Martha's Vineyard Hostel

I have traveled to Martha's Vineyard Hostel twice this year, already, and I have been impressed with some of the improvements. The first being a generally, friendlier staff. The biggest changes I noticed were the conversion of the sitting area in the kitchen to dining tables. This unfortunately removed the opportunity to relax while eating, but I guess this change was inevitable. I stayed in different rooms in each visit, and managed to get a small room the first time. It was a very comfortable setup with 8 beds, while the larger room with probably 20+ beds in adjoining rooms was annoying. This is one of my major complaints with this hostel, since I don't think it is necessary to have such large rooms. The hostel also painted the reconfigured eating area a weird yellow color that I didn't care for.
There aren't any other noticeable changes, and the hostel still doesn't have any interesting activities in the evenings.

Downtown DC Hostel

For the July 4th holiday I stayed at the Downtown DC Hostel for 5 nights in a 6 bed room. The hostel is conveniently located within walking distance of Union Station, but more importantly the Capital City Brewery. This brew pub is attached to the Smithsonian Postal Museum and across the street from Union Station, a busy Metro and Amtrak terminal. The Postal Museum is one of the worst Smithsonian museums, and not worth wasting time visiting. My iphone also dropped on the floor going through their metal detector, which also pissed me off. It isn't much further from Union Station to the Capital building and the mall, so you are better off heading down there, and only stopping here for a drink or to catch a train. The hostel has functioning AC units in the common room and bedrooms, but are adjustable by guests to hot, cold, or in-between. The staff is very friendly, and I enjoyed my experience at this hostel. It is fortunately small enough to avoid the large crowds of children traveling, and other annoying travelers. I would probably pick this hostel over HI for the atmosphere and the convenient beers.

Hawaii Hostel

I stayed for a few days at the Kona Pineapple Park Hostel on the west side of the big island. The hostel is located ten miles south of Kona above beautiful Kealakekua Bay in Captain Cook. A nice hike down to the bay and you can snorkel with tropical fishes just feet from the beach. The hike back is a bit of a trek, but worth a little adventure. The hostel isn't anything to write home about, but they were helpful and you can catch a free bus outside the hostel down to Kona.

New Boston Hostel

Hostelling International just announced plans to build a new 400 bed hostel at 25 Stuart Street. The 60,000 square foot structure will be just a few blocks from Boston Common. If all goes well, the hostel will be opening in 2012.

DC for the 4th!

I spent the July 4th weekend in Washington DC. My weekend got off to a slow start with the airport backed up by a fog that had lasted for the last 3 days. Once my plane landed the public transportation to the city was no longer running. I had to shell out an extra $30 to get to the city, but I was ready to hit the town. I went to Clyde's in Chinatown and got a crab cake minutes before they closed the kitchen. I also ordered a #9 beer, which I just then realized tasted like apricots. The pints certainly seemed bigger in DC, I was ready for a good time. I slept in late, and did some work the next day on an iPhone App. I had some tasty Indian food from the restaurant across the street from the hostel, and the hostel had a fridge full of red-white-blue cupcakes that I feasted on. I went out to the Brickskellar for drinks after loading up on sushi at the only happy hour sushi place I have ever been to. I had a $5 spicy tuna roll and $5 spicy salmon roll. They were pretty awesome. I had a few belgian triples at the Brickskellar along with a russian beer at The Russian House. I drank too much and that night the air conditioning didn't work at the DC HI hostel in my room. It was miserable.
After I recovered I had a tasty burger at the "5 Guys" burger joint, and went to down to the national mall. I stopped at the portrait gallery, and saw the famous Obama picture with "Hope". It is a very compelling picture even though I am not a fan of Obama and his policies.
I then walked through the art gallery and found a spot on the capital lawn for the evening concert and fireworks.
The next day I went to see the Smithsonian Folklife festival on the national mall which features cultural exhibits from African-Americans (Chicago?), Wales, and Northern Mexico. I thought the rappers and Mexican artists were cool.
I walked all over the mall, went in many of the museums, and went to the washington, lincoln, jefferson, mason memorials. I didn't realize George Mason had such a strong influence on our nation. It seemed worth looking into. I went over to Georgetown for dinner, but was really too tired to do much.
I fly back to Boston on the 10:30 am flight, and headed back to work.

HI-Boston is upgrading

The Boston Globe has an article about them moving to a new location. They are abandoning their 208 bed location by Berkeley, which leaves a lot to be desired, for a new location with 375 beds. Hopefully, this one will be rebuilt as a hostel, unlike the old building which feels like bathrooms were shoe-horned into closets.
They also mentioned not renting the building from BU that they set up a summer hostel in Boston. I have never stayed there, but I was surprised to read the average bed is $30. I paid $40 the last time I was there.

Czech Inn: Hostel Web Cam

While many hostels have pictures of their accomodations on their website, the CZECH INN Hostel (curious name) has a link to a web cam right on their home page. While the video isn't great, it does give you a warm, fuzzy feeling of seeing the hostel live. The web cam page refreshes the video every few seconds to give a live streaming view of the hostel. Located in Prague, it has some pretty good ratings on hostelz.com.

Hostel Review: Santa Cruz HI

The Santa Cruz HI Hostel is a set of bungalows conveniently located in downtown Santa Cruz near the beach and boardwalk. The hostel is a mixed bag with pros and cons that should be weighed before you check-in. The hostel is quaint, nicely furnished, and located on a quiet street. The hostel offers free wifi, a good sized kitchen, and a computer available for $1/10 minutes. The downside to this hostel are the restrictive lock-out and curfew rules, and the cadre of older men staying here. The lock-out rule seems minor, considering on a nice warm day you would probably want to go down to the beach. However, during my stay it mostly rained and number of guests were wondering where to go for 6 hours (11am - 5 pm). Additionally, check-in can only occur after 5 pm, an inconvenient restriction when you just want to drop off your stuff and relax for a little during the day. The 11 pm curfew also seems unnecessary, especially, for travelers wanting to go out for a late night on the weekend. Finally, the most annoying part of this hostel is the older guests who seem creepy, annoying, and snore all night. I had an interesting conversation where a guy thought the electromagnetic field was causing a buzzing in his head.

Marin Headlands HI Hostel

The Marin Headlands HI hostel is located in the beautiful Marin Headlands, a part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The hostel is a converted hospital on a former military base built to fortify the San Francisco bay. The park contains plenty of paths for hiking and is a quiet respite from San Francisco. The following picture shows the beach a short walk from the hostel and visitor center.



The hostel has a huge sitting area, which was nicely furnished and surprisingly modern for such an old building. The hostel felt nearly empty, and offered an atmosphere of a slower pace to life than my stay in downtown San Francisco. Another couple staying in the hostel were enjoying their "staycation" the weekend after New Years. The hostel was also conveniently located near Sausalito and Muir Woods, both beautiful spots.

The staff were very friendly, and the hostel is in a great natural location, but you probably want a car to get there.

HI San Francisco: Downtown

I stayed at the San Francisco: Downtown hostel over new years, and had mixed feelings about the hostel. The foyer just inside the entrance has a cool changing map displayed on the wall, and the map zooms in and out on the San Francisco area. There are a few couches in the foyer, but it isn't a large area. The people at the front desk will check visitors for reservations, but I found it lax when there are a large number of people waiting to check-in. The hostel has an old elevator, left over from when the building was a hotel. The hostel still displays the "Hotel Virginia" sign, which is kind of odd. [See here]

My room was in the front of the building and contained two bunk beds and an attached bathroom. I rarely used the bathroom since the window didn't seem to close properly and it could get quite cold. Below you can see my room, a little dishevelled.


There were two bathrooms across the hall in the interior of the building which were perfectly usable, but one night I think someone slept in one of the bathrooms and locked the door. The room was kind of noisy due to it being right on the street, but it was nice to have so few people in my room. The hostel offered a very simple continental breakfast consisting mostly of toast, bagels, and coffee. I believe the hostel had wifi, but I don't really remember using it all that much.

Hostel Review: HI Conway Hostel [Conway, NH]

With the leaves in New England turning the forest into a painted canvas, my parents and I headed upto New Hampshire for a weekend of leaf-peeping. The HI Conway hostel is ideally located near the White Mountains, we headed north in a rented mini-van. We stopped along the way at the Weather Vane restaurant for a couple of lobsters and a lobster roll. Instead of taking the more traditional route of 93N and 112E to Conway along the Kancamagus highway, we drove 95N to Portsmouth, and then took 16N. We passed the Redhook Ale brewery in Portsmouth, but we didn't have a chance to stop. Maybe next time. Concord Coach also offers a bus service to Conway for about $65 r/t from Boston, so there is an option for those with out a car.


We arrived after dark and were first informed that the only rule at the hostel is no shoes in the hostel. The hostel provides a large assortment of cubby-holes to hold your shoes as you walk around in your socks or bare-foot. I found this rule strange, and I more than once looked around the room wondering where my shoes were. However, I got used to it, and chalked it up to an easy way to keep the hostel clean. I had suggested my parents get a room, and I stay in the dorms, but they instead reserved a "family room". I expected the room to include at least one double bed, but instead we had 2 bunk-beds for 4 people. The room included a mini-fridge, but we had to use the bathrooms down the hall. The first night we arrived I cooked a salmon in the well-kept kitchen, and my parents baked an instant lasagna. The common area was full of hostellers, and most were watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies.

That night our room was plenty warm, but it did seem to oscillate between hot and cold a few times. The showers had abundant hot water and good water pressure. I found the hostel a good experience, but I think my parents were disappointed they didn't get a continental breakfast, which was mentioned in their Frommer's guide. The hostel guests were pretty evenly split between respectful foreign travelers and middle-age/older Americans, so I wouldn't call it a party hostel. We were only there Thursday and Friday night, but I suspect it was busier Saturday night. The hostel room cost $48 + $10 (extra person) for the three of us per night. We paid $89 in Woodstock for a normal hotel room with 2 double beds, bathroom, and TV on Saturday.

We had a car, and it wasn't clear how far you could get from the Hostel w/o a car. The local attractions are the outlet malls, the Conway train, and the White Mountains Park, which aren't exactly close to the hostel. I will have to explore the public transportation the next time I go.

Airport Transfer Deals and Directions

An important connection during any trip including an airline flight will be the transfer to and from the airport. Many airports naturally herd tourists to expensive cabs or shuttle buses, but often there are cheap alternatives that require a little work to recognize or discover. Arthur Frommer recently blogged that the reason most airports offer a budget option is that the workers at the airport need an inexpensive option to travel to and from the airport, everyday. I personally like to research this leg of the trip before I leave, so I am not stuck with a huge cab bill. A cab from the airport in Boston today costs me $60, compared to less than $2 on the subway/bus system. An important consideration when using public transportation can be opening and closing times, such that flights may leave or arrive when the trains/buses aren't running.

Hostels generally include directions to travel by public transportation to and from the hostel. The Barcelona Dream Hostel offers directions through a Photo Guide, a handy idiot-proof guide to reaching the hostel. (mentioned on the hostelmanagment.com forums) This photo-based guide is a remarkable improvement over the simple text directions found on many hostel sites. The future of travel directions may be short videos that can be uploaded to Youtube for easy dispersal. Another option for quickly traveling to a destination could include using mobile phones or other devices, but I haven't found these quite as effective yet for public transportation. I think preparing directions before you go is crucial, and you can augment this with a device when the original directions are not sufficient for arriving at your destination.

Work at a Hostel

The Student Travel Blog mentioned a few days ago that opportunities to work at a hostel are available, you just have to ask. A site like hostelmanagement.com hosts some job listings, or you could contact hostels directly. In exchange for a room and some spending money, hostels may also hire you on the spot to clean, perform maintenance, or any number of needed chores. The Martha's Vineyard hostel on Cape Cod, among others, used to expect backpackers to help with chores at the hostel, but those days are long gone. Hostels generally are professionally run, which requires a staff of people to clean and maintain the hostel.

The Hobo Traveler seems to have made a living of exchanging room and board for a mention on this website, hobotraveler.com.

Hostels in the News: Chicago on the Cheap [Chicaco, Il]

CNN.com/travel today featured HI Chicago in their Chicago on the Cheap article. Compared to high price hotels they mentioned the HI Chicago hostel "operates an all-ages building in Chicago's Loop with 500 beds. Prices are between $28 and $34 a night." Additionally, they noted Chicago's availability of public transportation makes it affordable to get around. My roommate recently returned from Chicago, and raved about the Architectural boat tours that run up and down the Chicago river. The John Hancock tower also offers panoramic views of the city for the price of a few drinks at the bar. Hot dogs, a staple of any budget traveler, can be purchased for under $2 at "The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium", and don't forget to load up on condiments. (they're free!)

The article includes a number of other great deals in Chicago, so take advantage of some of them before "The Windy City", becomes "The Ridiculously Cold Artic Blast City" in a few months.

Travelzoo also has some last-minute weekend deals to Chicago for under $200, so forget about the stock market for a few days and spend that last $300 in your account on a weekend in Chicago.

Chicago Hostel Map: here

Hostel Review: Snuffel Backpacker Hostel [Bruges, Belgium]

I visited Bruges in late March of last year, and came away with a love for Belgian beer and waffles. Bruges is a beautiful old city with canals running throughout the city. The Snuffel Backpacker hostel a short distance outside the central square, I reached by walking down a narrow path along a canal that felt like a fairy tale. (see picture) The hostel like a neighborhood dive bar, was filled with more character than amenities. You take a spiral staircase from the first floor upto the dorm rooms, which surround a common area with big lockers. My room was in the back of another room on the second floor, and was relatively small with only 3 bunk beds sleeping 6 people. Unfortunately, the hostel only had one bathroom on my floor, and the bathrooms showers weren't great. Although, I found people in the hostel friendly, freely chatting in the lounge downstairs and around the lockers upstairs. At night the lounge became a local bar with cheap drinks and a cool vibe. The bar had a great selection of Belgian beers, and it was there that I fell in love with the doubles, triples, and quadrupels for which they are so famous.



After returning from this trip, I discovered "The Monk's Cell" at "The Publick House" restaurant in the Brookline neighborhood of Boston. This bar captures the vibe of the Snuffel Backpacker Hostel bar and having a Belgian beer at this bar allows me to relive the time I spent in Bruges.

Travel Deal: Hostelsclub $1=1€ Hostel/Hotel Deal

I received a comment from Johann from Hostelsclub.com, a hostel booking site based in Venice, Italy, about a $1=1€ European Hostels Offer. That sounded like a pretty good deal with the $1 currently trading at 0.72€ on the commodities exchanges. This deal is only for US citizens to entice them to travel to Europe despite the dollar being at historical lows against the Euro. Ouch! I have never used this booking site, so I decided to look up some hostels I have stayed at. I found the Meininger City Hostel & Hotel Cologne on this list which I stayed at last year. The discount was offered for only single rooms at this hostel/hotel. The website, although it is named "Hostelsclub" includes a mix of hostels and hotels, and the discount was also available for this mix. As an independent traveler, I prefer websites that focus more on hostel beds than hotel rooms, however, checking for this discount is a "no-brainer". I wish I was heading to Europe in the near future, because I would definitely take advantage of this deal. Many hostels are offering it through this spring so start making some plans now. With some hostels offering beds as cheap as $13/night, such as at SEI-Hostel in Leipzig, you wonder how Americans would take a "Staycation". This is another great example that if you buck conventional wisdom, you can really get a great deal.

Note: I added this deal to the right-side set of great travel links.

USA Hostel Map

I have always liked the HI booklet, which let you browse through all of their hostels around the country. Many of the websites with hostel listings seem to have clunky maps or only show one hostel at a time, so I decided to start a Web 2.0 map with links to hostel pages.

The map is available here. It isn't finished, but I started it with a handful of hostels.

Hostel Review: Buffalo HI Hostel

I flew into Buffalo on my way to the Toronto Film Festival. At that time it was cheaper to fly to Buffalo and catch a bus to Toronto, than it was to fly to Canada directly. From the Buffalo airport you can catch a bus downtown that connects with the local light-rail that runs through the city. The Buffalo HI hostel was a nice, friendly hostel conveniently located at one of the light-rail stops. Everything was going good at this hostel when I arrived. I went over to the Anchor Bar to sample the "Original" Buffalo wings, and I gave my extra wings to a guy that showed up after the kitchen closed. He was pretty friendly, and offered me some pot when the bar closed up. The area didn't seem all that safe, so I headed back to the hostel as quickly as possible. It wasn't until the next morning that I found out that the train outside would honk it's horn every time it passed the hostel. This was due to the train coming out a tunnel less than a block away. I had a bunk in the front room, and I couldn't sleep through that so I fell asleep in a bean bag chair in the basement of the hostel. I couldn't wait to get out of that hostel, and I caught a bus upto Toronto the following day.

The Buffalo HI Hostel was my first hostelling experience, and I haven't looked back ever since. The staff was very friendly, and I learned a valuable lesson about always bringing ear-plugs on my travels.

Note: I stayed in this hostel in Sept. 2002

Hostel Closing: HI Galveston Hostel

The HI website recently announced due to the extensive damages caused by hurricane Ike, the Galveston, TX hostel will be closing permanently. The only other HI hostel in Texas is the Austin, TX hostel.

Hostel News: Hearing for New Hyannis Hostel Delayed

A new 47-bed hostel in Hyannis, MA, is in the planning stages, and requires a change in the zoning of the property to move forward. The building was formerly the home of Ruth Rusher, who left it after her death to be turned into a hostel, run by HI. Ken Komenda of the neighboring, Cape Cod Harbor House Inn, voiced opposition to the rezoning, wanting “no youth hostels next door with inebriated individuals” who may be “creating a disturbance right next to our property.” [1] The Hyannis Area Chamber of Commerce also opposed the rezoning for the hostel. Attorneys for the Ruth Rush Trust and a rep. of HI, expected a tamer clientele, such as Girl Scout and church groups.

City zoning is just one of the obstacles to starting a hostel, and it isn't surprising neighbors and competitors will use the stereotype of rowdy, drunk hostelers to keep them away.

Another take from wickedlocal.com: here

1. The Barnstable Patriot 2.0, "Hyannis hostel proposal moved to Oct. 2 council meeting", Sept. 26, 2008.