When you look at accommodations at a new location for your family, there are several different options: standard hotel, apartment, house, etc. You may have dismissed staying in a hostel from that list. But staying in hostels for families may end up being your best option. Our family has ended up staying in hostels in Europe, Africa, and Asia. We now add it to our list of possible accommodations for each trip as the pros may end up outweighing the cons.
What Defines a Hostel?
When you compare different types of accommodations, hostels are set apart by booking accommodation per person rather than per room.
Most hostels have different room types. However, you will almost always book by person. Even on booking engines such as booking.com, pay attention to the per person price vs the per room price.
In regards to public perception, hostels are seen as accommodations for young adults. People generally use the term ‘youth hostel’ interchangeably with ‘hostel’ in our experience.
So, why are we sharing about hostels on a kid travel blog? Because we have found when traveling unconventionally, a hostel might be the best option for a night’s sleep. Let’s dive into some more details about how you can figure out when staying at hostels for families is the best option.
Available Room Types in a Hostel
Below we show rooms that are available in hostels. Every hostel does not have all these room types. Checking is a must.
| Room Type | Description | # of Beds |
| Male Dormitory | Beds are only to be used by men travelers. | Usually 6-12 beds per room, often bunkbeds |
| Female Dormitory | Beds are only to be used by women travelers. | Usually 6-12 beds per room, often bunkbeds |
| Mixed Dormitory | Beds can be used by men or women travelers. | Usually 6-12 beds per room, often bunkbeds |
| Private Room | These usually have two twin beds or one double bed and have a key to the room. One person or two people may not change the price. | Usually 1-2 beds per room |
| Family Room | Also considered a private room, but will be charged per person and needs to have enough bed spaces for the people in your party. | Usually 3 or more beds per room |
The family room may seem like the best option when booking hostels for families, but they do not always have the right amount of beds.
For example, I have looked on booking.com at a hostel and they book me a 5-person family room and 1 bed in a mixed dormitory room. This means that I have to choose if I put my husband or myself in a separate room from the rest of the family. You can not put a minor in a mixed dormitory room alone.
Another option is to fill a dormitory room. This works wonderfully when you have the exact number of people for the room. Our family did this in Munich, Germany when we had just landed. We essentially made the dormitory room into a private room by paying for all the beds in the room for the night.
Shared Bathrooms or Private Bathrooms
The other aspect of a hostel is that more often than not, bathrooms are shared amongst residents. They may be for both genders or there may be a men’s and women’s bathrooms.
When you book the room, you will see that it states “shared bathroom” or “private bathroom”. Getting a private bathroom always adds cost. But it may be worth the cost when traveling with a family.
When we have had to split up our family between two rooms, we always pick one private bathroom room and one shared bathroom room. That way, we can all use our private bathroom and the cost decreases for the family.
Meals in Hostels for Families
Most hostels have shared kitchens. This means that anyone staying at the hostel can use the amenities provided in the kitchen. This may be just a sink and dish soap, but more often it includes a stove top, pots/pans, dishes, utensils for cooking and eating, and dish towels.
The kitchens may also have filtered water to refill water bottles. There may also be condiments for shared use (something that we always hate buying for just a few days and then throwing away when we depart!)
Being able to provide meals in our accommodation saves our family a lot of money during our travels. We see this as a huge benefit of hostels that is often overlooked.
Community Aspect of Hostel
Hostels are communal in nature. This means that people who stay in hostels expect to talk to the others staying there.
Many hostels have this built into their space creation by having a sitting area or lounge to hang out in. You can find books to read or travel guides for the area.
This is definitely one of the biggest benefits of hostel living. You can learn from other travelers, hear their stories, and get lots of ideas for your own travel itineraries.
Two Notes about Price
The first note I want to re-emphasize is the cost of a hostel is a multiplication of the amount of people in your family. You can not just book a room, but you must book the number of people in the specific room you want.
The second note is that there is no discount for children. One child is one person. Therefore, they will pay as a person, just like an adult will pay as a person.
So, in the end, with 6 people in my family, I will take the price per person as per the website of the hostel multiplied by 6 to find out how much I will pay at the hostel.
FAQ
Are hostels safe for families?
The number one question we are asked when we talk about staying in a hostel as a family, is whether we felt safe in the hostel. We understand this concern as having kids stay in a mixed dormitory with strangers seems like a bad idea.
We would caution you to not have your children in dormitories with other travelers, even those that are single gender rooms. This is actually not because we have ever felt unsafe inside a hostel! The people we have met in hostels have been kind and outgoing, sharing life with us, and extremely helpful.
However, we caution sharing rooms because different cultures have different feelings about children. Your child could have a bad night’s sleep, perhaps crying or calling out. People from different cultures will react to that in different ways.
So we always choose to have our own space for our children. We would advise that others do the same.
As for the bathroom situation – we look at shared bathrooms and showers as similar to other public spaces like campgrounds or water parks. In these situations, we always move as a family unit, showering one after another with an adult nearby or using the toilet in groups of two or three.
A bigger factor that we would recommend when it comes to safety is the location of the hostel in the city. Do your research and make sure that you are staying in a safe part of town. This is a word of wisdom for any accommodation that you are choosing.
In the end, we would say hostels as a whole are a safe option for families. Exercise caution as always in travel. Make informed decisions. But we would not dismiss hostels on the basis of safety.
What is a good age to start using hostels for families?
Due to the communal nature of hostels, we don’t recommend staying with babies. Hostels are not set up with amenities for babies such as high chairs, cribs, and changing tables.
As people are in and out of the hostels, there may be noise late at night when people are back from their day’s travels and winding down. For this reason, we waited until our children could sleep easily despite noise.
The other aspect to think about is your kids interacting with other travelers. As our kids have gotten older, they have been able to better interact with people along our journeys. For that reason, I would recommend hostels specifically for older kids who can better enjoy the community aspect of hostel living.
How do you book a hostel for your family?
Hostels are able to be booked through third-party booking sites, such as booking.com. In reality, many hostels do not have their own websites to book through.
You can sometimes see rules of hostels on third-party sites. However, we have found it best to contact the hostel directly before going through with the booking. We explain exactly who is in our family and double check that children are able to stay at this hostel.
Being upfront with the hostel will make your stay more pleasant. After the hostel has responded that families are welcome and perhaps given you more information regarding room types available, price, extra services, etc., go ahead and book through your preferred method.
Wrap-Up: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Cons?
Whether or not a hostel is worth staying at considers many factors.
The first is price. Price is a huge factor and always goes into our choice of accommodation. The price of a bed in a hostel when multiplied by 6 may not make it worth it.
Location is another big factor. We work through our steps in planning our steps in planning our off the beaten path trip and find an accommodation through that process. If a hostel is more convenient for your trip than a hotel, that is an added benefit.
These factors should be looked at before instantly dismissing a hostel as an option. The benefits, like the community atmosphere and the shared kitchen, outweigh the lack of privacy for our family.
In the end, a hostel is worth as much consideration as any of the many other accommodation options available to families.