I dodged designer dogs — like shih tzus and Pomeranians — in Panama City's Punta Pacifica neighborhood.
27.08.2024 - 16:05 / insider.com
Hostels are my preferred option when I'm traveling alone.
I've never stayed in a hotel or an Airbnb by myself. I'll reserve a bed in a hostel dorm instead.
I've stayed in at least 20 hostels in nine different countries: Austria, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the US.
Here's why they're my accommodation of choice.
Hostels are usually the cheapest option for accommodation. I've paid less than $15 a night for last-minute hostels in Costa Rica — one of which even had a pool — about $40 to stay at one in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and about $180 for three nights in Paris.
This is much less than I'd pay for a hotel — especially given the central locations of some of the hostels I've stayed in.
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I stayed at one in Reykjavík, Iceland, located on the city's main shopping street, and one in Hamburg and Munich, Germany, just a couple of minutes walk from the main train station.
And as a solo traveler, I wouldn't have anyone to split the Airbnb or hotel cost with. In a hostel, I just pay for my one bed.
Hostels have a bad reputation, and often it's not deserved. Yes, I've stayed in rooms with people who've snored, hogged the bathroom, crawled in late from a club, or set their alarm for the crack of dawn to catch a flight. But if you have earbuds and an eye mask, it's not that bad. Hostels increasingly have been installing individual curtains round each bed, too, so that you can block off the noise and light at night.
You usually have to make your own bed and strip off the bedding when you leave. But this is a quick task and is one of the ways that hostels keep prices low.
Hostel dorms are generally cleaned every day. You usually have a shelf by your bed with an individual light and plug socket, and almost all hostels have lockers in the rooms.
Dorms aren't always perfect, though. At one hostel, I found a dental retainer under my bed. At another, in Salzburg, people in my dorm placed their damp socks on the radiator to dry after a day of walking in the snow, leaving the room stinking. And at one in Paris, the hostel bar below played loud music into the early hours.
Hostels often provide many of the facilities you need. Almost all of the hostels I've stayed in have had kitchens, meaning you can save money on breakfast or coffee. This is a real standout compared to hotels, where you generally have no choice but to buy breakfast from either the hotel or a bakery.
Usually, there's enough kitchen space to make a full meal. This can really help you save money on meals while traveling.
And if you don't fancy cooking, some hostels offer cheap breakfasts, too.
In some cases, they're free.
Hostels usually have laundry facilities you can pay to use,
I dodged designer dogs — like shih tzus and Pomeranians — in Panama City's Punta Pacifica neighborhood.
Melissa Dewalt caught the travel bug a decade ago when she drove from her home state of Pennsylvania across the country to California to visit her then-boyfriend. She then road-tripped north to Seattle.
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Clarksville, a historic district of Austin, Texas, has lately emerged as a stylish dining and shopping enclave. Among the area’s most compelling new businesses is La Embajada, a design shop housed in a 1923 Craftsman bungalow. Combining the hospitality and interiors expertise of its founder, Raul Cabra — who has designed tableware for some of Mexico City’s most celebrated restaurants, including Rosetta and Pujol — La Embajada presents a refined, regionally diverse selection of Mexico’s artisanal offerings. A series of small rooms display vintage and contemporary furniture, from stately midcentury armchairs and 1970s glass sconces to a minimalist agave fiber rug by the Oaxaca-based textile artist Trine Ellitsgaard. The house is also an actual residence. Cabra often stays in the bedroom up the creaky stairs, and he’s recently made it available for short-term stays (bookings include a daily basket of baked goods from Austin’s Swedish Hill). Guests can purchase the room’s handmade décor, such as a pair of sleek bedside lamps in milky white onyx, a 1960s La Malinche dresser and a bedspread from a Michoacan manufacturer that once supplied Herman Miller. Downstairs, glassware, candles and gifts fill a section modeled after a typical general store in a small Mexican town. But La Embajada’s heart is its inviting kitchen, where visiting chefs cook elaborate meals and staff prepare ice cream and coffee. In another twist, every bespoke detail — including a hammered copper sink, caramel-colored tiles and waxed pine cabinets — can be custom-ordered for one’s own home.
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Scarlett Kiaras-Attari, a marketing executive and education content creator who moved to the UK for her studies. It has been edited for length and clarity.
In June 2022, Lanette Canen and Johan Bodin went on their first cruise together.
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You can listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify each week. Follow this link if you're listening on Apple News.
During the Gilded Age, Rosecliff in Newport, Rhode Island, was the summer home of Theresa "Tessie" Fair Oelrichs, a silver heiress.
Rail operator European Sleeper will launch a new route in early 2025, connecting Brussels with Venice, Italy, and providing transportation to other standout cities and ski destinations, including Antwerp, Belgium; Rotterdam and Utrecht in the Netherlands; Munich and Cologne in Germany; Innsbruck, Austria; and Bolzano and Verona in Italy.