Where to Stay: Hostels, Guesthouses & Budget Accommodation
Hostels, guesthouses, homestays, Couchsurfing, house-sitting, and how to find the best deals on accommodation worldwide.
Accommodation is typically the biggest daily expense on the road, and the one where smart choices make the most difference. The gap between a $6 hostel dorm and a $60 boutique hotel is enormous - and the $6 option is often more fun.
The Accommodation Spectrum#
Prices vary wildly by region. A private room in Vietnam costs what a hostel dorm costs in Amsterdam. The type of accommodation that’s right for you depends on your budget, your need for privacy, and how social you want to be.
Hostels#
What to expect
Dorm rooms with 4 - 12 beds, shared bathrooms, common areas, kitchens, and usually a bar. The atmosphere ranges from party hostel (earplugs mandatory) to quiet retreat (lights out at 10pm). Most fall somewhere in between.
Who they’re for
Not just 20-year-olds. Hostels increasingly cater to all ages, and many have private rooms that rival budget hotels. That said, if you’re a light sleeper who values silence, dorms will test your patience.
Booking
Hostelworld is the standard platform. Booking.com often has more options and sometimes better prices. Read reviews carefully. Anything above 8.0 on Hostelworld is solid. Below 7.0, proceed with caution - you’re gambling on bedbugs and broken plumbing.
Hostel survival tips
- Bring a padlock for lockers (most hostels don’t provide them)
- Earplugs and an eye mask are non-negotiable for dorms
- Flip-flops for showers - you don’t want to know what’s on that floor
- Don’t be the person rustling plastic bags at 6am
- Charge your phone during the day, not from your bunk at night (the light and the cable are both annoying)
- Label your food in the communal fridge or it will be “borrowed”
The best hostels are social hubs - communal dinners, bar crawls, day trips, rooftop hangouts. If you’re traveling solo and want to meet people, a well-reviewed social hostel is worth more than a private room at a guesthouse.
Guesthouses and B&Bs#
The sweet spot for many travelers. Private room, often with breakfast, run by a local family. Common in Southeast Asia (where they’re dirt cheap), Europe (where they’re mid-range), and everywhere else.
Less social than hostels, more personal than hotels. In many developing countries, the distinction between “guesthouse” and “cheap hotel” barely exists - it’s the same concrete room with a fan, just marketed differently.
Quality varies enormously. A guesthouse in Laos might be a charming wooden house overlooking a river. The one next door might be a windowless box with a mattress on the floor. Always check reviews or ask other travelers. Walking in and asking to see the room before committing is normal practice in most of the world.
Beyond Hotels: Alternative Accommodation#
Couchsurfing
Free accommodation with locals. The experience is the point, not the savings. You’ll eat home-cooked meals, get insider tips, and see how people actually live. Profiles and reviews help you vet hosts. The platform has declined since introducing paid memberships, but the community still exists and can be excellent.
House-sitting
TrustedHousesitters, Nomador, and HouseSitMatch connect you with homeowners who need someone to watch their home and pets. Free accommodation in exchange for feeding the cat and watering the plants. Popular in Australia, Europe, and North America. Competition for good sits is fierce - build your profile with local sits first.
Home exchange
Swap your home with someone in your destination. HomeExchange and Love Home Swap are the main platforms. Works best if you have a desirable location to offer. A flat in central London is a strong bargaining chip; a suburban house two hours from anywhere is not.
Work exchange
Workaway, WWOOF, and HelpX let you trade 4 - 5 hours of daily work for room and board. Options range from organic farms to hostels to language teaching. Quality varies wildly - read reviews carefully. Some are life-changing experiences; others are unpaid labor dressed up as “cultural exchange.”
Long-term rentals
For stays of a month or more, renting an apartment is dramatically cheaper per night than any other option. Airbnb, local Facebook groups, Idealista in Europe, and local agents are your starting points. A month in a Lisbon apartment can cost what a week at a hotel would. The longer you stay, the more you save.
Booking Strategy#
Book ahead for
- Your first night in a new city (arriving exhausted and hunting for a room is miserable)
- Peak season in popular places (try finding a hostel bed in Barcelona in August without a reservation)
- Remote areas with limited options
- Anywhere you have a specific place you really want to stay
Don’t book ahead for
Everything else. Walking in and negotiating in person often gets you a better rate, especially in Southeast Asia, India, and Latin America. You can also see the room before committing - photos lie, your eyes don’t.
Platforms
- Booking.com - widest selection, free cancellation on many listings, reliable reviews
- Hostelworld - the standard for hostels, good filtering by social atmosphere
- Agoda - strong in Asia, sometimes has exclusive deals
- Airbnb - good for apartments and longer stays, but increasingly hotel-priced in many markets
- Google Maps - shows local guesthouses that aren’t on any booking platform (the real finds)
Saving Money on Accommodation#
The single biggest accommodation savings: stay longer. Weekly and monthly rates are 30 - 50% cheaper than nightly rates on everything from hostels to apartments. If you love a place, extend your stay - your per-night cost drops and you actually get to know the neighborhood.
Other strategies that actually work:
- Travel in shoulder season - prices drop 20 - 40% and you dodge the crowds
- Cook when you have a kitchen - a hostel kitchen saves $10 - 20/day in expensive countries
- Overnight transport - a night bus or train saves a hotel night (and transit costs)
- Negotiate in person - walk-in rates at guesthouses are often lower than online, especially for multi-night stays
- Loyalty programs - if you consistently book through one platform, the discounts add up over months of travel
- Go where the tourists aren’t - accommodation in the next town over from the famous one is always cheaper