Hostel Etiquette for First-Time Travelers
Staying in hostels is the perfect way to explore a new destination, where you can keep costs down whilst meeting like-minded travelers.
Whilst they tend to be free-flowing environments, there are still some bare minimum rules and etiquette to follow to ensure everyone has a fun and trouble-free experience.
Hostel Etiquette for First-Time Travelers
In this guide we’ll look at the most important etiquette tips when staying in hostels in South America as well as countries such as Mexico, including advice that we will share from our own experiences.
Personally, we feel this is one of the more important guides we’ve written – so be sure to bookmark it and come back whenever you’re unsure during your own travels.
3 Things to know BEFORE booking a Hostel in South America
- Consider Your Main Priority – Are you looking to party? Then be sure to look for a hostel that advertises beers and parties. How about a more cultural experience? Then also check for those which offer personalized tours. On sites such as Hostelworld and Booking it’s easy to get what you’re after, where you just need to do a little more research on the photos and reviews of different hostels.
- Pick A Good Barrio – This is really easy to see nowadays with different apps, but it’s still important to pick a good area for where you’ll stay. Whilst safety is the biggest reason (for example staying close to a Favela wasn’t the best idea George had…), there are other advantages such as proximity to top sites or simply feeling you can walk around and sit down anywhere without fearing for your life or belongings.
- Keep An Open Mind – Generally we can fall into the trap of thinking that very low-cost hostels are poor in quality or lack somewhat. However some of the best hostels we’ve stayed at were dirt cheap, and offered a tonne of value. Usually these are chains that can afford to lower their prices, such as Wild Rover (who are based in Peru and Bolivia).
Also, while you’re here, see our best hostel guides below:
How to Perform Hostel Etiquette
Below we’ll now share our main list of etiquette for staying in a hostel in South America.
Remember these aren’t just in place for respecting fellow travelers – however you’ll also find that others will also respect you more if they see you are also behaving responsibly.
- Do introduce yourself to fellow roommates.
- Do bring a reliable padlock for the lockers.
- Do be kind and considerate to hostel staff.
- Do stick to your own personal space and not invade others.
- Do bring a headlamp or torch, and some earplugs.
- Do add a label to your food items stored in the fridge.
- Do enter the room quietly if it’s past 11:00pm.
- Do abide properly by check-out times.
- Do offer guidance or help to any new travelers or those who look lost.
How to Avoid Hostel Savagery
Now we move onto the naughty list, and specifically things that can really tick-off other travelers and cause potential problems in the hostel.
We’ve seen these happen a few times, and the consequences for some of the worst offenses were not pretty…
- Don’t steal other people’s belongings.
- Don’t talk to friends and family on loudspeaker.
- Don’t leave your dirty underwear lying around.
- Don’t have sex in an open shared dorm.
- Don’t start packing up all your stuff to leave at 3:00 am.
- Don’t waste water, and instead carry a high quality filter bottle for drinking.
- Don’t set your alarm to go off too early.
- Don’t turn the lights on past 11:00pm (Pro Tip: Instead use your phone’s flashlight pointing down at the floor with your hand over the light).
- Don’t leave the bathroom in a destructive state.
- Don’t piss off other travelers (Pro Tip: If you’re really not feeling someone in your dorm room, either just stick to yourself or move room instead)
Hostel Etiquette in South America
And that’s all for this guide on how to follow proper hostel etiquette when traveling around South America.
Hostels are all part of the backpacking experience, and some of our own most memorable times have come from staying at some really awesome, well-run hostels.
Whilst fun and low-cost, you’ll still want to be human and respect others. Not only will you avoid getting into problems, however you’ll also find it easier to adjust and meet others too.
In this guide we’ve explored things you should do when staying in a hostel, as well as the main cardinal sins to avoid. We’ve also thrown in our own top tips having stayed at hostels for a number of years now throughout South America.
Are you heading to South America soon? Be sure to read up on our South America Packing List to make sure you have all the essentials ready before your trip.
👉🏽 P.S. If you’ve found this guide helpful, buy us a coffee here to say thanks! Or, support us by downloading our South America Travel Bible to get our best content.
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