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Definition of a Hostel

The Ideal Hostel

uktrail started this discussion 16 years 11 months ago

I am coming more and more across places which call themselves 'hostel' in their name, but which have more the character of a B&B/Guest House/Pension.

Hostels do of course vary over a wide range of standards from a simple country farmhouse with self-catering and 8-bed dorms only, through to facilities with dorms and private rooms with TV and en-suite and all meals available.

The British tourist bureaus have definitions which distinguish between 'Hostel', 'Bunkhouse' and 'Camping Barn' in terms of facilities and awarding stars. But I think we should agree on a definition of 'Hostel' with worldwide application. This forum seems a good place to determine such a definition.

Relevant points:
1) You might say: To be a hostel, there must be dorm beds. I would say: Not quite so. What is essential is: They don't charge more for an individual traveller than for one of a couple. I think indeed this is the crucial definition. So if a facility charges, say, £16 per person for a couple in a double room, and £16 for an individual and chooses to put him in a single room, they are eligible. But if they charge £18 for an individual traveller, they are NOT ELIGIBLE.

2) A common room. Some hostels fail on this -- there's one in Edinburgh that brings your breakfast to your bedroom and has no common area. Some are pretty poor, with a sofa and chair in the reception hall having to suffice. Some have a common room with chairs in a semicircle facing a TV, which is not very congenial. Some have a common room which is so placed that people don't bother to discover it.

3) A self-catering kitchen. I would like to make this an essential criterion, but unfortunately that would leave out many facilities, some of them excellent in other ways. In some countries this is not normal at all. Some have a limited kitchen, eg microwaves and 2 stools to sit at. Some are miserly with equpment -- 2 battered pans, no soup bowls, no dishwashing soap -- and I've seen kitchens with no equipment AT ALL!

It is quite common now for hostels to try to cater for different types of traveller from the backpacker to the family and business visitor, and the YHA does this. New facilities call themselves 'hotel and hostel' in the hope of attracting all types, but they haven't always grasped what a hostel really is. For example, they seem determined that everybody wants privacy.

The definition I use is:

A hostel must provide budget-price accommodation, including 1-night stays, must welcome individual travellers and must not charge them more than a member of a couple or group. A hostel must have a common room where guests can sit and chat, or eat communally.

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Josh Hostels

15 years

Whether you offer strangers to share or not isn't that important to me. If a solo traveller wants to stay, but they have to book a twin to themselves, then that's just a question of cost - if it's too high then they shouldn't book.

I'm not sure it's just about cost though because many people request shared dorms even when they can afford something more expensive. I worked in one city where hotels were cheaper than the hostel for anyone traveling in groups of 2 or more, but people still booked in the dorms.

The example that I use most often is the guy who pulled in the hostel in a rented Ferrari and booked a $20/night bed in the 8-bed dorm. He didn't even want the 4-bed dorm which was only $5 more expensive. :)

Many people want to stay in shared dorms -- it's not necessarily an inconvenience or a bad thing.

In fact cost is one of the few questions you have a good idea about when you book. If you offer hostel facilities that's the most important thing. Sometimes one can book a hostel and find out there's no common room, or SC kitchen - to me personally that's not much of hostel.

Are there hostels with shared dorms but no common areas? I haven't seen one yet (though came across one in Asia that only had an open concrete garage for a makeshift kitchen and common area -- "not a good hostel" doesn't mean it's not a hostel though).

It's good to have a kitchen, but it's possible to have a great hostel even without a self-catering kitchen.

The thing to me is that there are many types of hostel and no one definition will fit all of them. For most of the users and owners on this forum a hostel is by definition a backpackers place. For us the backpackers market is a small slice of our market. We also cater for walkers, cyclists, families and groups of various kinds, as well as tourists. These are the markets we need to address, and provide the facilities they want. If we don't do this we won't be in business for long. If you're not in a prime city or backpacker magnet location you have to offer facilities beyond the dorm. Personally I think you can so this and still be a hostel.

Hostels should cater to all markets possible, but to not cater to solo travelers (not just backpackers) who want a dorm I think at least makes it a gray area.

I'm just going to call it a "gray area" for now (private dorms). I'll leave the definition as it is until more people write their opinions.

It seems like everyone here agrees that dorms of some kind are required for a property to be a hostel. I think there's only a small difference of opinion.

Do people consider the YMCA or YWCA properties in the USA to be hostels? They typically rent dorms, though the Boston YWCA says on their listings: "IMPORTANT! ALL of our 'dorms' are PRIVATE ROOMS. If you reserve a 2-bed dorm, you are agreeing to pay for both people."

I'm trying to keep an open mind here -- I've never considered YMCA/YWCA as hostels, but would be interested to hear opinions :)

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Tim

15 years

Are there hostels with shared dorms but no common areas? I haven't seen one yet (though came across one in Asia that only had an open concrete garage for a makeshift kitchen and common area -- "not a good hostel" doesn't mean it's not a hostel though).

I've seen a few hostels with no common areas. They are dull and lifeless, but with shared rooms they are still hostels. Just not good hostels.

ALL of our 'dorms' are PRIVATE ROOMS. If you reserve a 2-bed dorm, you are agreeing to pay for both people.

If it is a private room, then it is not a dorm. There's no grey area there. It's just simply not a hostel.

There has to be some shared rooms. You can have a two bed dorm, you rent one bed but the other bed can also be rented out. It doesn't need to be a big room full of bunks to be a dorm.

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Goofys

15 years

If it is a private room, then it is not a dorm.

A dorm is (in my experience) a type of sleeping accommodation (as is a double, twin, family or suite). Take a military dorm (I was in the military) - typically booked by the room and not available to be booked by the bed - could be a purpose built dorm in a training facility, a heavy duty tent in the middle of a field, or a room full of camp beds in a factory - private or shared, rented by the bed, isn't what makes a military dorm a dorm.

I think the proposition that "there's no such thing as a private dorm" is a bit of a red herring here.

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Josh Hostels

15 years

A dorm is (in my experience) a type of sleeping accommodation (as is a double, twin, family or suite). Take a military dorm (I was in the military) - typically booked by the room and not available to be booked by the bed - could be a purpose built dorm in a training facility, a heavy duty tent in the middle of a field, or a room full of camp beds in a factory - private or shared, rented by the bed, isn't what makes a military dorm a dorm.

The reason why the word "dorm" alone might not be a good defining line between hostels and hotels or guesthouses is that it's difficult to precisely define a dorm. "Shared accommodation" can be precisely defined.

Bunk beds don't necessarily define a dorm since dorms don't need to have bunk beds. That's where I think the regulators might have made a mistake.

In my opinion, "atmosphere" doesn't define a hostel any more than it can define a hotel. Hostels tend to be fun and sociable, but there are good hostels and bad hostels.

If there is no definite line between hostels and guesthouses/hotels then it's difficult to make regulations for them. (By regulations, I mean that if there are no hostel-specific regulations it might be difficult to run a hostel under hotel regulations in some areas.)

I'm still leaning towards a definition of hostel on this site that includes "shared accommodation", but I'm open to ideas if anyone wants to post additional opinions.

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Tim

15 years

Well the main thing that makes a hostel is shared accommodation. There has to be at least one room in the establishment that is shared, otherwise it is not a hostel.

A shared room is generally called a dorm. The word "dorm" may have a different meaning in the military or college or university accommodation, but for tourist accommodation that is open to the public (ie: not restricted to military or students) then a dorm is generally understood to mean a shared room.

If you define a hostel as an accommodation establishment having at least some of its "accommodation in shared rooms" then it should be quite clear what you mean.

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Scotch Argus

15 years

Well the main thing that makes a hostel is shared accommodation. There has to be at least one room in the establishment that is shared, otherwise it is not a hostel.

If shared means that you have to share with strangers I think you're too narrow in the definition. To me a 6 bedded room is a dorm, whether you share it with strangers or friends you know. I guess it's one of those things that is a matter of opinion, but I think you can be a hostel without rooms that you share with strangers.

It would make economic sense to sell a 4 or 6 bedded room on a per bed basis, as you might not get groups of those numbers every night, but if you elect not to, and you have common areas, a kitchen and other hostel facilities then you're a hostel to me.

I know that since our hostel was sold by the YHA and became privately owned the demand for beds in shared (with strangers) accommodation has plummeted. I had expected that the twin rooms would mostly be booked by couples, but more often than not they are booked by friends of the same sex, who would prefer privacy to dorms. If hostels don't move with the times they are destined to have trouble. Obviously I'm only talking of my experience here, not for other hostels - the situation may be markedly different in cities.

I believe that the new YHA hostel in Edinburgh that was opened a couple of years ago had no common room as such. There was a cafe, but you had to pay to sit there (i.e. buy something), which doesn't count to me. I understand they designated one of their conference rooms as a common room subsequently in response to customer complaints. This is only my understanding, if anyone knows better please correct me.

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Tim

15 years

Without shared rooms, it's simply not a hostel. It just a hotel, motel or guesthouse using the word "hostel" in its name so it can cash in on backpackers.

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Scotch Argus

15 years

Well I certainly disagree with that -if a place had a mix of multiple occupancy rooms - for example twins quads and six bedded rooms, with hostel facilities but didn't sell beds to share with strangers it would still be a hostel. I can't see how it could possibly be a hotel or motel. I think the definition of guesthouse varies around the world, but it would not be a guesthouse in the UK.

Far from cashing in on backpackers I think such a place would probably be aiming at a different market - e.g. families and groups of tourists, who find hotel and B&B accommodation too expensive as it usually caters for twins and couples.

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Tim

15 years

I totally disagree. You can't have a place with all private rooms and call it a hostel. That is false advertising.

I am sure you run a great establishment that fills a niche in the market, but it is most certainly not a hostel. I would say guesthouse, but I agree that a guesthouse isn't the most accurate term in the UK for your place.

If you broaden the term to include all types of accommodation then every place becomes a hostel.

Of course a hostel has to have shared rooms, otherwise it is a hotel or guesthouse.

It is simple. If it doesn't have shared rooms it isn't a hostel. There is no grey area here, you simply can't call yourself a hostel when quite clearly you are not. It is misleading to travellers.

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Goofys

15 years

Without shared rooms, it's simply not a hostel. It just a hotel, motel or guesthouse using the word "hostel" in its name so it can cash in on backpackers.

Hostels aren't just for Backpackers/Travellers.

I use the word Hostel so that I can cash in on people wanting to stay in a place in Newquay that has multi-bedded rooms, communual areas & self catering facilities.

There is sufficient demand in Newquay for private multi-bedded rooms, and a large chain Hostel on our doorstep that services the demand for shared multi-bedded rooms - that we have no need (or intention) to cash in on Backpackers.

If somebody knocks on our door looking to stay in a shared dorm, we send them round the corner to St. Christophers.

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