Can we stop pretending 'travel hacks' means staying in hostels with bedbugs?

I keep seeing people post about spending $15 a night in some sketchy hostel in Prague and calling it a win, but you can get a private Airbnb outside the city center for $40 a night. After 3 nights of barely sleeping in a 12-bed dorm last summer (thanks, snoring guy from Germany), I realized saving $25 isn't worth losing 8 hours of rest. Has anyone else found a better middle ground between cheap and actually comfortable?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly38523h ago

Same setup worked for me too, daniel_walker really nailed it with that private room option.

daniel_walker1d ago

That "snoring guy from Germany" line hit close to home. I had a guy in Barcelona who sounded like a lawnmower starting up every 30 minutes. The private room in a hostel is my go-to now. It costs about the same as a cheap Airbnb but you still get the social vibe if you want it, plus a real door that locks. I did that in Lisbon for $55 a night and actually slept. You're right that the $15 dorm thing is romanticized too much. People forget that bad sleep ruins the whole next day of sightseeing. I'd rather pay a little more and actually enjoy my trip than spend half the day exhausted and grumpy.