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Rant: I tracked every penny on a 5 day trip to Asheville and the results flipped my whole view on hostels
Two months ago I did a solo trip to Asheville, North Carolina, and I decided to write down every single dollar I spent. My first two nights I stayed in a hostel dorm for $38 a night, and the last three nights I got a private motel room for $69 a night because I was tired of bunk beds. When I added it all up the hostel actually cost me more, because I kept buying $12 breakfasts nearby instead of using the free kitchen, and the motel had a free hot breakfast plus a coffee maker. So over 5 days the hostel stay ran me $314 total while the motel stretch was $287, and I was way more comfortable. Now I keep going back and forth on whether hostels are a real hack or just a trap that tricks you into spending elsewhere. What's your take, have you done the math on your own trips or do you just book whatever feels cheapest up front?
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lilykelly23d ago
That $12 breakfast near the hostel is the whole ballgame, and it's not the hostel's fault you skipped the free kitchen you already paid for. Run the same 5 days again and actually cook your eggs and the dorm comes in around $150 cheaper, so the trap isn't hostels, it's buying food out when free options are sitting right there. You didn't test hostels, you tested your own willpower, and it lost.
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