Here’s my hot takes regarding hostels, this is from years of traveling and working at hostels.
If you are over 50 years old, get a HOTEL or PRIVATE ROOM. Sorry, I just have to say it. There are too many 50+ people that book hostels and try to never leave. Hostels are not long term accommodations, they are not a substitute for an apartment. If you are over 50yo and moving to a new city, use furnished finder, don’t be a creep staying at a hostel and rooming with 18 year old backpackers and think that is normal behavior. I always appreciate hostels with an age limit in the dorms.
Most people can’t help snoring, and most travelers expect to experience it when booking a dorm. But if you snore like a gorilla? BOOK A PRIVATE ROOM. The amount of times in a dorm I have seen one person passed out snoring like an animal, while the rest of the room doesn’t get a moment of rest is disturbing. It also tends to be those 50yo plus who snore the loudest. Way to ruin a hostel experience for everyone else. Same with a CPAP machine. One woman brought her CPAP machine to the hostel, slept in the common area while twenty something travelers played beer pong right next to her. That was certainly a sight to see and we did not rebook her stay with us the following night.
Take a freaking shower. Hostels have showers, why would you not use it? I get it, backpackers can be smelly if they’re hiking, taking public transit, etc. But seriously, if you cannot respect your roommates enough to get rid of that nasty stench, you should not be in a hostel.
I’m sure people gonna hate, but after years of doing the hostel thing, I will never not stand by these hot takes. People like the above ruin the experience for all other travelers, killing business for the hostel at the end of the day.