An Employee Reveals What It's Really Like to Work at a Hostel

Hostels can be hit or miss. While typically lacking in the luxury of a hotel and the charm of an Airbnb, there's something to be said for the community of the places, as well as the affordability. Hostels allow travelers to save money while providing dorm-like circumstances, where often rooms are shared with other travelers or communal bathrooms are a feature. The unique conditions foster an environment that encourages meeting people from places all over the world, but there can be downsides, such as lower-quality facilities, to contend with. It all depends on where you stay — and according a Reddit user who did an IamA, the staff can play a huge factor in the experience as well. The hostel employee answered questions about what it's like to work at a hostel, as well as offered tips for your next trip.

"Once you get past the basics of having decent facilities (comfortable mattresses, clean bathrooms, either a food-menu or a kitchen for guests to use, multiple common areas to relax and and socialize) it's all about making sure the guests have a really enjoyable and unique experience so that they write a good review. So I think the most important thing is good reception staff. They are responsible for helping to foster a social atmosphere, organize activities, and enhance the guests' experience of that city or area.

I was talking to one guy in a Facebook group today, because he made a comment that he really didn't like Inle Lake, where I live and work. I asked him, 'Have you been here? Have you seen that? Did you try the snacks in this village?'

He told me no, that he didn't know about any of that, that his guest house's staff just sold him a boat ride on the lake and didn't have any other suggestions.
When you have staff who love the pace that they work in, and when that place feels like home to them, they want to make sure that every person who comes there experiences it with the same level of love and enjoyment that they do."

"The social atmosphere, definitely. I've been in a lot of hostels that didn't really do anything to get people together, and even if everything else was amazing, the lack of close knit social environment made the stay unmemorable. In fact, some of my favorite hostels were complete dumps, but they were places where the staff did a really good job of befriending everyone and getting everyone together for things."

"I actually haven't had too many bad experiences. A lot of annoying ones. You have the usual dealing with drunk people falling over, having to step over people having sex in the stairwell to go out for a cigarette, people trying to bribe you to sell alcohol after last call, people complaining about things you have no control over, etc."

"Working in hostels is a great way to experience other countries without spending much money. You get housing and often food provided, and if you're lucky and you've done a volunteer work exchange program or two, you can even find a paid job like I have.

My advice would just be to become friendly with staff and management at a local hostel, and then ask if you can help out at all for room and board. If you do that a couple of times, then you can start applying to more established hostels for paid jobs.

It's not hard to get into, you just have to want it and not be picky about where you want to be. Asia wasn't nearly on the top of my list, but the job opportunity came my way and it's been one of the best experiences of my life."