Tips on booking hostel

I had book most of my hostel stay through Hostelbookers.com and Hostelworld.com, and I highly recommend booking through them.

Hostelbookers had been my 1st choice because:

1. They don't charge booking fee or service charge.
2. If you manage to find the same hostel with cheaper price, Hostelbookers will refund double the difference (they still do at the time this post was written). This statement assures that you are getting the cheapest deal!

A good hostel will make your stay enjoyable, fun and a good night rest. As you are sharing the rooms with others, hostel with good ratings will normally have good hostelmates. 

My rule of thumb when booking a hostel:

1. Good rating. Any hostel with 80% and above rating (with at least 50 reviews) will be good. And of course, the cheaper, the better :)
2. Read the reviews. It tells a lot about what you want to know.
3. Internet is available and it's free. You won't want to pay for expensive hourly WIFI charges. If they have public PC free for surfing, it will be a plus for those without laptop or WIFI enabled phone.
4. Lockers in dorm. 
5. 24-hour reception is a plus, because sometimes you might arrive late or early in the morning.
6. Location is strategically near most of the attractions that I want to visit. I would explain more in the post to come about using Google Map.
7. If you are going during the hot season, you would want your room to have air-cond.
   If you are going during the cold season, you would want hot showers.
8. Linen included. I don't want to pay extra for linen, and the hostel will charge you rental fee for linen if it is not included (I had not met anyone who brings their own linen in their backpack)

Accomodation - Hostel

Information around the Internet suggest that one of the cheapest way to sleep overnight is by booking a bed at hostel dormitory. This means that you are occupying a bed in a room (probably 4 to 14 beds in a big room).

Most hostel have both dorm room accommodation as well as private rooms. There are kitchen with cooking and eating utensils, common areas and shared washroom/bathroom.

The thought of sleeping cheaply does sounds a little worry in me. How does the room look like? Is the bed crappy? Will I be safe? Is the hostel located far from the attraction places?

Thanks to Hostelbookers.com and Hostelworld.com, they do answered most of my questions. I book my stay easily through them, and before booking, I was able to:

1. Get some rough ideas about the hostel that I am interested, reception working hours and check-in/check-out time.
2. Know what type of facilities offered: hot showers, lockers, Internet, breakfast, linen, safe deposit box, air-cond, washing machine etc.
3. Pictures of the hostel and room that I am interested
4. Maps and direction to the hostel
5. Reviews of the hostel by people who had stayed there, with ratings on atmosphere, location, facilities, cleanliness, safety etc

It is important to choose a good hostel. I would like a good night rest after touring around the city whole day.

I consider hostel over hotel for my stay because:

1. I want to stay cheaply, especially for a single traveler 
2. I am an easy sleeper - I don't mind sharing room with other people
3. I can save more money by cooking my own meal using the shared kitchen
4. I can easily make fast friends with other travelers and exchange information about the journey ahead.

If you mind sharing rooms with others, or you are traveling with your boyfriend/girlfriend, you can always book the private rooms, sometimes with bathroom attached, with price still cheaper than hotel rate.

In the next post, I will explain more about how to choose your hostel wisely.