in exchange for free accommodation.

An effort should be made to distinguish between establishments that provide longer term accommodation (often to specific classes of clientèle such as nurses, students, drug addicts, arrested persons subsequently bailed to await trial and homeless people where the hostels are sometimes run by Housing Associations and charities) and those offering short term accommodation to travellers or backpackers.

Within the 'traveller' category another distinction can be drawn between hostels that are members of Hostelling International (HI), a non-profit organization encouraging outdoor activities and cultural exchange for the young, and commercial independent hostels. Hostels for travellers are sometimes called backpackers' hostels, particularly in Australia and New Zealand (often abbreviated to just backpackers).

Benefits
For travellers, the main benefits of Hostels include:

the low price of the accommodation compared to alternatives such as hotels and bed and breakfasts the opportunity to interact more with other travellers (often from all over the world) less formality more interaction between guests than in traditional hotels opportunities to make new friends in a foreign environment many hostels provide activities for their guests for a nominal charge or no charge at all Long term Hostels may provide both shelter and counselling for residents that would otherwise be completely unavailable.

Disadvantages:

Theft can be a problem since guests may share a common living space, but this can be prevented by locking up belongings. Most hostels offer some sort of system for safely storing valuables, and many offer private lockers.

Lack of privacy is also a problem. Sharing a sleeping dormitory is very different from staying in a private room at a hotel or Bed and Breakfast, and might not be comfortable for those requiring more privacy. Noise can make sleeping difficult, whether from snoring, someone returning late or leaving early, or the close proximity of so many people. For this reason, many Youth Hostels fix times for last admissions and lights out. Mixed dormitories can also be problematic when people need to change clothes.

In the past many youth hostels imposed age limits, but today it is more common for hostels to accept guests of all ages.

Answer 3

Cheap accommodation for young travellers (as in barely legal/just finished high school or uni).

I stayed in hostels and in my room there were about 12 of us (mixed gender although you can request both), there was no hot water at 5 in the morning (we didn't have a shower/toilet in our room but we had a sink and lockers where you can stash your stuff). On the other hand it was 12 pounds a night in peak season, it included breakfast and dinner was cheap. There was also a sort of club downstairs where we could party later on. You met lots of interesting people there.

Main disadvantage is that you get people coming in at all hours, some doing drugs (we had one guy doing the shrooms/magic mushrooms) not that great if you like privacy.

Answer 4

they are basically discounted lodging for students, but i guess anyone can stay there. They are more common throughout europe. Sometimes they can place you with random people though. One time i stayed at one in England and some guy stole my sandals. I was pissed...