Hostels aren’t just for 18-year-old backpackers anymore. Once known for snoring roommates and grungy showers, hostels are reinventing themselves as chic places to stay. These luxury hostels are cropping up all over the world, from Los Angeles to Ljubljana. But is staying in a poshtel right for you?

What Is A Poshtel, Anyway?

If you enjoy staying in boutique hotels, but your travel budget is limited, a poshtel may be the perfect choice. A poshtel, or luxury hostel, offers simple, and often shared, budget-priced accommodations with the addition of luxe amenities and social events. For example, the luxury hostel Freehand Miami charges as little as $30 per night (plus taxes and fees) for a bunk in a shared room. For that price, you also get pool access, complimentary breakfast and free Wi-Fi — and you’re two blocks from the beach. Most upscale hostels also prioritize security, with keycard access and rules limiting who can be on the property. Poshtel guests aren’t all college-aged nomads; professionals in their late 20s represent around 40 percent of hostel guests, according to Skift.¹

Benefits Of Staying In A Luxury Hostel

The price is right. Many travelers wisely choose to spend their money on experiences, dining and shopping instead of lodging. How much time do you typically spend in a hotel room, anyway? Poshtels offer amazing rates in expensive cities — Generator’s London poshtel, for instance, has rates as low as 9 pounds (about $12) per night for a shared bunk in a co-ed room. Plus, most have a kitchen for preparing your own meals.

There’s a range of price and privacy options. If you just can’t fathom sharing a room (or a bathroom!) with seven strangers, that’s OK. Most poshtels offer choices: smaller shared rooms, single-sex rooms and private rooms. 

It’s a great way to meet people. Poshtels are perfectly suited for social butterflies and solo travelers. Many encourage guests to mingle in common areas and on-site bars. Generator, with multiple locations in Europe, offers DJ residencies, movie nights, live music and free walking tours.²  

The location is right. Staying in a luxury hostel that’s centrally located can save you from spending a lot of money on cab fare or public transportation. Plus, it’s exciting to be in the middle of Berlin or Barcelona, instead of a quiet suburb.

Poshtels are just cool. If you prefer quirky, one-of-a-kind accommodations to bland corporate hotels, poshtels were made for you. Occupying a former prison, Hostel Celica, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, has turned cells into simple but comfortable guestrooms. Or take a look at the Gallery Hostel in Porto, Portugal, which has an on-site art gallery, a rooftop terrace and a swanky bar.

Cons Of Staying In A Luxury Hostel

You may not get all the amenities you’re used to. While poshtels strive to deliver an upscale experience, the low rates necessarily mean basic accommodations. You may need to pay for towels and bring your own toiletries (no little shampoo bottles). If you have a shared room, you’ll need to use a locker and buy a padlock, if you didn’t bring one.

Privacy’s hard to come by. Poshtels may have screens or curtains between bunks, but that doesn’t help when your bunkmate is clipping her toenails or shouting at her mother on the phone. If you’re easily annoyed by other people’s uncouth behavior, then a poshtel isn’t the place for you.

People may not be all that social. When Washington Post writer Kate Silver stayed at the Hollander, a luxury hostel in Chicago, she found the other guests to be distinctly standoffish: “at 5 o’clock on a Friday evening, two men and one woman sit strategically far from one another in the lobby, staring at their laptops,” she writes.

You may spend more money than you planned. Just because the rooms are cheap, that doesn’t mean the drinks will be, too. At Freehand Miami, where the rooms cost as little as $30, a cheeseburger with fries and one craft cocktail at the Broken Shaker bar will set you back $28.³ There goes your travel budget.

Wherever you stay on your next journey, protect yourself — and your travel investment — with travel insurance from Allianz Global Assistance. There’s a plan for every budget and every destination, whether you’re planning a quick getaway or spending a month abroad.

Richmond-based travel writer Muriel Barrett has a terrible sense of direction, and has spent many happy hours getting lost in Barcelona, Venice and Jerusalem. Her favorite travel memories all involve wildlife: watching sea turtles nest in Costa Rica, kayaking with seals in Vancouver and meeting a pink tarantula in Martinique.

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