Hostel Etiquette: 9 Important Rules for Hostel Travelers (2023)

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Quick Rundown

If you’re trying to see the world, hostels are the ideal way to do it. They’re affordable, you get to meet people from all over the world, and you can have breakfast before starting your day. When staying at the hostel, etiquette is essential.

Hostels are a popular choice for solo travelers or groups on a budget. If you choose to stay in a hostel, you’ll want to practice the common etiquette.

Hostel Etiquette – 9 Important Guidelines to Remember

Staying in hostels is sort of a lifestyle. If you’re not used to it, it could be an adjustment. There’s hostel etiquette to consider. Having good hostel etiquette will help you make friends and ensure that nobody hates you.

Frankly, it’s not for everyone. I don’t mean that not everyone can do it. I mean that not everyone should. Why is that? Because if you can’t adjust to the lifestyle in a way that doesn’t disturb or upset the people around you, then it’s not for you.

Let’s go over the unwritten rules of hostel etiquette.

1. Alarms are Necessary, But Be Considerate

There’s no way around alarms. We all have to wake up—some of us earlier than others. The need to set early alarms is actually quite common for hostel stayers. A lot of tours and excursions start bright and early.

Don’t be afraid to set that alarm, but this isn’t your house. No snoozing! Wake up and get going, quietly of course. It’s bad enough that the alarm is going off, you don’t want everyone waking up every five minutes because of snoozing.

Hopefully, everyone else follows the same etiquette. Sleeping in hostels can be difficult if there are alarms going off every few minutes.

As for early mornings, I find it helpful to get my backpack and the clothes I’ll need for the day ready the night before, so I don’t have to rummage around in my things or get into my locker in the morning.

That way in the morning I only need to:

• Quickly shut off the alarm so not everyone hates me
• Quietly change into the clean clothes
• Slip on the shoes, pick up the backpack

And gone!

2. Changing in a Shared Environment

We’re sharing bathrooms, bedrooms, and basically everything in the hostel. Changing etiquette is important. It should be common sense, or as I call it, uncommon sense.

If you think it might make someone uncomfortable, including yourself, go in the bathroom. Or climb into bed and close the curtain if that’s an option.

The goal of hostel etiquette is to not put anyone off, so if there’s a risk of doing that, go in the bathroom. Plain and simple.

If someone else chooses not to do that and decides to bare more than you’re expecting in the room (it happens) now it’s on you not to stare. It’s going to be tough, but don’t do it!

3. Showers – When and How Long to Shower?

There’s a high likelihood that you’ll be sharing a shower with at least six people, probably more. This is probably the strangest part of the hostel experience. Not because it’s weird to share a shower, which it can be. But because it messes with your getting ready routine.

When to Shower

First of all, I try not to shower first thing in the morning, because usually, people are sleeping still. I take most of my showers in the afternoon when everyone is out, or before bed, if it’s not too late.

I like to shower when not that many people are around, but that’s not always manageable. And when you go in there, people do notice how long you take, and if there’s hot water for the next person.

How Long to Shower

Try to shower fast too. Some hostels don’t have great hot water, don’t hog it all. Keep it to just a few minutes if you can. Sometimes it’s hard after a long day of travel activities. You might have dirt in all your places but make an effort here. Everyone is judging you.

Try to remember how many people are sharing the shower with you. It could be a double-digit number. Sometimes it’s not, and sometimes there are even two showers in the room, but be prepared to share.

Get in, clean up, get out. Don’t spend more than five or ten minutes taking up the shower/bathroom.

What You Need

As for the routine, when you go to take a shower you have to remember to take with you clean clothes, your travel towel, and your toiletries. Then when you get in, you must remember to take your shampoo and soap in with you and ensure your towel is somewhere reachable that won’t make a giant mess when you get out.

Don’t forget to grab those shampoos and soaps on the way out of the shower. If you don’t, other people will definitely use them. When you leave the bathroom, take everything you brought in with you. Leave the bathroom as you found it.

That to me is the strangest part about the hostel experience. Even when you travel in hotels, you can leave stuff around or in the bathroom. Not in a hostel.

When you’re done, hang up your towel on your bed in a way that doesn’t affect anyone but you. Don’t put it on the rungs that go to the top bunk (unless you’re the one climbing over them). Don’t drape them over the opening of the bottom bunk unless you’re the one that has to deal with it.

4. Lights Make Enemies Faster than Anything

This is the one that will make enemies faster than anything else on the list. Turning on the light when people are sleeping is the biggest no-no with hostel etiquette. If you’re the first one up or the last one in, do NOT turn the overhead light on!

Some hostels have lights in the bed space. These are always helpful if you’re reading or writing in a journal. If your bed has a curtain, or you’ve hung a makeshift one, I say you’re free to use your light.

The unwritten rule is no lights after midnight, but if your space is closed off, I wouldn’t feel too bad about going later. The same goes for book lights and cell phones.

If your bed isn’t closed off though, just be considerate. The general rule is midnight, but some places with less nightlife sleep sooner. Pay attention to when people are going to bed and don’t be inconsiderate.

If you absolutely need to get up and need a light, use the light on your cell phone, and don’t shine it into anyone’s bed area.

5. Keep Your Stuff Organized

How you keep your space in a hostel says a lot about you. I’ve seen some bed spaces that looked like a bomb went off (pardon my parental cliche). Clothes in piles everywhere, all over the floor and sometimes draped over parts of my space.

That’s a way to divide the room real quick. Don’t do it.

When I arrive at my hostel, I always take my packing cubes (clothing and toiletries) out of my backpack and put them in one of the hostel lockers (make sure you bring the right lock). Then, I compress my backpack down to make it more daily-carry-friendly.

I advise you to keep everything you don’t want to carry around in your backpack in your locker. This makes your space tidy and keeps everything safe from sticky fingers.

Keeping a neat and organized space also makes it harder to lose things. When you talk to hostel people, you hear a lot of stories like, “I lost my favorite hat in Lima,” and, “I l lost my power bank in Cusco.” I’ve been super lucky as far as this goes, and I credit that to my organization and keeping things safe and tidy in my space.

Although, admittedly, I left my favorite shorts hanging over the shower in my cabin in the Sacred Valley in Peru. Fail.

If that was a hostel and not a private cabin, I would have never left them like that. Hostel system for the win!

Check out our hostel packing list for advice on what to pack and how to pack it!

6. Keep the Kitchen Clean if You Use It

Almost every hostel has a kitchen available for use by staff and guests. You can use the stove to cook and the dishes to eat. It’s a community kitchen. Help yourself.

Just don’t be a slob.

Let’s keep with the system of leaving no trace, or at the very least, minimizing your footprint. If you use the hostel kitchen, wash your dishes and put them away.

This goes for the morning breakfasts you’re provided too. Clean up after yourself, and put your dishes back. If you don’t, people will know it’s you, and it won’t help you make any friends. The staff doesn’t like it, and roommates notice it too.

Not being a slob is big for having good hostel etiquette.

7. Follow the House Rules

When you check into a hostel, you agree to follow their house rules. A lot of the house rules are things we’ve talked about with hostel etiquette. There are some others though.

One is not to bring other people to the hostel. Usually, only hostel guests are allowed past a certain point. Sometimes, that’s the front desk. Sometimes there are common areas like bars or restaurants where outsiders are welcome, but then further back, where the rooms start, only guests are allowed.

If you’re caught breaking this rule by bringing a non-guest past this point, wherever that point is, you’ll be asked to leave.

They’ll have other rules about when you can play music, when their lights-out hours are, and breakfast times. They’ll likely give you a bracelet (and probably put it on you themselves) that will identify you as a guest for the length of your stay.

Wear the bracelet and follow the rules and you’ll have a perfectly pleasant stay.

8. Befriend the Staff

The whole point of hostel etiquette is to be a decent human being. Clean up after yourself and follow the rules, these are things decent human beings do.

Another thing decent human beings do is be nice to service and hospitality employees. The receptionists, servers, hosts, managers, these people control your stay in a very literal sense. They prepare your food, book activities for you, and even control the price of your stay.

You’ll unlock a new world of recommendations and accommodations if you befriend the staff. They’ll be more inclined to help you get the best deal on everything and recommend the real best places (not just whatever comes to mind that’s around).

You might even make some friends. Crazier things have happened.

9. Don’t Disturb Your Roommates

The line between being personable and being annoying can be thin at times. There are a lot of variables, the mood of the people around you, the vibe in the hostel in general, and the time of day. It’s tough, especially for introverts like me to judge when to be personable and when to leave people alone.

If someone’s curtain is closed, or they’ve fashioned their own, let them be. Other than that though, I’ll almost always offer a greeting, unless they appear to be sleeping or on the phone, of course.

It sounds like common sense, but I’ve had enough strange interactions in hostels that make me think the sense might not be that common after all. People have come up to me while I’m obviously on the phone or reading, so here we are talking about it.

Hostel FAQs

Still have questions? Let’s try to answer them.

Are Hostels Dangerous?

If you’re new to hostels, it’s understandable to have some questions about the safety of both you and your valuables (especially if you’ve seen that awful movie!)

I’ve stayed at enough hostels that I’m completely confident in telling you that you’ll be physically safe at the hostel. I’ve stayed in some cities and areas that might not be the safest, and I always feel great walking in the door of my hostel.

The hostel’s business is you, the traveler. The whole hostel operation is to give you the best and safest experience possible.

With your stuff, you’ll want to take some precautions. Human nature is to be opportunistic. If you leave valuable things out, they could get stolen. Simple organization and mindfulness will ensure the safety of your belongings.

Check out our post on hostel safety!

What Are the Hostel Rules and Regulations?

There are obviously a lot of different hostels out there, but each hostel will have very similar rules and regulations.

Some common hostel rules are:

• No guests (this is why they give you bracelets when you check in)
• No loud music after 10:00 pm
• Keep your room clean
• Clean up after yourself if you use the kitchen
• Respect each other
• Use the bed you are assigned
• No drugs, fires, weapons (obvious stuff here)

Some additional hostel rules will include the check-in and check-out times, cancellation policies, and refund policies (or lack thereof, usually).

They’ll also require your passport information. This is standard hostel regulation, so don’t be surprised when they ask for it.

What Are the Advantages of Staying in a Hostel?

If you want a deep dive into the advantages of staying in a hostel, check out our post about how hostels compare to hotels.

We’ll touch on them here too since you’re here. When you stay in a hostel the advantages are:

• Breakfast – If you’ve followed our advice on choosing a hostel, you’ve chosen one that includes breakfast. Take advantage of this even if it’s not exactly what you want in the morning. It’s a good chance to meet people or plan out your day over a coffee.
• Price – Hostels are the most budget-friendly way to travel, hands down. There are reasons for that, of course, but if you’re trying to travel on a budget (even if you’re not), stay in a hostel.
• Meeting People – The opportunities to meet people and make friends while staying in a hostel will be more than any other lodging choice you can come up with. With all the shared spaces you won’t be able to help but make some new friends
• Activities – When you stay in a hotel, you get recommendations aimed at tourists. These will always be the most expensive options. When you stay at a hostel, they’ll give you budget-friendly recommendations and even help you find the best deals.

What Are the Disadvantages of Staying in a Hostel?

Are there some disadvantages? Sure. I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, but we should mention them in the interest of covering everything.

• Privacy – This is the big one. There are a lot of shared spaces, spaces we’re used to having to ourselves. This takes a bit of getting used to.
• Can be Noisy – Some hostels have bars where music plays late into the night making it hard to sleep if you go to bed early. Don’t forget your earplugs and sleep mask from our hostel packing list to give you the best sleep possible.
• Shower Time – Sometimes it can be hard to catch a shower, depending on how many people are sharing it. I’ve grown to not plan my showers, but instead to take one whenever I get the chance.
• Easier to Lose or Misplace Items – In a hotel, you just dump your stuff wherever and pick it all up when you check out. In a hostel though, I find it easier to keep everything sort of packed and only take out what I need when I need it. This can make it easier to lose or misplace something. Not to mention, if you do, there’s the chance someone else will pick it up. Grab a lock and utilize the hostel lockers!

Conclusion: Hostel Etiquette

The goal here was to cover everything we needed to in order to give you the tools to have a positive hostel experience. Use good hostel etiquette and follow the rules and regulations and you’ll find yourself making friends and feeling good about your space.

Be nice, be considerate, be clean, be organized, and most importantly:

Have fun out there!