From what I observed, there is no "most" when it applies to hostels. A whole lot depends on your own perception, perhaps flavored with how many days you've been on the trail, how tired you are, how miserable the weather is, etc. Talking to hikers who spent the exact same night at the exact same hostel I did, I often got wildly conflicting opinions about the quality of the stay.
I noticed some correlation between how professional the host/owner was, as to how the hiker's behaved, but even that isn't foolproof. There are a few owners who oozed southern charm, but in the evening they went home so they could get a good nights sleep away from the noise.
There's an education aspect as well; early in Georgia, there were a good number of new hikers who would just flip on the light switch at midnight as they settled into their bunk. Further on the trail, absolutely everyone used their red headlight to move around in the dark. I suspect some of them never even heard of hiker midnight.
There's something to be said for the bubble party crowd, but it still comes down to your reaction. You can lie in your bunk among the noise, and get yourself worked up into a rage, and end up yelling "get off my lawn" at the noisy people. I didn't want to spend my vacation being angry, so I avoided this method.
Join the campfire for a bit, make friends, and then at a semi reasonable hour tell your new friends you need some sleep and ask them to quiet down for the evening. Not feeling social, you can lie in your bunk and read until midnight, then calmly walk out to the campfire and ask them to settle down. I found even the noisiest hikers to be receptive to a calm discussion about what time they plan on wrapping up the party.
Some motels are cheaper, and better than the hostels. I stayed at a hiker hostel in Pearisburg, VA. It was $20/bed. In one crowded room full of twenty hikers. 2 toilets, 2 showers (better then some places where is just one). Hikers watch the stupidest movies all night long when they drink.... didn't sleep well. It would have only been $44 total to split a hotel room at the place.
Most of my hostel experiences were wonderful though. I look forward to going back.
Most of the ones I've been are clean & well run, but like hotels some are going to be of higher quality than others. They always have interesting people & conversation. Kinda worth the hiker stink, for me anyway.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
hostels are awesome when no one else is around. you get treated like a king. tip: flip flop.
Not all are like this.
All hostles have showers. And the majority, if you are staying inside, sleeping inside their home, require you to shower before you eat or sleep in their home. Just remember, you are not paying for four star accommodations so don't expect it.
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Some can be really nice and some can be a nightmare. There is a really broad range of. One piece of advice is to avoid free or donation based hostels. I found that these generally attracted the party crowd and the cleanliness was not so good. Hostels in the North tend to be much nicer. The South, not so nice although there are exceptions. I hiked with a group and we were able to stay in hotels for not too much more than the price of hostels. Having a private bathroom was worth the extra cost usually.
If you like the social atmosphere of a hostel then you may be able to overlook the negatives. Guthook's guide has some information about hostels in the user comments and word of mouth will help you decide as well.
I never pick the cheapest Hostel out of the guide. Never. It has worked well for me/us.
I'm so confused, I'm not sure if I lost my horse or found a rope.
I like hostels with a no alcohol policy. It weeds out the party crowd quite nicely. For example, Teahorse in HF is one of the cleanest hostels I've ever seen and didn't allow alcohol when I've been there.
I spent quite a bit of time in the alps a year ago staying in the hut system. Anyone who thinks that US hostels lack personal space hasn't been to a Matratzenlager. Wall to wall beds and, when full, you can literally be sleeping right next to someone. Google the term for pics. Now, 90% of the time places were not full, but I had a few very crowded nights. Now I'm burned out of shared accommodations and really prefer tenting almost all the time.
The main difference between a hostel and a shelter is that hostels are generally enclosed and sometimes they are heated and sometimes they have bunks.
Thanks, Ron, from Open Arms Hostel.
My preference is my tent, a shelter, a hotel, then a hostel. For no other reason then I snore and move a lot when I sleep and am kept awake by the same. I almost always support and visit the hostels along the trail as they serve a valuable purpose, information, shuttles, etc, especially in the social part of the AT experience.
Being a retired firefighter and fire inspector though, I do cringe at the conditions at many of the venues. Of course, there are motels that are worse (Doyle immediately comes to mind).
chris
Chris "Flash" Gordon
LT -1987, 2012; West Highland Way & Cape Wrath Trail, Scotland - 2008; AT - 2009
Anybody have an estimate of how many hostels there are up and down the AT?
The atmosphere in most hostels is 20.95% oxygen. However many appear to have 5-10% methane at night.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Are you suggesting that you don't trust top quality craftsmanship such as this electrical work? IMG_1166.JPG
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.