spcfa

Am considering staying in a hostel on my next trip to Germany. I will be solo, and have never stayed in a facility without my own room. Just wondering, how does your stuff stay secure while you are a) showering or using the bathrooms and b) while you are out for the day? Thanks for your help.

mjdh1957

Most of them have lockers. Ask the hostel where you're staying.

If you browse at someplace like hostelbookers.com, they will list the facilities available at each place. Sometimes you will need to supply your own padlock for the locker.

Hope that helps!

spcfa

I've seen the phrase "free luggage room" on some websites. Does that mean a room with lockers?

quokka

No. That means a room with shelves to store luggage that is locked and watched by the person at the reception desk.

Nobody will be interested in your dirty socks and your pyjamas. Of course you must keep your valuables and your documents with you all the time.

spcfa

Two of the hostels I'm interested in have "single private" rooms - one person, one bed. Has anyone ever stayed in a single private room in a hostel? Can you leave your stuff in the room - is it locked when you are out like a hotel room or is it just a closed door for sleeping?

Thanks again. I am interested in exploring this type of travel but would like to know more.

I'm not thinking about leaving valuables anywhere, but I am attached to things like my contact lens solution and my clean socks.

hayestrip

We stayed across Europe for a couple of months and stayed in hostels the whole time. My two favorite sites are HostelBookers and HostelWorld. Absolutely look at the ratings and reviews. Good hostels are amazing, bad ones are very very bad. We didn't stay anywhere with less than an 80% rating and never got a bad place. The reviews also give a good feel of what type of hostel it is, party or peaceful etc.

We never had any problem with people taking things. Like quokka said, nobody is interested in your laundry or toiletries. Most of the good ones have lockers for free or to rent and a lot of the newer or larger ones will lock the rooms and give you a key. And yes, generally "single private" rooms lock.

You'll be fine if you just use common sense. It's usually fine to leave non-valuables but you should still stick them out of sight, under the bed or under the sheets. Don't bring any valuables that are too heavy or large to carry around 24/7 and don't forget to bring a combination lock with you.

spcfa

Many, many thanks. I assumed there wasn't any reason I couldn't so something like this, but as with most things, there is a tiny amount of anxiety before you plunge in and just do it. It sounds like I'll be just fine.