[Entropy4]

I don't think anybody's arguing that hostels aren't easy. The argument is that the quality is poor (relative to locals you can go out and meet).

[Horizonz]

(07-31-2011 12:52 PM)Entropy4 Wrote:  

I don't think anybody's arguing that hostels aren't easy. The argument is that the quality is poor (relative to locals you can go out and meet).

I've met some nice girls in hostels, but as Roosh stated before you can meet all types of nationalities except from that country. In Germany I found girls from Holland, France, Honduras, Brazil, Israel etc. As long as the girls are attractive and cool I am perfectly content with gaming them. I try to stay awY from American girls because I live in the US.

[oldnemesis]

(07-31-2011 12:32 PM)ManAbout Wrote:  

KEY point. In a hostel you have women that are ready and want to bang available and easily accessible to you. They are travelling, they are away from friends and family. If you are able to build a little bit of comfort quickly, you are in.

What you're essentially saying here is that "banging a tourist girl is easier than banging a local". I fail to see how the hostel is different from a five-star hotel or even a nice motel on that regard.

But it is really all about your identity. If you identify with the backpacker crowd - especially with the part of it whose main interest is to get drunk as cheap as possible - then it makes sense to stay in hostels, as you're definitely not going to meet any of them in Marriott. However if this is not what you're interesting in, you might have hard time to find someone acceptable there.

[ManAbout]

(07-31-2011 12:52 PM)Entropy4 Wrote:  

I don't think anybody's arguing that hostels aren't easy. The argument is that the quality is poor (relative to locals you can go out and meet).

A girl that is staying in a hostel in one city is a local in another.

(07-31-2011 11:57 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

I fail to see how the hostel is different from a five-star hotel or even a nice motel on that regard.

In my experience, hostels are much more conducive to meeting other travellers staying there. I have stayed in business class hotels in European cities, and every one does their own thing. The guests are usually older as well. In a hostel, you are pretty much forced to mingle. The vibe is totally different.

[Entropy4]

It is very, very easy to meet people in hostels Oldnem. Many hostels are designed in such a way to promote everyone mingling with one another. Some even have bars built into them. Hostels have a certain culture about them... bunch of young people who can go out and drink together or whatever. It's kind of a rent-a-friend service. It's a major advantage and it's very easy to get laid in a hostel. Far easier than having a hotel or apartment.

But the girls are all tourists, they're almost always ugly, they're usually British/American, and they rarely have anything interesting to share. Whereas the local girls are always going to be different and exotic. You just can't get the whole experience of dating a foreign girl unless you and her live in the same city together. It's 100% impossible to do that when you're holed up in a grimey hostel. Not to mention living in a 6x8 room with 20 loud, obnoxious foreigners really puts a damper on your ability to settle into a place.

[oldnemesis]

(08-01-2011 10:12 AM)ManAbout Wrote:  

In my experience, hostels are much more conducive to meeting other travellers staying there. In a hostel, you are pretty much forced to mingle. The vibe is totally different.

No surprise here. Note, however, that this is only a good if forced mingling is something you want. And this IF is important because some people here have promoted hostels as the best (or even only) way to go, while ignoring the fact that this is the best way for them only because it suits their own interests. And as soon as we figure out what their interests are, it becomes pretty clear. However this is not something suitable for everyone.

In fact, every reasonable hotel has a bar as well, and - unlike hostels - the people you see there are those who want to hang out, not just forced to.

[oldnemesis]

Entropy4 actually made a pretty good summary. So, to make it short, staying in hostels only makes sense if:

- You want easy lays with other tourists staying in the same hostel;
- You feel uncomfortable on you own, and need to have a bunch of people with you when you go out for drinks;
- You're traveling on an irrationally tight budget;
- Living in a dorm room and sharing the amenities with a bunch of people with different sleeping and hygiene habits is something you can tolerate;

So, if you're yourself an obnoxious party guy whose main interest while traveling is getting wasted cheap and easy lays (an image typically associated with Brits, btw), then yes, staying in hostel makes sense. If not - then it makes little, if any sense at all.

[thegmanifesto]

Oldnemisis -

Ha.

Excellent summary.

[ManAbout]

(08-01-2011 07:11 PM)oldnemesis Wrote:  

Entropy4 actually made a pretty good summary. So, to make it short, staying in hostels only makes sense if:

- You want easy lays with other tourists staying in the same hostel;
- You feel uncomfortable on you own, and need to have a bunch of people with you when you go out for drinks;
- You're traveling on an irrationally tight budget;
- Living in a dorm room and sharing the amenities with a bunch of people with different sleeping and hygiene habits is something you can tolerate;

If you want your own space, many hostels have private rooms.

I am not sure what your definition of an irrationally tight budget is, but for example, this hostel in Montreal has private rooms for $70 a night on weekdays, with cheapest being $30 a night for a shared room.

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails...ailability

Quote:

So, if you're yourself an obnoxious party guy

On the contrary hostels are a great place for someone who is not a party guy, because it makes it easier for that person to mingle and socialize.

[here2saveuall]

(07-26-2011 04:30 PM)Entropy4 Wrote:  

(07-26-2011 12:56 PM)Hairyballs Wrote:  

For the ones who say they don't even want to be caught dead in a hostel, you probably don't have enough experience travelling thru Western europe, chances are high your wallet or your right/left hand was your best sex partner here.

You may want to get to know the members of this forum a bit more before you start throwing around statements like this. I've been to every country in Western Europe (except Switzerland), have spent a total of 9 months in Europe in the last 3 years and got laid in most places I went (I have 20 flags).

G's experience and opinion on here is about as highly regarded as it gets, so you may want to be careful what you insinuate about him as well.

I understand the appeal of hostels -- it's easier to meet people and finding a party takes less effort. But the reward is far less as well. You're pretty much never going to run into a really attractive girl backpacking. There's a serious lack of quality in hostels. And since almost no one in these places takes time to make local connections, everyone ends up "partying" at lame tourist bars and picking up the sloppy local leftover, if anything. Having so many other foreigners around can make you complacent and you'll become less likely to develop a local social circle. You take in little culture. And you're pegged by everyone as a cheap tourist. Not to mention hostels are cramped and often dirty or poorly maintained.

Hostels = easier, lower reward.
Apartments = harder, higher reward.

If you like the low-hanging fruit and are broke, by all means, hostel it up. I did it for years. It was fun. But I don't enjoy it anymore. I've out-grown it. The fact of the matter is, if you're shooting for the top of the pyramid, then you need to have your own place and take the time to develop local connections (at least 1-2 weeks).

since i have been stationed in germany i been on a bout 6 trips to different countries. Every trip solo, and each trip i stayed at a hotel. Hairy does have a point. it was a lil bit boring in the day time when i was tired of day gaming, especially the few trips i didnt bring my lap top....but at night i was good when i hot the clubs. i mean i guess the advantage to the hostel thing is there's poon readily available there and plenty of them are drunk and so on.....but i dont go to say prague to bag a drunk brit chick....and when i wanna bring a girl back to my place i dont wanna bring her to some crowded hostel with a bunch of kids running around. i wanna have privacy and what not....In budapest this was crucial, because the two times i scored....but to each his own i guess. maybe a hostel would have been nice in copenhagen because thats the only place i have been shut down so far

[ManAbout]

Btw, just to point out, it doesn't have to be one or the other. You can do both hostels and hotels on the same trip and in the same city.

If you check into a hotel and find that you are not getting any traction with the locals, you can just check out a couple of hostels in the city and see if there is any action. On the other hand if you are staying in a hostel, and you happen to score with a local chick, there is nothing stopping you from going to a hotel.

[Entropy4]

I think you guys who have tried hotels/apartments are doing it wrong. You don't just drop into a city and start cold-approaching the entire place while drinking every night.

Take tango lessons. Sign up for a surf school. Go to public events and concerts, introduce yourself to the organizers. Find language exchange groups. Take language classes at the local university. Pipeline girls from online dating sites online before you arrive. Go to wine tastings. Hell, in Buenos Aires my friend bought a cheap guitar and joined a band for a month. We met tons of awesome locals and went to half a dozen house parties through that alone. It was the highlight of our time there by far.

The point is, enmesh yourself in the life there. Actually take part in the city. Save the pick up until after you've established yourself in the city. Within a week you'll have a group of cool, fun, interesting LOCALS to hang out with and go out partying with. They'll take you to the places the LOCALS go to, and not shitty tourist bars or overhyped restaurants you find in LonelyPlanet. They'll introduce you to their local friends, invite you to their homes, and by the second week you can hit the ground running and start approaching as much as you want. It's five times easier and five times more fun after that.

Sure, in a hostel you get an immediate social circle of other greasy tourist/backpacker types who will get drunk with you 24/7. But even if they are cool, they're going to be gone in three days. Then the next batch will be gone three days after that. And then the next batch after that. And what have you got to show for it? A week of drinking, a couple mediocre lays with Western tourist girls, and the same empty and boring room you had when you showed up.

Like I said. My hostel days are over. If you've got the extra time and the extra money there's absolutely no reason to stay in them. It's just lazy and unfulfilling. They offer no advantage other than easier one night stands with lower quality girls.

I won't go as far as Nemesis, but I would say here are the only reasons that staying in a hostel would be justified:
- You're short on time and can only stay in a city for 3-4 days max.
- You're short on cash.
- You're purely going for notches and don't care about quality or cultural experience.
- You're young and/or inexperienced and only feel comfortable partying with other westerners your age.

In any case, there's nothing inherently WRONG about the above reasons. But just be honest about it. Just say, "Hey, I don't make a ton of money and am 22 and enjoy drinking with nice people who are easy to meet." That's fine. No shame in it. But be honest about it.

[oldnemesis]

(08-02-2011 10:01 AM)ManAbout Wrote:  

If you want your own space, many hostels have private rooms.

Sure, but it makes little sense to me to stay in hostel then. You're already isolating yourself from other travelers, why not to get a room in a motel instead? At least it would be easier, as I guess most hostels would have very limited number of private rooms with private baths - if any at all.

Quote:

I am not sure what your definition of an irrationally tight budget is, but for example, this hostel in Montreal has private rooms for $70 a night on weekdays, with cheapest being $30 a night for a shared room.

My definition of an irrationally tight budget is when you must make your living conditions worse just to extend your travel (instead of getting back earlier, or making more money). Again, nothing wrong with that, but most people do not travel this way.

Quote:

On the contrary hostels are a great place for someone who is not a party guy, because it makes it easier for that person to mingle and socialize.

The problem is that it doesn't just make it easier - you're basically forced to mingle and socialize with a selection of random people, you can't really avoid it. Again, there are people who like it, but this is not something everyone must do.