Hostels Grow Up, Become Cool Places to Stay
Not so very long ago, hostels were the only places to stay when traveling, especially when traveling in Europe. While they were cheap and easy to find, it’s still pretty difficult to romanticize the hostels of our youth.
They were usually nondescript , though some were in old chateaus or manor houses, and none were any more than a huge room with bunk beds. In fact, the first hostel reportedly opened in 1912 in Altena Castle, in Germany.
The rule of hosteling then, and for a long time, was first-come, first-served, where early arrivals staked out a bunk by placing their backpacks, or some other kind of marker, on it.
Men and women slept in different rooms, and if anything was good about a night or two in a hostel, it was its cheapness...and the chance to hear many different languages. No one really developed friendships. Many came late and left very early, and no one I know has any great memories of life in a hostel
Today it’s different.
Steve MacKenzie, writing in the respected travel web site BootsnAll asks when it was that hotels just added an “s” and became, Hostels?
Today’s hostels, MacKenzie says, are run by professionals who encourage hosteliers to meet in common rooms, get to know each other and share travel experiences. Today’s hostels also provide modern options and activities.
For example, HostelWorld.com/Amsterdam is a progressive site offering visitors to Amsterdam a range of services and amenities.
Interested in seeing the Ann Frank house or visiting the world-famous Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh Museum, HostelWorld.com can do that for you. HostelWorld also provides useful reviews of places to stay with an easily navigable price-range system.
Not surprisingly, MacKenzie says hosteling is among the fastest growing sectors of the accommodations industry, with traditional hotel-stayers “jumping ship” for a stay at the modern, multi-service hostel of today.
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