Typed this up to give aspiring travelers an idea of what to expect with hostels, as well as some tips I've learned from staying at probably 100 different hostels and working for 3 months at one.
What:
Hostels are a cheaper versions of hotels, typically aimed at backpackers. Although there are a few in larger cities in the US and Canada, they are much more common in other countries around world. Typically there will be a mix of dorms, ranging from 4 beds to 16 beds, and also private rooms. There will normally be a communal kitchen and social room as well.
Who you meet:
Your typical person staying at a hostels will be 18-30 years old. There is definitely a prototypical backpacker, and that's your long hair, heavily tattooed hippy type guys, and tattooed, slightly overweight, 5-6s for girls. Don't expect your average LA aspiring model to be staying at hostels, a lot of the girls you meet will be extremely average and sometimes a bit dirty from a lack of showers or not doing laundry. Good party hostels will also have more guys than girls, sometimes significantly so.
All this said, you'll also meet more than enough attractive women at hostels from all over the world. I've slept with women from Ukraine, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Malta, Argentina and Chile along with god knows how many Americans, Brits, Canadians and Aussies. To help your odds, a lot of the guys at hostels will be pretty beta or have terrible game. There are a few people that sleep with the majority of backpackers, and you'll know them when you see them. Your biggest competition will be the hostel staff, which will make you feel like you are competing with Leo DiCaprio sometimes, because they are basically celebrities. On that note...
Working at hostels:
There probably aren't many jobs in the world that allow you the opportunity to sleep with as many women as you will get if you work at a party hostel. Depending on the hostel, you'll be required to work between 2 weeks and 3 months. Expect to work either for free or less than $50/week, but you'll get free accommodation, possibly food, laundry and bar discounts as well. If you are spending too much money on a long vacation, this is a good way to stall the expenditures for a few weeks. Double check with other staff members on the rules though, some hostels prohibit staff from sleeping with guests. On the other end, the one I worked at allowed 30 minute "sex breaks," because a guest getting laid is a happy guest.
What to look for:
When I book a hostel, the first thing I search for in google is "party hostel (city)." Then you will want to check ratings on Hostelworld. Typically you'll be looking for 85% or better, and ideally with quite a few reviews, >250. At the end of this I'll include a list of my favorite ones from around the world. A lot of the best party hostels have public bars. They will also set up drinking games or pub crawls around the city. If getting laid is a priority, you may have to sacrifice some comforts. My main priorities when choosing a hostel are 1. Fun 2. Location 3. Cleanliness. More on this below, but I would rather stay at the best hostel in a dorm than a mediocre hostel with a private room. On Hostelworld "fun" isn't a rating category, but "atmosphere" will likely correlate quite well.
Hostel conversations:
Backpackers are a open, social bunch so you can basically walk up to anyone to talk or sit at any table with other people. It's lame, and its repetitive, but it's easy... basically all conversations in hostels start in this manner: Where are you from? How long are you traveling? Where have you been/are you going? If you can't keep that conversation going from there, you haven't travelled enough or you need to work on your conversational abilities because once you have the answers to those questions that's ammo for a bunch of conversations. Alternatively you can be the rare one that doesn't follow this train of questions, but she'll probably take it there anyway.
Logistics:
You need good logistics to get laid at a hostel. I'll do my best to address as many issues as possible.
Security:
Your first barrier to entry will be getting the girl into the hostel. Obviously if she is staying there, this isn't an issue. Some hostels may not be too strict due to a lack of night security, but that is more common in smaller hostels, not the big party hostels. Wristbands are the most common way they confirm whether you are a guest or not. I'll intentionally "lose" my wristband the 1st or 2nd day, while actually just pulling it off and putting it in my wallet. Then when going back with a girl, you can put it on her. You can do this with slide cards as well, but you may have to pay a $5 deposit or something, not the end of the world.
Where to get it in:
How adventurous are you? The one thing with hostel sex is it isn't always the most comfortable sex. The shower is probably the best option if you are in a dorm room. The dorm is the next option. Always take a bottom bunk, that way you can hang the sheet up like a screen. I've also seen everything from the luggage room, to behind curtains and reception, to out door patios.
Pro-tip- If you can afford it, private rooms are the way to go. They normally cost about 2-3x as much, but you'll increase your chances so much. If I'm in a private and I'm making progress with a girl, I'll drop that in conversation early on just to plant the seed. I met an Aussie girl at a hostel last week and she wanted to go back to my room about 20 minutes after meeting her, and 2 minutes after I told her I had the matrimonial suite. Security may also be more lax on a private if you haven't managed to secure an extra wristband because they are normally meant for 2 people.
Another tip is to keep a bottle of alcohol in your room. There is a line that has gotten my laid more times than I can count "I have a bottle in my room, let's go take a shot." If she agrees, I normally close about 2/3 times. If it's early enough in the night, you'll also likely come back to an empty dorm room. If you can bring alcohol in, you can buy a 12 pack of beer and give em out to the other guests. Doesn't set you back much and all of a sudden everyone likes you and wants to chat, and you'll get enough reciprocal drinks to make it worth it.
Drinking game tip- Ring of Fire/ Kings Cup/ Circle of Death is a good one for a big group at hostel. Make sure you are in charge of the rules. Make one of the cards- I use the 10- never have I ever. If you get the chance to say one, use "never have I ever had sex at a hostel." I've changed my targets after that before because the one I thought was quiet and shy put a finger down. Slept with her an hour or two or so later in the shower. Not that you can't be the first to accomplish this for them, but if they've done it before they'll do it again.
When backpacking, or in life in general, have a god damn condom with you at all times. I don't care if you are going for coffee at 9am, have one. Every time I hear about a guy who brought a girl back to a hostel and didn't close because he didn't have a condom I went to punch him in the ribs.
If you reach the end of the night with no luck at the bars, it never hurts to sit in the common area and check your phone or have a beer. People will slowly come trickling in and sometimes you can grab an end of the night desperation lay. I've seen that and heard stories about that more than enough times to assure you it's worth it.
One final thing with party hostels:
You don't necessarily have to be staying at the hostel to go the bar. If you decide to do the airbnb or hotel route, the hostels with public bars can be an amazing place to pick up. Similar to how you can slyly mention you have a private, it works well to mention you have an airbnb nearby. What girl wants to sleep in a 16 bed dorm when you can share a queen bed with you and get laid as a bonus.
My favorite party hostels for getting laid:
Retox - Budapest
The shenanigans here is off the charts. Pub crawls or boat parties every night. Drink you way out of the room- which the one I did consisted of an entire room of topless girls, while one was getting fucked while blowing someone else, and another couple fucking next to them. Had a 3 in one day hat trick there. I think I was 4/6 overall, but after the 3rd day I stuck with one for the rest of the time.
Loki- Cusco, among other locations
Drinking games every night. Tons of Peruvian gringo hunters. I was 5/6 there and incredibly closed to 7/6.
Madhouse, Prague
Great social hostel, designed to allow guests to interact and party. Group dinners. Nightly pub crawls. A black painted hangover room for recovery. Sex themed room names. Only closed 1/4 there,
Greg and Toms Party Hostel- Krakow
Nightly parties or pub crawls. Group dinners. A staff of women that all consistently sleep with guests. They even let you check out a few hours late for a small fee if you are too hungover to get out of bed.
Pink Palace- Corfu, Greece
Probably one of the most historical Poosey Paradises of the 90s, when over 1000 guests would be there and everyone leaving wth at least one conquest, if not public blowjobs on the bar or sex on the booze cruise. Unfortunately due to cancellation of trains and declining Greek tourism it's a fraction of what it was. But even then, you won't find many places better for June and July. If you have pretty good game, expect something close to a lay a day there.
Rising Cock- Lagos, Portugal
The name implies what to expect, fun, sexually based hostel. Pub crawls nightly, byob outdoor patio with drinking games. Twice a week booze cruises. I was 2/4 there but a third was promised if I hadn't had to catch a bus right after the booze cruise.
Naked Tiger- San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Fun times at the pool, Sunday Funday's are absolute madness, and the city overall is just the right vibe for pulling. Strict security at night cock blocked a lot of people. 4/6 overall.
What:
Hostels are a cheaper versions of hotels, typically aimed at backpackers. Although there are a few in larger cities in the US and Canada, they are much more common in other countries around world. Typically there will be a mix of dorms, ranging from 4 beds to 16 beds, and also private rooms. There will normally be a communal kitchen and social room as well.
Who you meet:
Your typical person staying at a hostels will be 18-30 years old. There is definitely a prototypical backpacker, and that's your long hair, heavily tattooed hippy type guys, and tattooed, slightly overweight, 5-6s for girls. Don't expect your average LA aspiring model to be staying at hostels, a lot of the girls you meet will be extremely average and sometimes a bit dirty from a lack of showers or not doing laundry. Good party hostels will also have more guys than girls, sometimes significantly so.
All this said, you'll also meet more than enough attractive women at hostels from all over the world. I've slept with women from Ukraine, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Malta, Argentina and Chile along with god knows how many Americans, Brits, Canadians and Aussies. To help your odds, a lot of the guys at hostels will be pretty beta or have terrible game. There are a few people that sleep with the majority of backpackers, and you'll know them when you see them. Your biggest competition will be the hostel staff, which will make you feel like you are competing with Leo DiCaprio sometimes, because they are basically celebrities. On that note...
Working at hostels:
There probably aren't many jobs in the world that allow you the opportunity to sleep with as many women as you will get if you work at a party hostel. Depending on the hostel, you'll be required to work between 2 weeks and 3 months. Expect to work either for free or less than $50/week, but you'll get free accommodation, possibly food, laundry and bar discounts as well. If you are spending too much money on a long vacation, this is a good way to stall the expenditures for a few weeks. Double check with other staff members on the rules though, some hostels prohibit staff from sleeping with guests. On the other end, the one I worked at allowed 30 minute "sex breaks," because a guest getting laid is a happy guest.
What to look for:
When I book a hostel, the first thing I search for in google is "party hostel (city)." Then you will want to check ratings on Hostelworld. Typically you'll be looking for 85% or better, and ideally with quite a few reviews, >250. At the end of this I'll include a list of my favorite ones from around the world. A lot of the best party hostels have public bars. They will also set up drinking games or pub crawls around the city. If getting laid is a priority, you may have to sacrifice some comforts. My main priorities when choosing a hostel are 1. Fun 2. Location 3. Cleanliness. More on this below, but I would rather stay at the best hostel in a dorm than a mediocre hostel with a private room. On Hostelworld "fun" isn't a rating category, but "atmosphere" will likely correlate quite well.
Hostel conversations:
Backpackers are a open, social bunch so you can basically walk up to anyone to talk or sit at any table with other people. It's lame, and its repetitive, but it's easy... basically all conversations in hostels start in this manner: Where are you from? How long are you traveling? Where have you been/are you going? If you can't keep that conversation going from there, you haven't travelled enough or you need to work on your conversational abilities because once you have the answers to those questions that's ammo for a bunch of conversations. Alternatively you can be the rare one that doesn't follow this train of questions, but she'll probably take it there anyway.
Logistics:
You need good logistics to get laid at a hostel. I'll do my best to address as many issues as possible.
Security:
Your first barrier to entry will be getting the girl into the hostel. Obviously if she is staying there, this isn't an issue. Some hostels may not be too strict due to a lack of night security, but that is more common in smaller hostels, not the big party hostels. Wristbands are the most common way they confirm whether you are a guest or not. I'll intentionally "lose" my wristband the 1st or 2nd day, while actually just pulling it off and putting it in my wallet. Then when going back with a girl, you can put it on her. You can do this with slide cards as well, but you may have to pay a $5 deposit or something, not the end of the world.
Where to get it in:
How adventurous are you? The one thing with hostel sex is it isn't always the most comfortable sex. The shower is probably the best option if you are in a dorm room. The dorm is the next option. Always take a bottom bunk, that way you can hang the sheet up like a screen. I've also seen everything from the luggage room, to behind curtains and reception, to out door patios.
Pro-tip- If you can afford it, private rooms are the way to go. They normally cost about 2-3x as much, but you'll increase your chances so much. If I'm in a private and I'm making progress with a girl, I'll drop that in conversation early on just to plant the seed. I met an Aussie girl at a hostel last week and she wanted to go back to my room about 20 minutes after meeting her, and 2 minutes after I told her I had the matrimonial suite. Security may also be more lax on a private if you haven't managed to secure an extra wristband because they are normally meant for 2 people.
Another tip is to keep a bottle of alcohol in your room. There is a line that has gotten my laid more times than I can count "I have a bottle in my room, let's go take a shot." If she agrees, I normally close about 2/3 times. If it's early enough in the night, you'll also likely come back to an empty dorm room. If you can bring alcohol in, you can buy a 12 pack of beer and give em out to the other guests. Doesn't set you back much and all of a sudden everyone likes you and wants to chat, and you'll get enough reciprocal drinks to make it worth it.
Drinking game tip- Ring of Fire/ Kings Cup/ Circle of Death is a good one for a big group at hostel. Make sure you are in charge of the rules. Make one of the cards- I use the 10- never have I ever. If you get the chance to say one, use "never have I ever had sex at a hostel." I've changed my targets after that before because the one I thought was quiet and shy put a finger down. Slept with her an hour or two or so later in the shower. Not that you can't be the first to accomplish this for them, but if they've done it before they'll do it again.
When backpacking, or in life in general, have a god damn condom with you at all times. I don't care if you are going for coffee at 9am, have one. Every time I hear about a guy who brought a girl back to a hostel and didn't close because he didn't have a condom I went to punch him in the ribs.
If you reach the end of the night with no luck at the bars, it never hurts to sit in the common area and check your phone or have a beer. People will slowly come trickling in and sometimes you can grab an end of the night desperation lay. I've seen that and heard stories about that more than enough times to assure you it's worth it.
One final thing with party hostels:
You don't necessarily have to be staying at the hostel to go the bar. If you decide to do the airbnb or hotel route, the hostels with public bars can be an amazing place to pick up. Similar to how you can slyly mention you have a private, it works well to mention you have an airbnb nearby. What girl wants to sleep in a 16 bed dorm when you can share a queen bed with you and get laid as a bonus.
My favorite party hostels for getting laid:
Retox - Budapest
The shenanigans here is off the charts. Pub crawls or boat parties every night. Drink you way out of the room- which the one I did consisted of an entire room of topless girls, while one was getting fucked while blowing someone else, and another couple fucking next to them. Had a 3 in one day hat trick there. I think I was 4/6 overall, but after the 3rd day I stuck with one for the rest of the time.
Loki- Cusco, among other locations
Drinking games every night. Tons of Peruvian gringo hunters. I was 5/6 there and incredibly closed to 7/6.
Madhouse, Prague
Great social hostel, designed to allow guests to interact and party. Group dinners. Nightly pub crawls. A black painted hangover room for recovery. Sex themed room names. Only closed 1/4 there,
Greg and Toms Party Hostel- Krakow
Nightly parties or pub crawls. Group dinners. A staff of women that all consistently sleep with guests. They even let you check out a few hours late for a small fee if you are too hungover to get out of bed.
Pink Palace- Corfu, Greece
Probably one of the most historical Poosey Paradises of the 90s, when over 1000 guests would be there and everyone leaving wth at least one conquest, if not public blowjobs on the bar or sex on the booze cruise. Unfortunately due to cancellation of trains and declining Greek tourism it's a fraction of what it was. But even then, you won't find many places better for June and July. If you have pretty good game, expect something close to a lay a day there.
Rising Cock- Lagos, Portugal
The name implies what to expect, fun, sexually based hostel. Pub crawls nightly, byob outdoor patio with drinking games. Twice a week booze cruises. I was 2/4 there but a third was promised if I hadn't had to catch a bus right after the booze cruise.
Naked Tiger- San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Fun times at the pool, Sunday Funday's are absolute madness, and the city overall is just the right vibe for pulling. Strict security at night cock blocked a lot of people. 4/6 overall.