Definition of a Hostel

[Hostels]

It sounds to me like they might not have any dorms at all. It's hard to tell though.

[Hostels]

Interesting related news item from 30 April:
http://www.easier.com/view/Travel/Ho...le-176832.html

Hostelworld just began asking for an "urgent" dictionary change in the definition of hostel:

Hostelworld.com, the market leader in online hostel reservations, is demanding a radical dictionary change to avoid the ‘down-and-out’ stigma of the word hostel. The firm wants major dictionaries in the UK to scrap current definitions that a hostel is either for homeless and destitute people or just for workers, students, or youths....

Hostelworld.com, which books in the region of 15million hostel beds every year, has written to the Oxford, Collins and Chambers’ dictionaries asking for urgent revisions.

[Tim]

Interesting related news item from 30 April:
http://www.easier.com/view/Travel/Ho...le-176832.html

Hostelworld just began asking for an "urgent" dictionary change in the definition of hostel:

That is welcome news. It is annoying having hostels associated with homeless shelters and it is just plain detrimental to the whole industry.

A couple of years ago (before there were any hostels in Birmingham) I asked the tourist office in Birmingham about hostels and they gave me a list of homeless shelters. I had a similar response from the tourist information centre in Leeds.

I can just imagine the hassles that this misunderstanding causes for hostel owners that want to get planning permission for their hostel when the authorities at the town hall think that they want to open a homeless shelter.

[Hostels]

I think it's a great idea. The dictionaries need to be updated.

More quotes about it here.

[travelfish]

Very interesting discussion -- not something I'd ever put much thought into to be honest.

I'm intrigued though about the need for dormitory accommodation to qualify a place as a hostel. Surely that excludes many places which, if measured say by clientele, or presence of a common area, would qualify as a hostel.

I know that here in SE Asia, dorms are becoming less common than they were in the past -- primarily due to availability of cheap private rooms and/or bungalows -- if a bungalow is costing you US$1 then the dorm is going to need to be close to free (there are free dorms in Cambodia -- the only place I've seen them) to get people going for that option.

I'd hazard a guess that the bulk of travellers who bed down in hostels in Europe, US, Oz etc, stay in the same places in Asia, except they're called guesthouses, and they don't have dorms.

To my mind, the value in a great hostel -- or a great guesthouse -- was the common area as that helped to create the camaraderie between travellers (though dorms can too :p )

[Hostels]

I'm intrigued though about the need for dormitory accommodation to qualify a place as a hostel. Surely that excludes many places which, if measured say by clientele, or presence of a common area, would qualify as a hostel....To my mind, the value in a great hostel -- or a great guesthouse -- was the common area as that helped to create the camaraderie between travellers (though dorms can too :p )

Interesting idea about guesthouses. I don't know if I would call a place without dorms a "hostel", but there are many great guesthouses. I stayed at a couple in Japan that were borderline -- like the guesthouse with only one 2-bed dorm. I would call that property "guesthouse and hostel".

[travelfish]

Granted as soon as I mentioned this thread to my better half she scoffed and said "Of course a hostel has to have dorm beds you idiot"...

So I guess Asia has precious few hostels and lots of great guesthouses... I'll leave it at that ;-)

[aboriginalhostel]

Interesting idea about guesthouses. I don't know if I would call a place without dorms a "hostel", but there are many great guesthouses. I stayed at a couple in Japan that were borderline -- like the guesthouse with only one 2-bed dorm. I would call that property "guesthouse and hostel".

I believe the major concept of a hostel is to put the guests together, let them know about each other, make friendships, sometimes even relationships but finally every hostel guest should have an experience, memory from the hostel as to meet people from all over the world.

That's why I have the opinion of having common room and dormitory as a necessity, as in a private room you are by yourself, it's hard to meet people that way. You can have similar experiences in a guest house as well, but you gonna have it mostly with your host, not with other guests.

Also having just a bar or lounge won't replace a common room, and this common room should be the heart of the hostel, where everyone meet.

I don't think there should be any shame having a guest house, as a guest house suits for different kind of people. It is still more intimate comparing to a hotel, so in terms of intimacy it should be:

Hostel > Guesthouse > Hotel.

Anyway, there should be some definite description which suits for the majority of hostels, if not all of them. And instead of converting a guesthouse to a hostel, maybe we should promote guest houses as well!

[Hostels]

Hostelworld's new petition to define the word hostel:
http://www.hostelworld.com/petition/

This is Hostelworld's definition of a hostel:

Hostel: Budget, fun, sociable accommodation for people of all ages

I don't think that it's going to make it past the dictionary editors. Hotels can be sociable, fun and cheap also.

What do you think?

I'm sticking by this definition of hostel because I think that calling budget hotels "hostels" isn't good for genuine hostels...

[ifij775]

I agree with you about this. I think the HostelWorld "definition" is more of a marketing line. Most dictionaries would consider it to be too ambiguous.

Chris
Travel Plug Blog