12 years
I think that mixed rooms are often the best, with at least one room that is females-only. In my opinion, no men should be allowed in that room at any time, even to talk. There is sometimes one woman who doesn't want the guy(s) in the room, but she is too shy to complain about it, and it can ruin her stay.
The only exception is for a male housekeeper, who should knock on the door and not be the kind of person who is going to hit on the women while he is cleaning the room.
At one hostel I worked at, there was a male housekeeper who took off all his clothes and waited in one of the female dorm beds for the girls to return later in the day. That freaked out the guests -- four 18-year-old girls who were traveling for the first time. :)
Also, if you have multiple floors and a problem with male guests hovering around the doors to female dorms too often, you can locate the female dorms where people won't walk by them to get to their rooms.
Very few guests will ask for a male-only dorm, but it happens sometimes. I think that it isn't necessary to have male-only dorms unless the hostel is large.
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