Hostel Etiquette: 10 ESSENTIAL Rules for Hostels (2023)

If you’re looking to travel on a budget, hostels will always be your best bet. They are usually the most affordable option and they are a great way to meet like-minded people on the road! However, as you will discover – hostel etiquette is a big thing! 

Each hostel will have their own specific set of rules for staying there, which, are mainly common sense! Sleeping in your assigned bed, no outsiders allowed and no smoking indoors are just a few common ones you’ll come across.

But beneath it all, you’ll find the golden list of unspoken rules…

Those who break them are shunned by the other travellers and pelted with tomatoes as they exit the hostel. Well – maybe that’s an exaggeration. But, not following these rules is a great way to piss off your dorm mates!

Whilst most people abide by the golden unspoken rules, some people have a lack of hostel etiquette! Here are my 10 ESSENTIAL Rules to follow when staying in hostels:

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Hostel Etiquette, It’s Important!

As i’m writing this, I am 6 long months into my first solo-travelling trip. Despite staying in hostels before, it hasn’t been until now that I think i’ve seen everything. 

In my time, i’ve stayed at over 50 hostels – including working at one in Belgrade, Serbia. Just when I think i’ve seen it all, someone manages to surprise me. I’ve seen naked old men (yes, plural), lads playing a bit of one-touch tiki taka football at 5am in the dorm and people stumbling in drunk and spilling their alcohol ALL OVER THE ROOM.

I hope that hasn’t put you off, because honestly, it is once in a blue moon you will experience this. Follow this guide to not be that person!

1. People Need Sleep!

This goes straight to the top of the list. At the end of the day, hostels aren’t just a place to hang out and party – they are ultimately a place to sleep. And people need sleep!

Simply put – the best hostel etiquette is to not disrupt someone’s slumber. Sometimes, it can be hard. Loud, creaky bunk-beds and floors are two features that have been a consistent thing throughout my travels.

However, there is a lot you can do to avoid waking your dorm mates up. 

Pretty much every hostel has quiet hours in the dorms, even party hostels! So please please please be quiet after whatever time they say. Usually this is 11pm but i’ve seen earlier and later. This does not mean you can talk quietly, It means complete silence. 

Don’t go rummaging around your bag zipping and unzipping. If you need to pack up before leaving the next day, do it earlier and definitely not in the early hours of the morning.

If you’re in the quiet hours, don’t barge into the room and turn the big light on if it’s off. Use your phone screen if you need to see.

Those sleeping next to the door will fall in love with you if you close the door quietly. I’ve been in hostels where i’ve waken up every 10 minutes because *BANG*, someone shuts the door loudly.

My rule of thumb is if I think I’m being quiet, I can be quieter!

2. Be Clean, Please.

The worst thing to walk into a new dorm room would be a lion. The next thing would be seeing you’re stuck in a room with grubs!

Hostels can be uncomfortable as is, so please make it easier on your dorm mates and be clean! No one wants to have to tip toe around the room, avoiding stepping on your dirty underwear.

Being clean is key for mastering hostel etiquette. I’ve been in rooms where my side of the bunk bed was swamped with the other persons’ bags and rubbish. Keep it on your side and there’s no problems!

This also applies to the rest of the hostel! It’s completely fine to wash your pots and pans after you eat, but don’t wait much longer to do it! It’s not very nice to look at but also, people might want to use them!

Bathrooms as well is a big thing. Leave it as clean as it was when you entered. Thankfully, when I worked at a hostel – it was never disgusting cleaning a bathroom. I was counting my days before I would have to block it off as an exclusion zone and clean it up. Thankfully, that never happened!

3. Hostel Workers Are Not Your Slaves

Unless you book big chain hostels, most of the time – the workers at a hostel are volunteers! They do this to get a free bed and sometimes food. So please be nice and treat these guys as humans! If you’re interested in this, use Worldpackers! That’s who I used.

They are the final piece of the puzzle which makes a hostel, click. They work their arse off to make sure your time at their hostel is clean and fun!

Having the mentality of making their life as easy as possible will get you far. When I worked at a hostel, I sometimes shared food I was cooking to the guests I really liked! This is not to say you should expect free food just for being nice, but the volunteers are far more likely to accomodate you if you are kind.

Don’t come at them angry with pitchforks because you’re not happy with something, they probably aren’t even aware of the problem and often it is something far out of their control. But if you are just nice, they will try their best to fix the issue for you.

Also, just to add to point 2, if you are thinking about not cleaning up – imagine being in the workers position, that’s foul.

4. Sharing Is Caring

Hostels are a communal environment and everyone races to use the kitchen or the showers so they’re not waiting.

Waiting to use a shower or the kitchen is something you need to get used to. A hostel that fits 30 people with 2 showers and a tiny kitchen is a common occurrence on the road.

Make sure you let others use the facilities they paid for. As tempting as it is, having a 30 minute shower is inconsiderate. As is DOMINATING the kitchen.

If you want a big, fancy meal with all the bells and whistles, just eat out. When I arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria I was starving and ready to cook a quick pesto pasta that would take a maximum of ten minutes. There were four guys cooking a big feast for 20 people in there who left no room for anyone else for 4 hours. It was difficult even walking in their to fill up my water bottle as they were visibly annoyed as they walked around me.

If you want to cook something in a hostel, go for something quick and easy so others can use the kitchen!

5. Keep Those Clothes On

Few people welcome the sight of dick and balls of some random in the morning. So keep those boys away!

A traveller up-to-date on the hostel etiquette handbook changes clothes in bathrooms and will not walk around with just a towel keeping them decent.

Please be mindful of your fellow dorm mates. Most travellers won’t be offended if you change your shirt out in the open but anything more than that can raise some eyebrows.

But what if it’s hot? I get it, some places may not have air-conditioning and it is HUMID. I’m comfortable sleeping without a shirt but please keep shorts on and definitely don’t sleep naked.

6. Let’s Talk About Sex…

For the love of god, keep it out of the dorms! Personally, I haven’t had anyone getting it on in rooms i’ve been in (either that or i’ve slept through it) but so many people have a story. It all starts with them waking up at night to a shaking bed and some moans. Awkward.

Hostels are a great place to party and naturally, people “fall in love”. One night out in Lisbon can turn into one night in pound-town for some. To be frank, it’s a simply unavoidable thing when backpacking. There is always people trying to get it on after a night out.

But, being a bit freaky and doing it in the dorm is rude and honestly disgusting. If you can’t resist, go get a private room or even a bathroom. Anything but the dorm. 

7. Smile & Be Inclusive!

If you’re reading this guide, chances are you have limited experience in hostels. My first time in a hostel was in Laos and it was daunting! Very quickly I learnt that nearly everyone is in the same boat.

If you’re a solo-traveller like me, you always want to meet people. Walking around with a smile on your face and saying hi to people is all it takes to make a friend.

Everyone is at different stages of their journey and may be shy, so strike up a conversation with them! Is there a group of you going to get some ice cream? Don’t walk past that one person by themselves, ask them if they’d like to join! Chances are, they were hoping someone would talk to them!

Here is my guide on dealing with solo-travel loneliness if you are like this person!

It can feel awful if you’re by yourself and you’re surrounded by big groups who ignore everyone around them. Believe me, it’s happened a lot on my travels.

You won’t click with everyone in hostels, and that’s ok. But as long as you are friendly people will appreciate it. It’s a great but sometimes forgotten rule of hostel etiquette!

8. Don’t Stink Up The Place!

As humans, it is natural for us to become unaware of our smell. But my god, if you’re coming back from a hike, take a shower and put on a change of clothes.

It is great hostel etiquette to not assault people’s noses for a prolonged period in hostels. If you are cooking, curries are for sure tasty. But the paste in these dishes can stink when you start to cook. Please, do everyone a favour and cook something that smells nice from start to finish!

9. Don’t Steal!

Most people are good, honest people. However, there’s a very small percentage of people who are little shits who steal.

Don’t be that person! Most thieves in hostels are opportunists and jump up and down when they spot some AirPods laying unattended. If you steal, you likely ruin a big part of their trip. 

Here, I wrote a guide about backpacking with camera gear and how to keep it all safe. It applies to everything though!

Hostels are a place full of people travelling on a budget who have very little on them to begin with. Things like headphones, cameras and sunglasses are obvious things – but the few other things they have, become very valuable! I’ve met people who have had towels stolen, like WHY???

You SHOULD feel comfortable leaving your stuff around in your hostel. But don’t. There will be that one person out there ready to take the chance.

This also goes for food! If it has someone’s name on it, hands off! It’s not for you! Often, hostels will have a basket full of things backpackers have left behind. Go to town on that!

10. Bed Bugs (Bonus)

Bed bugs are simply the worst. They are hostel owners’ worst nightmare because they can make their hostel rating plummet. Sometimes, a hostel will need to shut down to completely disinfect the place and leave no bed bug alive.

As long as you choose hostels that are rated well with good reviews, you shouldn’t come across a place with bed bugs. In the case that you do, clean all of your clothes and your bag before arriving at your next hostel.

Yes, that’s really annoying but don’t make the last hostel’s problem a problem at your new one!

Final Thoughts

This may seem like a lot to remember, but really – it’s not difficult to follow these rules. Once you stay in a hostel, you will be used hostel etiquette and be the dream guest and roommate!

It doesn’t take much effort to be respectful, clean and tidy and will get you far.

When I think back on my experiences in hostels, they are marked with the people i’ve met – good and bad. If I bump into you again further down the track, i’ll avoid you like the plague if you didn’t follow these rules!

Thankfully, you can do a lot of things to avoid these people! Picking the right hostel is SO important on your travels. It can make or break your experience, and the wrong hostel can attract people like this. I’ve written a in-depth guide on how to choose a hostel that you can check out here!

So please, do the travelling community a favour and get used to hostel etiquette.