Have you ever stayed in a hostel?
 

My daughter told me that a hostel in Paris would cost only 4 Euro for a double.This does not sound possible to me. If it is - then it makes me wonder where it's located and what condition it's in. Has anyone stayed in a hostel before? What are they like?

Have shared a double with other female traveler in a cheap hotel. Type the word 'hostel' in the search box and see links about hostel experience.

n Paris, 40 Euro is possible, but not sure about the 4-Euro place.

Seems like the best hostel in Paris is MIJE: http://www.mije.com/

And the cheapest hotel is: http://www.eurocheapo.com/paris/list...n/dumarais.asp
However, it doesn't get 100% positive reviews.

Have a nice day.

I think the 4 Euros must be a typo. 40 Euros for a double is quite possible.

A double room in a hostel will be very simple, and will not have TV, telephone, soap, or any other standard hotel amenities. You may or may not have a private bathroom, depending what you book. Some hostels are of excellent quality, and others aren't. Some are fairly peaceful, and others are party places. Some have kitchen and laundry facilities.

Check bugeurope.com for reviews.

I just returned from Paris this weekend. We ran into a young budget globetrotter at the airport, then saw him again a few days later at the Arc de Triomphe (what are the odds???). He said that most hostels wanted around 26E/night, but he found one for 11E. I don't remember exactly where it was, but it was NOT centrally located, and I can't vouch for the condition.

A hostel is a little like a college dorm. They usually have mostly college-age kids, but people of all ages can (and do) stay.

Hostel quality can vary greatly, so do your research. Honestly, I have seen some that are glorified rat holes, and others that are cleaner and more comfortable than a lot of hotels in the USA.

Regardless, hostels are far cheaper than even modest hotels, and the savings tend to be greater in northern Europe.

But one thing hostels have that no 5-star hotel can possible offer is a sense of commraderie with fellow travelers. That's worth a lot in my book.

As a follow-up, here is a link to my favorite hostel in Switzerland. Scroll down to find links to interior pictures.

http://www.mountainhostel.com/hostel.html

Granted, I think this hostel is a positive exception to the typical one, but it gives you some idea.

Hostels in France, or Auberges de Jeunesse, might be 40 euros a night, but not 4. I think it was a typo or your daughter left off a zero.

I've stayed at hostels about a decade ago. Most are pretty clean, basic, shared bathroom. The rooms are shared as well, cheaper for a quad, more expensive for a double room. The biggest pain for me was locking my bag up all the time (like even just going to the bathroom).

I've stayed at one in Paris, but don't remember the name anymore. It was one of the bigger hostel chains, and the one I stayed at was near Opera Garnier.

It would be worth checking the Hostelling International website, www.hihostels.com, which claims to list over 4000 properties worldwide.

Your daughter must be mistaken. A hostel in Paris would cost maybe 20 €/night, and then it probably wouldn't be a private room but rather a collective room with several beds (4,6, 8....once I even stayed in a hostel with only one large bedroom with maybe 30 beds in it).

Hostels are fine for young people (actually there are even some not that young people staying in hostels). You're going to meet and hang up with other travellers. They generally offer collective bedrooms and some double or single rooms (sometimes reserved to couples). They rarely have private bathrooms. There's quite always a collective kitchen, a lounge with games, TV, books and guides, etc..., often a bar.

The quality of the accomodations are highly variable. The ambiance too. Some are known for being party places (I believe that in Paris the "three ducks" is one of these), some are pretty quiet.

The most beautiful and centrally located hostels in Paris are the MIAJE hostels, in the 4th arrondissement, installed in old buildings. Unfortunately, if I'm not mistaken, they still have a curfew, which makes them very unnapealing for most young people. Besides they're often fully reserved well in advance by school groups.

Here's a link to the page in english of the FUAJ (the french federation of youth hostels) for Paris, which answers some questions about hostels :

http://www.fuaj.org/eng/hostels/hostels_paris.php

Note that there are others hostels besides the FUAJ ones in Paris. I already mentionned the three MIJE hostels (another non-profit organization), but there are also a number of privately owned hostels. Check this page :

http://www.hostels.com/en/fr.pa.html

I suspect everyone has now agreed that the 4 Euro price was inaccurate but if your daughter does travel to Europe I would not, in any way, deprive her of the hostel experience regardless of where it is located. In terms of the condition...well it will not be as plush as the hotels we'd probably prefer to stay in but, hopefully, it won't be lice-ridden either.

My point: let her have this now while she's young and can remember it for years to come; most folks "grow out" of the hostel yen after a while but at her age it could be wonderfully unforgettable.

Hostels are fun when you're young, and when I have kids and they get to be in their early 20s, I hope they have a "hostelling in Europe" experience.

The minute I turned 25, I couldn't stand hostels anymore. Too noisy, too unpredictable, too much dealing with other people's icky habits in the public bathrooms.

I'm disappointed that I'm not carefree enough to enjoy hostels anymore, but that's just how it is.

Your daughter will likely have a grand old time. Just encourage her to watch her belongings as they occasionally "grow legs."

"The minute I turned 25, I couldn't stand hostels anymore. Too noisy, too unpredictable, too much dealing with other people's icky habits in the public bathrooms."

Yeah, I wonder if my fuddy-duddy gland has kicked in? I haven't hosteled in 5 years and I am planning on it this summer. But if it doesn't work out, there are always other options, so no biggie.

I'm still willing to stay in hostels, and last did so in September with my daughter in Seattle. Hotel prices for one particular night of the Bumbershoot Festival were more than I was willing to pay, and we wanted to be downtown. Of course I prefer luxury hotels, but if the price/value conditions are right, hostels are what I will take.