The Best Hostel I Ever Stayed In

When kids set out across Europe in their college years, staying in a hostel is one of the rights of passage that everyone must endure. Doing research, filtering out the good from the bad, trying to read in languages that you may not be familiar with, and trying to map out locations and public transportation are all integral parts of the hostelling experience. Some people also express trepidation at first, not keen to get away from the sterile predictability of a hotel. So, I’m going to quickly go over the basics of hostels, illustrated by the best hostel I ever stayed in, even though it was a little strange.

Why Hostels?

Firstly, contrary to what many people may think, hostels are NOT the cheapest form of accomodation available to the traveller. Couchsurfing provides free accomodations to travellers around the world. For nothing. For me, that’s the truest expression of what travel should be. Free and open to everyone. I participate and have hosted people, and I encourage you to do the same.

But Hostels provide a fundamentally different experience, becuase by and large, they are populated with backpackers. During my first experience in Europe, I learned the hostel system and used them extensively. I was once even relegated to a dining room on New Years’ Eve. But I realized something important. Hostels are like islands, and when you get to one, you meet the other people there and swap stories with them. Maybe they point you toward a good one in the next city, or a great restaurant, or tell you the best place to get a tour of the pyramids. And then they hop off to their own next island, and you part ways. Hostels are social places. You can choose the level of socializing you want to do. That choice can be none. If you’re doing it from just a bugetary standpoint, that’s fine, just know part of the experience is in the socializing.

So, what was the best hostel?

Glad you asked! Some time ago, a friend of mine and I were in Munich, and decided to take the train to Marseilles, since neither of us had ever visited southern France. Unfortunately, despite searching on the standard hostel booking sites, we could find nothing. However, after some frantic searching in a German internet cafe, we managed to locate a hostel. No pictures, only an addresse and a booking done by e-mail (another no-no, especially since we just sent it, and didn’t get a response).

After getting off the TGV in Marseilles, it was night. We caught the last metro train, and then a bus out to “L’Obelisque,” which of course, was a rather large obelisk. At this point, we became nervous. We had no idea where the place was, no map, and it was very dark. Luckilly, my friend spoke French and we were able to get two older gentlemen in a chinese restaurant to call the hostel on their cellphone. We got more accurate directions, and Bjorn, the patron, greeted us in the street in perfect English.

The entire attitude is what made the hostel great. The atmosphere was relaxed. People were hanging out in the common room, drinking, talking, sharing travel stories, and discussing what they were going to do in Marseilles. The hostel offered bicycles free of charge to rent. Breakfast and dinner was included. And since we were there in the low season, we had a private room. The building was obviously someone’s house that had been converted into a hostel, and in true European style had winding staircases that would confound M.C. Escher, a washer and dryer (Backpacker WIN!), and Wifi. Other travellers offered their laptops immediately. We spoke at length with an exchange student from Montreal.

How was this hostel different?

Hostels come in many flavors. There are big, party style hostels, known the world over (Any backpacker that’s spent time in South America knows about Milhouse), smaller hotel-like places with key card access and small breakfast spread, and quaint family run type places.

La Cigale et la Fourmi was different because it was small, laid back, and designed for travellers. You came and went when you pleased, and the owners of the hostel really worked to foster an environment where travellers can thrive. The design of the common room, having a dinner sitting, rather than buffet-style, and actually having the hostel owners participate in the (quadra-lingual) discussion really felt like they cared about those staying there, and their travels.

This is part of a two-part series I will be doing on Hostels. On Thursday, look for my Guide to Choosing a Hostel.

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