The Unwritten Rules Of Staying In Hostels – Hostel Etiquette.

Hostel etiquette, the unwritten rules of staying in a hostel. If you’re planning on making friends in hostels then you should probably take note and follow this guide! Hostels are full of some of the most friendly laid back people you will ever meet. But even so, you will rial your roommates if you aren’t being respectful!

You are all strangers living together and you probably want to be friends with these strangers. So don’t annoy them by being selfish and inconsiderate, it’s so easy to practice hostel etiquette. Now let’s be realistic, not everybody in hostels follow these rules, but I can tell you these people generally don’t make many friends!

So what are the unwritten rules of staying in hostels? Well, there are a few but to be completely honest, they are mainly common sense. Which unfortunately not everyone posses! Basically, just be considerate of other guests, and don’t act like an idiot, pretty simple. But anyway, here are some of the rules you can follow to avoid being the guy in the dorm room everyone hates!

The Unwritten Rules Of Hostel Etiquette…

1. Keep The Lights Off!

Do you know what backpackers really hate? Being woken up at 5 am for no particular reason other than someone else is getting up for the day. Seriously, I have no idea why people think it’s a good idea to turn on the lights when everyone but them is clearly asleep! You will more than likely be hurled abuse at for doing this! Save yourself the bother, use your brain and don’t turn on the light when everyone is asleep!

2. Pack The Night Before.

Following on from turning the lights on at a ridiculous time, please please please pack your bag the night before! Now to be honest I’m a big fan of listening to people rustling plastic bags at 4 am while I sleep, I find it quite relaxing, but for some strange reason, not everyone else in the dorm does. Strange. So yeah if you are leaving early in the morning, probably best to pack the night before. You’ll save yourself the hassle of having to rush as well as trying to pack your bag with the LIGHT OFF!

3. Keep Quiet.

You are in a dorm room, and it’s probably not going to be quiet all night long, people are always coming and going in hostels. But if it’s late and people are sleeping, be considerate and keep the noise down. Most people carry earplugs (you can read my packing list here) so a tiny bit of noise shouldn’t be an issue, but after about 11 pm noise should be kept to a minimum. If you want to have a chat or call a friend you should leave the room and do it in the common area.

4. Use Headphones.

This kind of follows on from the above point, but I would say whenever you making noise from your devices you should use headphones. People will just find it annoying if you’re sitting in bed watching a movie with the volume blasting out, same goes for FaceTiming people. Just always remember your sharing the space so just be considerate when making noise.

5. Be Quick In The Shower.

I love a long shower as much as the next person, but unfortunately in hostels, you can’t really have this luxury. If you’re in a dorm chances are there’s going to be one bathroom for all the guests to use. That can mean 10 people all wanting to use 1 shower in the morning. Keep showers to 5 mins or less when staying in hostels, other guests will appreciate it (FYI, they may hate you if you use up all of the hot water).

6. Keep The Bathroom Tidy.

Inevitably hostel dorm room bathrooms get pretty grimy after a day of use. But that doesn’t mean to say that you shouldn’t tidy up after yourself! I hate the fact that I have to wear sliders in the shower so I don’t have to pick other peoples pubes off of my feet, but that is what you have to deal with in hostels! Just do some light cleaning after you use the bathroom, clean out the sink, shower down the shower basin, clean your skid marks… just make everyone’s stay less disgusting!

7. Don’t Snooze Your Alarm.

Hate the noise of your own alarm? Me too! But I tell you what I hate more, the noise of someone else’s…especially when it goes off every 5 minutes! Now let’s be real, we all have stuff to do and get up for, so being woken up by someone else’s alarm is part and parcel of staying in dorm rooms. What will infuriate people is when you snooze it and it wakes them up again! Seriously if you need to get up, then get up, nobody else is getting on the 6 am train with you. Again just be respectful, we all use alarms, but considerately.

8. Clean Up Your Sh*t.

I hate other peoples mess! My own doesn’t bother me so much, but other peoples…Most people at hostels are pretty good at cleaning up after themselves, but there is nothing more annoying than going to cook a meal and finding a sink full of washing up. Your mummy and daddy aren’t here to do it for you, so grow up and do it yourself!

Same in the dorm rooms. Sure they aren’t always the tidiest of places, and I’m in no way a neat freak, but it’s really not hard to keep your things organised and in your own area. Some people just strew their belongings all over the room for no apparent reason. Again, you’re sharing the room with 10 other people who probably don’t want your crusty boxers laying on the floor next to their bed!

9. Don’t Use Other Peoples Food.

People like to cook in hostels, and will probably buy some ingredients and leave them in the fridge ready to cook later on. Most of the time for themselves, not you…I don’t know what possesses people to take food out of the fridge that doesn’t belong to them. It actually infuriates me! If you want to cook then buy some ingredients, label them and leave them in the fridge like everyone else. Just because it’s a shared fridge doesn’t mean the contents are also for sharing!

10. Welcome New Guests.

Now, this isn’t really a rule for hostel etiquette, more a rule for being a good human being and traveller. For solo travellers coming into a new room it can be kind of daunting, so just say hi or at least offer a smile. One of the best things about travel is meeting new people, so why not chat with the new people coming into the dorm? Sometimes when we already have a group in the dorm it doesn’t seem appealing to invite new people in, but be kind and just acknowledge that they are there whether you are a solo or group traveller, it could make their day! Read my guide on dealing with loneliness while travelling solo.

11. Remember It’s Not Your Room.

When you book a hostel, you’re paying for a bed, not a room. This isn’t to say you don’t have the right to have your needs respected, but you can’t get upset if you’re having a nap in the day and someone comes in making noise. The same goes the other way as I’ve been saying, not everyone wants to sit up chatting on the phone until 1 am keeping the room from sleeping. Just be mindful of the fact that everyone has paid for their bed, and everyone has a right to be respected by the others in the room.

In Summary.

Let’s be honest with ourselves here, this is pretty basic stuff. The main thing you need to do while in hostels is just to be considerate of other guests. If you’re looking to make friends while you are there it’s probably a good idea to follow these hostel rules. If you’re looking for an argument, do the opposite! Just be aware it’s probably going to be a lonely trip if you are inconsiderate of others.

It’s really not hard to follow the unwritten hostel rules, just be polite, friendly and considerate of your new roommates and you are going to have a bunch of good friends in no time! People aren’t going to give you the time of day if you are annoying them so don’t!

I hope I didn’t seem too moody in this post, but these are the things that really rial me and most other guests at hostels. So take all these things into consideration and have a great time! If you’ve never stayed in a hostel, I have a full post on what it’s really like to stay in a hostel you can read, and also a guide on hostel safety.