PDA

View Full Version : Hostels or Hotels



Former Easy
12-17-2003, 10:17
Which do you prefer and why?

Lone Wolf
12-17-2003, 10:48
Motels. They're private, clean, quiet and healthier. I never share a room either.

smokymtnsteve
12-17-2003, 10:56
Motels. They're private, clean, quiet and healthier. I never share a room either.


too bad Lone Wolf...you never share your motel room with something you like???
I find that hard to believe :D

Peaks
12-17-2003, 18:58
That's a loaded question. I like hotels, because they are quieter and cleaner. I like hostels because they are cheaper.

But, I thru-hiked to hike the trail, not to see small town America, so I'll usually stay in the woods rather than stay in town.

So, in the final analysis, I think I'll take which ever one is more convienent. Location, location, location.

Lone Wolf
12-17-2003, 20:07
Young ladies only, Steve. :sun

Moon Monster
12-17-2003, 20:26
Hostels. Reason: $$$
Re. cleanliness: The filthiest, most disgusting, DNA caked bed (and bathroom) I have ever seen was in a motel in New York near the Bear Mtn. bridge. It was past 11pm when I finally got into the room, so I could not go back and stealth camp with the bums in the park.

sloetoe
12-18-2003, 10:58
When I hiked in '79, I hit hostels at Hot Springs, Damascus, Pearisburg, Waynesboro (FD), Duncannon (FD), DWG, and from DWG on, only Gorham (church) and Monson (shower only! nasty! I think the Shaws were operating then, but I probably couldn't afford it, or just didn't know). Were I to hike now, I'd do the same. "In, out; quick." Well, unless there was food involved.

That said, in hiking with my kids, I make regular and enthusiastic use of hostels. Might still try to minimize time "in", but that's to get back out on the trail, to maximise what we can see when "out". For my kids, hell, I think hanging out with other hikers is a major highlight, so hostels rank high on their list of 'hike features.'

I need to bring all this back up on that "Hiking with Children" thread started by Mike (Cogswell) Williams, but it'll be in a couple of weeks. Going out on southern AT, and no, I'm not planning on hiking hostel to hostel....

(Well, unless there's food involved.)
Sloetoe
(soon to be OhSanta bin Hikin)

Spirit Walker
12-18-2003, 17:04
When I was single, for financial reasons, if there was a hostel, I would stay there. However, I got awfully tired of always being surrounded by people. A couple of times I would get a motel room, all to myself, just so I could have some privacy. At the time, the trail was less crowded so I was mostly staying in shelters, and while I loved the people, it was very hard for a solitary sort like myself to never be alone.

Now that I'm older and married, we rarely stay in hostels. It is too nice to have clean sheets and clean bathrooms to pass them up for sleeping on the floor in a hostel (I hate hostel bunkbeds). Besides, the western trails don't have all that many hostels. But sometimes you have to stop, just because the hospitality is so spectacular. It would be a major gap in the experience to not meet the Sauffleys or the Bombaci's -- but they both had private rooms, so we had the best of both worlds.

Former Easy
12-25-2003, 04:50
There are maybe 2 hostels I'd like to stay at, otherwise I prefer hotels, motels etc.. The amenities and having space to yourself far out weigh the cost savings. Another thing to look at here is that if you are hiking with a crowd, why would you want to spend time with them off the trail, a hotel or motel offers some sanctuary and much needed time away from the crowd you've been hiking with on the trail. Also if your older you might also want to get away from the younger crowd whom usually use hostels for the cost savings.

Jaybird
01-12-2004, 14:07
when i'm on the trail.........i'm there for that "back to nature" experience.

becoming one with the wilderness....


therefore...i tent most often....shelter in extreme weather conditions...&
on rare occasion take in a hostel (hot shower) if need be.

(my hike pardners would say the "need be" would be GREAT for showers most times! hehehehehehehe :p )




see ya'll up the trail in 2004!

Jaybird
01-12-2004, 14:15
when i'm on the trail.........i'm there for that "back to nature" experience.

becoming one with the wilderness....


therefore...i tent most often....shelter in extreme weather conditions...&
on rare occasion take in a hostel (hot shower) if need be.

(my hike pardners would say the "need be" would be GREAT for showers most times! hehehehehehehe :p )




see ya'll up the trail in 2004!



p.s.: IF i do stay in a hostel....those young whipper-snappers give me more energy being around 'em....hehehehehe

Skeemer
01-12-2004, 18:43
I probably stayed in motels/hotels as much as any thru-hiker this year. If I was in town and the weather was crappy, I would even zero an extra day in the motel. In Hot Springs it poured down rain for two days (while it snowed in the mountains), and to me, it was worth it to be inside sleeping on a nice dry bed. I agree with the part about it being a nice "sanctuary." I slept best in a bed, next was a tent and last a shelter. Part of my hike was taking in the towns along the way. Although I loved being outdoors on the Trail, I also enjoyed the breaks in town...the people, food, beds, getting cleaned up, etc.

Having said that, one of my worst nights was in a motel when I couldn't find a shelter space or even a decent tent site on July 4th weekend, I believe. I ended up taking a room (the last one) in a real dump...ants on the floor, exposed plumbing, etc. But it stormed that night and I was glad to be inside.

As much as I made fun of the Doyle, it was a great social experience and I'm glad I stayed there with a lot of other hikers.

Had some great hostel experiences too...like Miss Janets, Kincora, Shaw's and The Cabin. I would not have traded any of them for a motel room. They were all neat in their own way. Most are great mail drops too since you don't have to worry about post office hours.

Had a "Not So Great" experience at the Ironmasters Hostel in Pine Grove Furnace State Park. The guy running it was asleep upstairs and was 2 hours late in opening up for the evening. A bunch of us were waiting outside, cold and soaking wet (it rained all day). They also charged about as much as a cheap motel once you added everything up.

I believe the constant change in where I "crashed for the night" contributed to the enjoyment and success of my hike.

Footslogger
01-12-2004, 19:03
Tough call but in the end I have to agree with Skeemer. They both have their advantages/disadvantages. There were a few times when the last thing I wanted was to share a room with a bunch of other people. Toward the end of my hike I really prized a good hot shower and a comfortable hotel room bed. That's when a hotel room really meant a lot to me. Then again ...I really liked getting into a town and finding out that several of my friends were at the local hostel. If I had it to do all over again though I think I'd stay in the woods a little more often than I did in 2003, especially knowing what I do now.

Photofanatic
05-25-2004, 16:06
..........