A thing or 2 about staying in hostels...

Whenever I travel in Europe, I always like to stay in hostels instead of hotels.. althought its mostly for students and youths... :) .. Lot of people dont particularly like staying in hostels and consider it very noisy, not very private accomodation etc.. but I like it for the fact that you get to meet fellow tourists from all over the world and sometimes u also get company to travel for a day or two.. i agree .. it could be noisy, sharing a dorm room with so many strangers can be a bit overwhelming for some, and if u r not so lucky then it could be very unclean and messy.. but it has it advantages... i ve gotten some real good travel tips, maps, someone planning out your itinerary, tips about transportation etc.. really priceless... i ve always been lucky to have stayed in some good hostels , clean and freindly service, some with free internet and also tv room... and i highly recommend them.. cheap accomodation when you are on tight budget, possibility to meet fellow travelers and get some good tips and also share stories... i havent traveled so much outside of Europe. so i dunno about the hostels elsewhere, but this is mostly my opinion on the hostels inside Europe...