Just changed my mind about hostel dorms after a disaster in Lisbon

I was always a hardcore private room only guy. Thought sharing a space with strangers was just asking for trouble. Then my card got declined at a hostel check-in in Lisbon at 11 PM and the only thing left was a 10-bed dorm for 12 euros. I was exhausted and figured I'd just deal with it. Ended up meeting a group of travelers who showed me the best cheap food spots in the city that I'd never find on my own. The snoring was bad but I saved 40 bucks a night and had way more fun than I would have alone. Has anyone else been converted by a bad situation?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jessica1mo ago

Does anyone remember that viral TikTok from a few months back about the hostel in Prague where this girl woke up to someone stealing her phone? I think that's why so many people are scared of dorms, myself included. But hearing your story makes me think maybe it's worth the risk sometimes. My sister had a similar thing happen in Barcelona - she ended up in a 12-bed room and made friends with a couple who let her crash at their place in Madrid the next week. The snoring thing is real though, I brought earplugs to a hostel in Rome and still heard this guy sawing logs like a chainsaw.

gavin_reed1mo ago

Right? That Prague video was wild, I still think about it sometimes. I had a similar thing happen to me in a hostel in Budapest, except it was this guy who left his phone on the bed while he was in the shower and someone just grabbed it right off the pillow. The lockers were right there too, just nobody used them. But honestly the good stuff outweighs the bad most of the time. I met this random guy in a hostel in Krakow who ended up being a tour guide for a free walking tour and he showed me all these hidden bars. The earplug thing is a must though, I learned that the hard way in a 16-bed room in Berlin where this one dude snored so loud I thought the walls were shaking.