Talk:Hostel

message: This list of links reads like a bad pop up ad.  Most of these should be removed.  Comment indercutting individual hostels.  We should not be supporting this.  (3 are owned by the same company!!) Thanks!
∴ here…♠ 00:56, 28 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Removal of External Links

message: SOmething I've always wondered, but couldn't find in the article: Are older people permitted to stay in a youth hostel? Basejumper 19:17, 30 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Most hostels do not have an age requirement but some may inquire about your age (and have flexibility). However I believe in Bavaria you must be under 26. Historian932 (talk) 05:57, 18 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Youth Hostels 

message: "and many hostels offer private lockers (rarely)"
that line doesn't actually make sense - I would edit it, but I don't know whether many hostels offer private lockers or if hostels rarely offer them
76.118.30.59 (talk) 20:26, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Disadvantages

message: The following paragraph seems instructional.  I don't know the technical wikipedia terminology or tag to place on it.
Noise can make sleeping difficult on occasions, whether from snoring, sexual activity, someone returning late or leaving early, or the close proximity of so many people. This can be easily solved by wearing earplugs when visiting noisier hostels, but only if you do not need to get up earlier than you would naturally wake up. The earplug option might not work in the event that you must be awakened by a noise alarm. In such a case, either asking someone to wake you up before you go to sleep (an option that might require socializing with other guests -- something that should be easy to do at a hostel) or the use of a vibrating alarm (a device that is kept in contact with the sleeping body, e.g. under a pillow) are viable solutions.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by RegainTheTruth (talk • contribs) 00:23, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Point of View 

message: Isn't anybody else upset by the fact that one certain hostel in Budapest does some sneaky advertising on this site? For months the caption on one of the pictures has reads "The (insert name) Hostel in Budapest". Everytime I come across it I change it, and everytime I do it somebody changes it back. Last time it was User Let99, justifying it as "credit to the photo". I much rather have the old picture of the messy rooms in hostels in Rome and Peru back (permanently!), they are far more realistic!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.216.108.177 (talk) 02:52, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: That isn't a "specific sort of spam" from a hostel in Budapest. I added that because I'm giving credit for use of the photo which I asked the hostel for permission to use. I wanted to update the photos of hostels to be more accurate for the improved state of hostels around the world. The messy dorm room photo isn't relevant to the hostel article any more than a photo of a cockroach in a cheap hotel would be for the hotel article. Many hostels are spotlessly clean (as you can see in the article's photos).  The hostel industry is changing and is becoming highly professional.  There are still bad, dirty hostels out there, but there are also bad, dirty hotels out there. By the way, criticising other users' edits without showing your username isn't right. Let99 (talk) 17:34, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Specific sort of spam 

message: As far as I know, Jugendherberge is a trademark only in Germany. Terms like hostel and youth hostel are not trademarked anywhere.  Even if someone tried to trademark them, it would not be enforceable because they are in common usage.  I reworded the sentence to make it clear that only Jugendherberge is trademarked and only within a limited area. (AFAIK) Let99 (talk) 21:04, 28 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  Jugendherberge is no longer a trademark of Hostelling International in Germany. source Let99 (talk) 12:25, 6 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Trademarks 

message: There is only one external link and it goes to DMOZ.  DMOZ needs serious updating.  I don't think it's a useful link for visitors. Let99 (talk) 08:19, 2 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  External Links 

message: I think the photo of the former hostel in Rome doesn't work well in its current position because it's vertically aligned and there isn't much text next to it. Maybe we could replace it with a horizontally-aligned photo.  Any objections? Let99 (talk) 04:04, 28 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Photos 

message: * Chillis Backpackers Hostel - http://www.chillis.com.au/
--58.38.42.71 (talk) 04:51, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Red links are based on the following.... 

message: "Boutique hostels" definitely aren't a "cross between a hostel and a bed & breakfast." The linked-to article doesn't say this. This section needs revision. Let99 (talk) 20:10, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Boutique Hostels 

message: The boutique hostel section was entirely deleted and then replaced by a user. Here are the reasons why I revereted most, but not all, of it:
The BudgetTravel.com article is inaccurate. For example, Mama Shelter isn't a hostel by any stretch of the imagination. This is the kind of arbitrary marketing that is making the phrase, "boutique hostels," meaningless. Same with the Hostelworld.com article. Daddy Longlegs, which they call a "boutique hostel," is a self-described "art hotel," not a hostel. When hostel booking engines do this it's an attempt to upsell hotel rooms to people who are looking for hostels because they make a higher commission on the bookings. Then journalists who don't know enough about the hostel industry to know what is going on pick up the stories and repeat the inaccuracies.
I think it's also inaccurate to refer to "the chain atmosphere made popular by brands such as Youth Hostelling International [HI]" because HI is made up of over 90 separate organizations and many of the organizations are very different from each other. Some HI hostels are indistinguishable from independent hostels, and may even be independently owned and operated. In those cases, HI sometimes just does some of the marketing.
Saying, "boutique hostels focus on unique designs and styles," is just repeating what was in the original, deleted section.
"Identifying the coupling of superior amenities with the social atmosphere desired during extended travel, London’s The Guardian calls Boutique Hostels a logical step and has created an interactive guide to recommended hostels around the world"Interactive Guide to Boutique Hostels" Guardian Online. Retrieved July 10th, 2010."
Self-described "boutique hostels" don't necessarily have superior amenities. An example is Travellers House in Lisbon, the #1 rated hostel in the world based on customer feedback by the largest hostel booking engine. It is frequently cited as a "boutique hostel."  The accommodation is in dorms and the bathrooms are shared, just like a regular backpackers hostel. The amenities are not different from other hostels.  The service is top-notch, but so is the service at many non-boutique hostels. Therefore the service isn't a distinguishing factor. The hostel is "boutique" because of the style of interior design. Another often-cited "boutique hostel" often gets bad reviews for their customer service; it's only their style of interior design that gets them the label of "boutique."  A hostel with a designer interior makes a good story or marketing angle.
This blog post by a traveler calls a hostel a "boutique hostel" but the property's website doesn't refer to itself that way. It is a hostel with very nice looking interior design. It says: "there is wi-fi access, all-day free tea and coffee as well as use of ironing facilities, locks and hair dryers....the beds are super comfortable..." Many non-boutique hostels also offer those things. The distinguishing factor as mentioned by the blog post is that, "the landscaping and furnishings might give the impression of there being a swimming pool at the back of the building..." This could be described as a boutique hostels, but I'm not sure if this specific blog post is worth citing. 
The Guardian interactive gallery is interesting, but it's based on arbitrary submissions by the business owners themselves. Some of them have fairly-low ratings based on customer feedback, and it doesn't say why certain hostels were picked over others.
To prevent the phrase "boutique hostels" from becoming entirely meaningless, the marketing language needs to be weeded through. In the blog posts and articles referenced, the word is not much more than a marketing angle, whereas with boutique hotels it is more clearly defined: "Boutique hotel is a term popularized in North America and the United Kingdom to describe intimate, usually luxurious or quirky hotel environments." Let99 (talk) 19:13, 23 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Boutique Hostels Part 2 

message: The sentence about "some hostels offering shagging rooms" is pretty thin on backup, if you follow the footnote/link there's simply one picture of a door with the sticker "Shagging Room" on it--besides the fact that this could be a joke, or not in a hostel, this hardly constitutes evidence that hostels in general have started to offer official rooms for sexual activity. As such I think the reference should be taken down.Historian932 (talk) 06:02, 18 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Citation about shagging room needs more validation 

message: I would be interested in some discussion, or at least mention, in the entry as to why the hostel system never caught on in America.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.82.133.45 (talk) 12:22, 28 September 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I know that in many U.S. states, you need a license to operate a hotel.  But what about a hostel? 68.55.112.31 (talk) 16:52, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  United Sates 

message: The first point in the section "Differences from hotels" is: "Hostels have no windows." And yet, look at the pictures in the article. Many of them contradict this statement. Does anyone have any input on this? Unary (talk) 01:26, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Apparently the assertion that "hostels have no windows" is just an artifact of the fact that anybody can edit Wikipedia. 68.55.112.31 (talk) 16:54, 14 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  No windows? 

message: I must say that the segment about "Social hostels" confuses me...
to my knowledge there is no such thing as a social hostel because all hostels are social, that's simply the definition of a hostel. They have common room(s), often a patio, sometimes a bar, and they encourage interaction between guests, and guests who stay there usually want to interact with other fellow travelers. This is what a hostel is... there's no social hostel. My suggestion, as a tourism professional, would be that this segment be deleted. It's simply not correct.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ada83 (talk • contribs) 13:53, 15 May 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: All good hostels are social by nature. I removed that section. Let99 (talk) 07:55, 5 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Social hostel? 

message: The "flashpackers" section was not accurate. "Flashpackers" was a marketing term used back around 2006-2008 (news article), but the hype is now gone. The websites trumpeted by the journalist, flashpacker.com and flashpackerdiaries.com, are now neglected or offline. "Flashpackers" is about as meaningless at "boutique hostel". Most good, modern hostels have these "flashpacker" facilities, and the travelers who were seen as "flashpackers" (i.e., backpackers with expensive electronic gear) are now just the average backpackers with their tablet computers and smartphones. Many/most backpackers travel this way now. (See above for more information about boutique hostels.) Let99 (talk) 08:02, 5 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flashpackers 

message: I removed text that implied that mixed-gender hostel rooms are less safe than single-gender rooms. If anyone can back this up, please return it, with proper support. Otherwise it strikes me as simple prejudice. --tgeller (talk) 19:32, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unfounded assertion: Mixed-gender rooms are less safe 

message: The sentence that starts with "Hostels are generally cheaper" is poorly worded.  Cheaper than what?  A reader might assume hotels, but this wording is insufficient.
Spoodles (talk) 11:23, 2 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Poorly Worded Statement 

message: Among other characteristics, Youth hostels have a clear difference from regular Hostels: the age limit. However, almost nothing is said about this in the article. I strongly believe that Youth hostel should have again an article of its own, instead of redirecting to this article. Other wikis have done likewise. —capmo (talk) 18:30, 3 September 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Youth hostel vs Hostel 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 4 external links on Hostel. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120503200659/http://www.hihostels.com/web/about.en.htm to http://www.hihostels.com/web/about.en.htm
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120722082120/http://www.hostelmanagement.com/wiki/list-of-hostel-chains-1005813.html to http://www.hostelmanagement.com/wiki/list-of-hostel-chains-1005813.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080912163034/http://www.tra.australia.com/content/documents/Snapshots/2008/BackPacker_07_FINAL.pdf to http://www.tra.australia.com/content/documents/Snapshots/2008/BackPacker_07_FINAL.pdf
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110728055706/http://www.staywyse.org/portal/page/portal/MenuSecSiteSTAYWYSE/MenuSubpageAnnual%20Industry%20Survey to http://www.staywyse.org/portal/page/portal/MenuSecSiteSTAYWYSE/MenuSubpageAnnual%20Industry%20Survey
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: “Within the "traveler" category, another distinction can be drawn between hostels that are members of Hostelling International (HI), a UK-based, non-profit organisation encouraging outdoor activities and cultural exchange for the young (formerly the IYHA), and independently operated hostels. Backpackers' Hostels began in Australia and New Zealand and differ from hostels by being open during the day time, often abbreviated to just "Backpackers." In New Zealand, the BBH network was the first network of 'modern day' backpacker hostel, catering to independent travellers since 1985.[1]” --TheSeer (TalkˑContribs) 08:33, 29 May 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  This entire paragraph sounds like a madeup distinction that is being used to promote some specific organisations.