The Ultimate History of Hostels
Hostels have changed
They used to be considered dirty-stinky places where lots of strangers sleep in one huge dorm. Where everyone snores and it’s kind of gross.
Well, maybe there’re still hostels like that.
But as the travel industry is changing, hostels changed too.
The cleanliness is spotless, and hostels…well they can WOW you. So don’t be surprised next time you enter into a hostel and confuse it with a boutique hotel.
Hostels are awesome nowadays.
Wait…what is a hostel?
Before we hop on together into the history of hostels, let’s start with principles. What makes the hostel so different than hotels and other accommodations.
Usually, in the hostel, you will sleep and share the room with other people. Important rule: for each night you pay for a bed. Not for the room.
The good news is that nowadays hostels offer also private rooms for all of you who prefer more privacy. And there…yes- you pay per room.
Hostels are supposed to be affordable types of accommodation.
That is why often they are cheaper than hotels or motels.
But not always.
Nowadays many things change and in cities like Barcelona or Paris, hostels can be expensive.
Shared facilities and social spaces are places where you will meet fellow travelers, and where you can relax and hang out.
What’s more, you will share with others: bathrooms, toilets and a kitchen.
Sounds scary? It might be more fun than you expect. At least in the kitchen (invitation for a free dinner anyone?).
Hostel stands for social
A very important point of hostels is the social aspect.
That’s what makes it different from other types of accommodations.
The “s” in the hostel stands for SOCIAL.
This is the place to meet travelers from around the world, share stories and participate in extra activities.
Many hostels have vibrant common spaces filled with a cool atmosphere. This is where you have a good time.
There are different types of hostels:
- party,
- family,
- surf,
- eco-hostel, etc.
What’s more, one place can connect more than one of the types above.
The list can be very long and I guess it depends on the creativity of the people who create that hostel and the demands of the market.
Since there are many different categories of the hostel you must make the right selection while booking your stay.
If you are not looking for parties, make sure you will not choose the hostel focused on parties.
Check out these tips on how to choose a hostel that fits your needs, before pushing a booking button.
The history: let’s go back to the roots!
After googling “history of hostels” the first thing you’ll come across will be the history of Hostelling International.
This is the birth of the idea behind youth hostels and hostelling.
Youth hostels are different than backpacking hostels. To know the difference you can read a blog post written by The Hostel Girl: “Youth hostels vs Backpackers hostels”.
I believe that the roots of today’s hostels tie back to these two: the beginnings of youth hostels & backpacking.
Youth hostels were intended to host students in exchange for a bit of money and help in domestic works. The idea was to create a space, budget-friendly, that provides students educational experiences and a social environment.
Back to 1909.
This is when german teacher Richard Schirrmann noticed how badly he and his students need a place to sleep if they truly want to enjoy the wonders of nature during short school trips.
Without breaking a bank, since they all were students.
In 1912 he established the world’s first youth hostel in Altena Castle in Germany (still is existing and in use!).
Students were helping there in daily duties like cleaning and cooking in exchange for a bed to sleep in the shared dorms and extra money.
R. Schirrmann continued his work and in 1919 has found the German Youth Hostel Association. The concept of a youth hostel has spread widely in Germany and Europe.
By 1930 there were more than 2000 hostels only in Germany.
Birth of first youth hostel associations
Later on, in 1932 International Youth Hostel Federation (since 2006: Hostelling International) was founded in Amsterdam and Richard Schirrmann has become its first chairman.
This organization gathered youth hostels from many countries in Europe like Poland, Germany or Switzerland, and Great Britain.
Nowadays youth hostels are a minority in Europe since the demands of the tourism industry have changed drastically and the backpacking idea has flourished around the globe.
However, still, there are few youth hostels where you will need to leave its premises for some hours during the day (lockout) or get back until a certain hour (curfew).
The aim of hostelling despite changes in the tourism industry is still the same: integrating people from different backgrounds and countries.
In case you want to go deeper into the history of youth hostels, I recommend you to read “Richard Schirrmann. The man who invented youth hostels” by Duncan M Simpson.
“I’m not a tourist. I’m a traveler”- backpackers, hippie trail & hostels
I must say it’s hard to find any information about the first hostels in the form that is more commonly known today- for the backpackers.
The meaning of backpacking has evolved over the years. But it was always about traveling on a low budget. Usually traveling for a longer period, without following a fixed agenda.
Backpackers try to travel as cheaply as they can to extend their period of travel. That means doing CouchSurfing, hitchhiking, and of course, sleeping in hostels.
I imagine that the first hostels, appeared in their backpacking-form, during the growing popularity of the “hippie trail”. This was the time when modern backpacking started to form its shape.
When appeared the first hostels for backpackers?
Between 1960 and 1970 young travelers started following the fragments of the old Silk Road, the ancient trading route connecting Europe and Asia.
The young, wild and free known as hippies (tho they referred to call themselves Freaks) wanted to live a different life. They started this journey in search of adventure, spiritual enlightenment, or in search of cheap drugs.
The most popular trail was from Europe to Kathmandu. Through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India to Nepal.
Fun fact: Paulo Coelho in his book “Hippie” describes his memories of his journey to Nepal with the hippie “Magic Bus”.
It was during that overland journey, hostels began to appeal to the new group of travelers called very often: “drifters”, “wanderers” or “backpackers”.
“Across Asia on the Cheap”
In 1973 Tony and Maureen Wheeler, published their first guidebook, from their journey across Asia in 1972. Their trip covered the hippie trail from London to Sydney.
This guidebook gave birth to now wildly-famous, Lonely Planet guidebooks.
As you can imagine during that period aspiring travelers couldn’t count on the internet so a resource like this guidebook became a big thing!
“Across Asia on the Cheap” recommends also youth hostels and hostels to stay in. That’s why I can only guess, that this is the time and place where the first backpacking-like hostels came to live.
Last words
Doesn’t matter if you stay in the hostel as a guest or if it’s your working place: you meet new people and some of them might become your good friends, you hear amazing stories and most of all you have fun.
As a hostel worker, it’s amazing and exciting to watch how people from totally different cultures can get on with each other and share their experience…this is the true spirit of hostelling.
And if you are still not convinced of the hostel idea treat it as a new adventure!
“All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go.”
Tony Wheeler
But this is for another story.
