View Full Version : Towels at Hostels ?
Brass Rat
10-20-2009, 10:28
I haven't been in more than a couple of hiker hostels, but I kind of assumed that those that offered showers would also provide towel service. I was surprised this weekend when I arrived at NOC and found that they didn't provide towels. Is this common?
The Weasel
10-20-2009, 10:35
Yes.
TW
Blissful
10-20-2009, 10:47
Carry a hand towel just in case. I have two - one personal and one to dry off my tent.
ShelterLeopard
10-20-2009, 10:51
I haven't been in more than a couple of hiker hostels, but I kind of assumed that those that offered showers would also provide towel service. I was surprised this weekend when I arrived at NOC and found that they didn't provide towels. Is this common?
Totally hit or miss- from what I know, most hostels have towels. Even the "jail" hostel in Palmerton had towels. (No charge to use the towels, the shower, or the hostel- awesome!!!) I always carry my pack towel.
Slo-go'en
10-20-2009, 12:01
I seem to remeber you could "rent" a towel at NOC for a buck or two, had to get it at the office at the road when you checked in.
When I was at "The Place" in Damascus in mid April this year, there were no towels. I went to the dollar store and bought a $3.00 towel - and while I was at it, soap, shampo and TP to help restock the place.
It is a good idea to have some kind of pack towel and a little camp soap with you. There are a few state and private campgrounds along the trail where you can score a shower, and these don't have towels available.
When I was at "The Place" in Damascus in mid April this year, there were no towels. I went to the dollar store and bought a $3.00 towel - and while I was at it, soap, shampo and TP to help restock the place.
S0-go'en makes a great point. Always carry your own towel and try to give something back. It doesn't need to be much.
Share the love........er, uh, I mean the shampoo!
ChinMusic
10-20-2009, 12:53
I carry just one pack towel. It gets you fairly dry. You should be used to not being totally dry........
Jack Tarlin
10-20-2009, 13:28
Most hostels on the Trail provide towels.
Keep in mind in the case of the ones who don't (or who don't do it anymore), there are some places who asked guests to wash their towels when doing laundry to save on expenses (this was usually a church hostel). Very few folks did this.
But most full service hostels provide towels.
ShelterLeopard
10-20-2009, 18:14
The Palmerton hostel asked "guests" to wash their towels too- I just took a load over to the laundromat at the same time as my own laundry. (Of course, I'd never put the towels IN with my hiking clothes, they'd probably come out black!)
If you can be happy with not being completely dry when you are at a hostel or whatever without towels, then your bandana works. Doesn't get you dry as much as it gets you damp, but if you already have a bandana you have no added weight. As stated above, you would be pretty used to being damp most of the time, so it never bothered me. Usually dried off completely by the air in a couple minutes afterward.
Jack Tarlin
10-20-2009, 21:14
Only problem with that, Nest, is that showering is one of the first things you do when you get to a hostel, and it usually happens before you get your laundry done. By the time I get to town after several days of hiking, my bandanas are usually pretty disgusting, as I use one of them for cooking/cleanup, one of them for personal stuff (like washing), and the other one is for everything else, and it often around my neck or forehead. In other words, they're all pretty gross by the time I get to town, and I'm not sure I'd want to towel off with any of them.
In short, I think towels should be supplied by hostels, and if their laundry/hot water bills have gone up, then they can raise their price a bit to make up fpr it. There are certain things I think it's nice for hostels to provide, and a clean bath towel is one of them.
wrongway_08
10-21-2009, 14:59
I carried a small camp towel with me, showered at the shelters and all. this way there was no worries as not being able to dry my arse off at hostels.
It was always nice being able to use a full "grown ups" towel when they supllied them :)
ShamWow, you'll be saying WOW everytime you use this towel, it's like a shammy, like a towel, like a sponge. Holds 12X it's weight in liquid.
Only problem with that, Nest, is that showering is one of the first things you do when you get to a hostel, and it usually happens before you get your laundry done. By the time I get to town after several days of hiking, my bandanas are usually pretty disgusting, as I use one of them for cooking/cleanup, one of them for personal stuff (like washing), and the other one is for everything else, and it often around my neck or forehead. In other words, they're all pretty gross by the time I get to town, and I'm not sure I'd want to towel off with any of them.
In short, I think towels should be supplied by hostels, and if their laundry/hot water bills have gone up, then they can raise their price a bit to make up fpr it. There are certain things I think it's nice for hostels to provide, and a clean bath towel is one of them.
Good point on that one. I only used my bandana for washing/drying off in towns or on the trail, for drying off my tarp before packing it up, and dipping in water to wring over my head. Never really cleaned anything else with it, or wiped sweat away with it. So for me it was fairly clean.
SouthMark
10-21-2009, 21:25
Gull Pond Lodge hostel in Rangely, ME and Pine Ellis hostel in Andover, ME provided towels.
Lone Wolf
10-21-2009, 23:40
"The Place" provides towels with the stipulation that you wash it when you do your laundry. MOST hikers do not wash the towel. it just gets tossed on the floor or hung over a door
S0-go'en makes a great point. Always carry your own towel and try to give something back. It doesn't need to be much.
Share the love........er, uh, I mean the shampoo!
I'm not sure SO-go'en's point was to always carry your own towel, but to consider buying one and contributing one to the hostel you're staying at if they don't have any or few.
ChinMusic
10-21-2009, 23:54
I'm not sure SO-go'en's point was to always carry your own towel, but to consider buying one and contributing one to the hostel you're staying at if they don't have any or few.
Great point. I will try to carry that idea with me if I see them short of anything.
Rockhound
10-22-2009, 01:20
you should never leave home without a towel. Did no one here read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? A towel is the most essential piece of gear one can carry.
Wise Old Owl
10-22-2009, 02:06
Can I get Sham wow in Digital Camo colors?
Rocket Jones
10-22-2009, 06:12
Can I get Sham wow in Digital Camo colors?
No, but if you act now, you can get TWO in Digital Camo colors! :D
Hostels provide towels. The NOC has a bunkhouse.
LIhikers
10-27-2009, 21:42
The Hikers Welcome Hostel in New Hampshire had towels this past summer.
Jack Tarlin
10-27-2009, 21:47
Personally, I think if a facility charges for a shower, either as part of your lodging package, or as an individual "a la carte" service at their facility, well I think they should provide soap and a towel, too.
As others have said, if the place requests that you put your towel in with your own laundry when you take it to the cleaners, you should make every effort to do so.
And hikers should always make an attempt to straighten up the bathroom a bit when they're done, especially if it's public shared bathroom that gets a lot of continual use.
Wise Old Owl
10-27-2009, 22:29
No, but if you act now, you can get TWO in Digital Camo colors! :D
All for 19.99!
Here is the best hostel shower "Kenya!"
http://www.aresthetics.ch/trav/images/large/kenya26.jpg