Hosteling with Young Children

I have always been a bit hesitant about using hostels when we travel. I had heard that hostels had come a long way from catering only  to student backpackers and were now hosting a variety of travelers, including families, but I was still always a bit nervous.What if it was dirty, too noisy or we bothered the other guests with our 2am screaming child?

I recently read a great article on hostels on TransitionAbroad.com. In Gillian Wynne Grimm’s article Travel with an Infant: Hosteling is a Fabulous Way for a Family to See the World, she tackles some of my fears about staying in a hostel, like disturbing the other guests or even the guests disturbing you. She and her family wandered around Ireland and had an amazing experience and met some fabulous people. This was very encouraging. I love to meet people and as Dek gets older, he loves to interact with other children and adults too.

I should have known hostels were becoming more popular when I was searching for hotels in Hong Kong. Some of the nicer hotels under US$150 that I was looking at were actually hostels. Who knew! And they were all booked up. The price was right and the pictures looked great. Tripadvisor.com family reviews were fantastic. We did not end up staying in a hostel for that trip, but I will be keeping it in mind for the next time.