Thanks to the 2005 film Hostel, people often tend to have some misconceptions about the safety and cleanliness of staying in these low-cost lodgings. However, as an experienced hostel habitué, I can contend that most hostels are safe, in great, accessible locations, and offer a favorable meeting place for fellow travelers to convene and party together. Costing anywhere from around $14.00 to $30.00 a night, this budget-friendly option includes a comfortable, clean bed to drunkenly crash in, a kitchen to cook in or a complimentary breakfast, and usually the staffers offer lots of information about everything from the best museums to the best local clubs. Most importantly, every hostel I’ve visited (14 in 14 separate countries across Europe) has had a bar where people can get a few drinks and easily meet new foreign friends to explore your new city with.
My favorite hostel I have ever stayed in was in the Hungarian city of Budapest and I can’t imagine introducing my experience in any fashion other than with the online description of the hostel from their own website:
“You can sleep when you’re dead so DON’T expect to get any. Grandio: one of the only true party places on this earth that welcomes alcoholics, lost souls, and artsy people with talent but no direction and audiences; the living, breathing creature that is constantly evolving; the place with a crazy cult following. Why? Because we know that to party you need booze, and you need it close. We have a bar on site, which is open most nights until 3am. Now we think this isn’t close enough so our crazy-a**ed staff are currently thinking of designs for a pulley system to bring drinks up the stairs to the balcony. We got you a bunch of discounts for drinks as well that are exclusive to our party-frenzying guests. When the bar is shut, we move to the late room, the den of noise and naughtiness, with a sex bed and hammock –depending on how adventurous you are.
We have a rave cave (it’s actually a basement cellar) but twice a week we make it explode with seedy red lighting, drinking games, beer pong, strawpedo challenges, and open mic night or whatever else comes up to us on a great ‘play-it-by-beer’ plan. The staff have each been hand picked, which might seem a bit wild when they’re walking around dressed up in dressing gowns with a beer in one hand, but that’s just the Grandio uniform: wear whatever makes you feel comfortable (either that or we bought it from the euro store that day).
If you think you can challenge us, we’ll probably rise to it. If not, we’ll respect you for trying! The place itself is as wild as our staff and guests: an overgrown jungle, a games room with table football and ping pong, a bar, a secret restaurant -which we could tell you about, but then we’d have to kill you- a mix of rooms (some en suite with varying numbers of beds) and, if you’re lucky, a room with a view.
So the artsy amongst you, might appreciate the fact that all of our rooms are decorated by the best street artists of Budapest, and are constantly added to by global artists who like what they see and want to contribute.
We have a band, The Grandio Journals, which changes members every week when we practice in the open mic night rave cave. We welcome all talent to perform here. As well as that, we are in a great location, especially if you like drinking as we do in the heart of the bar district. The only rules we have are about respect to our guests and neighbors; other than that we want you to have a wild time, because you can be sure we already will be!
Please note, like the name says, this IS a party hostel. We go out every night; some people drink in the day time; there is a bar, sometimes sex, and a lot of fun. If you don’t like these things, please try a calmer hostel, like Carpe Noctem Penthouse.”
Yup. This is where we stayed. Should I be ashamed that after reading this -and just three days before arriving in Budapest- I cancelled my reservation at my other hostel and re-booked at Grandio? Not in the least.
My two friends and I arrived in Budapest from Paris around 10:30 a.m., ready to discover just exactly what this mysterious city has to offer a group of California girls.
Finally, we arrived at a somewhat dodgy looking, fortress-like building stationed on a barren street off one of the main roads in Pest (the newer part of the city). My girlfriend moved to knock on the door when she peered through a crack and gasped at what she saw inside. “Oh my god, I think there is a homeless guy in there! This cannot be our hostel,” she said, petrified. I glimpsed through the crack and, to my horror, saw a grizzly bear of a man: barefoot, unshaven, wearing a tattered blue and white-stripped bathrobe, dragging around a trash bag full of cans and bottles. Okay, so at this point, I have to admit I was a tad bit scared…and not of the hostel, but of my friends wanting to kill me for re-booking us there.
In an attempt to maintain some sense of pride, I remained optimistic and decided to open the door and ask where Grandio might be found…because this couldn’t be our hostel, right? When I did, the grizzly bear man immediately whipped around with a seemingly drunken, yet cheerful, “OY! Welcome to Grandio Party Hostel! I’m the manager, Alex!”
I warily followed Alex with my two girlfriends in tow, feeling their eyes burning the back of my head. Alex led us through a mystifying realm that would be our home for the next few days. First, we wandered through the imported Gypsy circus tent that housed the bar in the courtyard, then past the hostel sex room, and finally up the graffiti embellished stairs to check-in. As we walked through the hostel, my anxiety was slowly being superseded by my excitement. This was my Disneyland: foxy, party-ready Australian boys everywhere, unlimited alcohol, and being the only three girls in the hostel wasn’t too bad either. I could only hope my friends would end up feeling the same.
Night one started off perfectly when, already drunk, we decided to sign ourselves up to each do 10 Jägerbombs for the weekly hostel Jäger train. Eventually, we joined the other hostel dwellers on a pub-crawl through Budapest lead by the hostel staff. After some Polinka shots and dancing the night away, we headed back to the hostel to continue drinking in the underground, World War II bunker turned bar.
Upon stumbling into Grandio in the wee hours of the night, we found our other friend, with a sexy Australian, at the bar with mascara running down her face. She, being insanely brave, or maybe just insane, had been doing “suicide shots” alongside her new lover. What the hell is a “suicide shot”?
Step one: Snort salt.
Step two: Take a shot of tequila.
Step three: Squirt lime into your eye to distract yourself from the taste of the shot.
Step four: Reflect on how much you regret doing a “suicide shot” as tears are streaming down your face from the pain and agony you are enduring.
These were only bits and pieces of our Budapest adventure but, needless to say, this hostel was a ridiculous place to have as a home base. It was the best decision we could have ever made and we would never have had such an experience if we hadn’t been luck enough to discover our crazy hostel.
Check out www.hostelworld.com, www.hostelbookers.com, or www.hostels.com for awesome reviews, deals, and suggestions on hostels in countries across the world. It also provides great recommendations for bed and breakfast places, cheap hotels, and rentals if hostels do not fit your fancy. To save even more, you can buy a $25.00 international student identification card prior to your trip to get discounts on hostels, and some even free drinks upon arrival.
5 hostels I recommend based on location, staff, cost and cleanliness:
1. The Flying Pig Downtown- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2. The Grandio Party Hostel- Budapest, Hungary
3. The Athens Backpacker- Athens, Greece
4. The Mosaic House- Prague, The Czech Republic
5. Barnacles Temple Bar Hostel- Dublin, Ireland
Happy travels!
Edited by Amy Coyle