So you’re broke? Can’t afford a high-end hotel to flex your trip abroad on the haters? Gee, i know the feeling. Whatever can you do? You would die for the thrill of the flex but you also enjoy saving that sweet sweet dinero? Turn to hostels or it can get hostile! … Yeah that’s what I’m going with 😅

What I’m tryna say is that hostels are a great way to save money while traveling. It’s not always about the place you stay but still you gotta stay somewhere right? And hey, hostels offer their own unique charms and benefits as welly! Personally speaking (which is all this blog is truthfully), the opportunity to meet other travelers in rustic abodes has been one of the biggest blessings the Traveling Gods have bestowed upon my voluptuous caboose (I be using thesauruses now. Thesauri?)

So, in this post, I try to make a list of the best hostels I’ve personally visited, providing contact info for those interested. Without further ado, let’s dive into the list, break into a mid-tier backstroke and uh… drown in the sea of hospitality? 😅 yeah? Y’all down for some of that? Either way, I know I am! Meaning – let’s get into it!

1. Train Lodge Hostel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 🇳🇱

Let’s start things off with the Train Lodge Hostel in Amsterdam, Netherlands! We start by pairing a legendary place for a legendary city!

Location location location! Plus ambiance I suppose! Plus pot but not really. This is the place I stayed at during my three nights in Amsterdam in 2018 and boy was it memorable. So the hostel is literally an old train at the Sloterdijk Train Station. They still have it on the tracks and turned it into a fully functional apparatus, including beds designed to recreate the experience of overnight train travel. Given its position, you get all the perks of great transportation access to the city proper, sitting one stop from Amsterdam Centraal.

This made the hostel a perfect get-in, get-out point to go into the city. I could easily come back during breaks and slip back into the groove of exploring the already inviting city of Amsterdam. I didn’t exploit this, but the hostel also offered food and drink you could pay for and eat at seats just outside the train. After the second night there, I was joined in my room by a few guys from Colorado too. Gee, I wonder why they were interested in Amsterdam…

Plus, the station has döner kebab. Need I say more? And when I ordered some, the guy told me ‘Black man! Black man!’ Boy did I feel special (not really. It was weird)! So come, lodge yourself in the Train Lodge hostel!! 😉

2. Casa Amina Hostel, Chefchaouen, Morocco 🇲🇦

I knew I had to put a Moroccan hostel on here. When I ran through my memory’s museum, I couldn’t resist the big chef (what Chefchaouen’s homies call it). So, here we are – Casa Amina!

I don’t actually recall what this place looked like from the outside. The real magic was within. RIP Hedwig (Had to say it). I vividly remember arriving late via a Flixbus from Rabat during the period of my Moroccan journey when I feared every living creature would attempt to swindle me out of my lucrative dishwashing earnings. Trauma is a B huh?

I rushed through the mazelike streets of the Medina, avoiding all plausible eye contact until I plopped myself down on the quaint bed of my characteristically azure-colored room. It contained all I needed; a quiet, contemplative silence, wide, airy windows and the feeling of being stuck in a stoic corner of town where nobody would bother you.

Service was nice, chill and slow the time I was there, a ways away from the tourist season. For my liking, it was perfect. I didn’t need crowds to enjoy my time. A great basis as well to explore Chefchaouen which could otherwise be overwhelming to those weary of other human beings when they travel.

The cherry on top was the terrace, which truth be told is nothing like a cherry… but it is where I spent hours peering over the entire cityscape, which ressembled an army of blue polka dots scattered within an enchanting green valley. I sipped tea in that hood. What the f is up?

3. No Rain No Pain Hostel, St. Petersburg, Russia 🇷🇺

Next up, we travel to Russia. As I did in 2020, nervous, but pleasently surprised by the resulting adventure. What helped with that surprise? None other than the No Rain No Pain Hostel of course!

This one was quite hard for me to find. It’s nondescript but also conveniently located across the street from a metro station whose name I forgot. It was in Russian. And I’m Mcdumb. Still, this hostel offered free jelly beans, wooden bunk beds, and nice hosts. I stayed there right at the onset of the Covid 19 Pandemic and I remember returning to this spot after long cold days pondering the coming woes of the world and finding momentary solace in the warmth and comfort inside.

The bunk beds being made of wood gave the place more flair than the others. And it was about 10 minutes away from the Hermitage too by foot. If anything was afoot inside or outside you wouldn’t know either, the place was quiet and calm. Showers were shared but so were hours with the hospitable guests and workers alike. That’s what I remember most about this hostel in St. Petersburg.

It’s right by KFC too, and Russian KFC is some of the world’s best Russian KFC. In fact, my life literally peaked during my stay at this hostel when I became a philosophical juggernaut. Once I dared question if I could get a night bite at KFC and instinctively, I responded with ‘KFC is always open. It’s our hearts that close.’

4. Downtown Beds Hostel, Mexico City, Mexico 🇲🇽

Last but not least, let’s go to Downtown Beds in Mexico City to finish this look at the best hostels this motherducker has ever graced in his natural born existence!

So, my last-minute decision to lead an exodus from the frozen depths of Canada and seek refuge in Mexico was a lifesaver and I owe that to Downtown Beds. Arriving around 4 am, I was immediately taken aback by the hostel’s location within a grand restaurant in the middle of Mexico City’s Zona Colonial, offering amazing architecture matched only when I later took a morning stroll and absorbed the massive scope and vibrance of the Old City.

The Zocalo square was only 5 minutes away by foot. Nightlife was near. Police were everywhere for whatever you want to make of that. It felt grand in many ways, surreal in others and the hostel’s inside matched that energy outside perfectly, way more that I had originally imagined when I first arrived there.

I wanna say this place gave off a dark vibe but in a positive way. Like a demanding allure of enigma. Its black decor felt chic and mysterious and dealing in breakfast and quality showers gets me to ponder the darkness of man dummy quick! The only problem was that as I visited during the Pandemic, it wasn’t as lively as it likely is nowadays. Still, if you consider yourself down with towns and you hate clowns come ’round!

Okay I can’t end this on a rhyme. Yeah so this hostel is like good and stuff, yeah uh viva Mexico!

Best Hostels no longer Hostile? Let’s conclude!

So that’s my list!! 0 or more likes and I’ll do a part 2! Remember these are all based on my opinions and experiences and you may go to these hostels and get abducted by aliens or some scheiss so don’t take my word as gospel…unless you want to 😉

Either way, you know a hostel cannot make or break a trip but is that added sugar we all need to sweeten up our lives and get the Diabetes. Use various resources to find the hostels that will define your trips and decide for yourself if the ones I’ve chosen work for you. If not, get your money back! If you can…
Anyways, thanks for reading my G!