Why there are no hostels in India?

Bharatwaasi

Hi,

As opposed to other countries why does India lacks in number of hostels present?

The first argument which anybody would provide for this is that when a double bed private room is available for 5$ why should one pay the same amount for a single bed in a shared dorm.

My argument here is that the fun element which a backpacker might be looking for is absent in a hotel. The point am trying to make here is that there are two clear segments tourists and travellers. Travellers, who are there not just for sight seeing, but to interact, to have fun, to make new friends. This breed, according to me, might be missing "hostel culture" in India.

Comments welcome.

Cheers!!

rajered

Did you hear about Youth Hostels, but it is not spread all places.

Nick-H

You have a very good hostel in Delhi! Err... I suppose that is not much use to you ! But the YHAI has others...

hitanshu

The traveler breed can meet up others of their ilk at the right places - like the German bakery in leh, or Delhi indiamike meets for example ;-)

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Bharatwaasi

YHAI.. has 2 major problems:

1. Since it is a semi-govt. thing (I suppose), the reviews which it generates, for obvious reasons, are not at all good. There are complaints ranging from dirty sheets to rude receptionist.

2. This is the case with YHAI-owned hostels. Majority of YHAI hostels are licensed. And most of them (my personal experience) will refuse you for dormitory accomodation.

A private hostel here will have greater responsibility to ensure that the common room TV is working fine, that the showers have hot water availability, that the pool table does not have some balls missing, etc etc.

All said and done, the job which YHAI is doing within its limitations is tremendous.

Cheers !!

My friend Goo

I believe you can interact and have fun without staying in a dorm

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Haylo

Me too, and I interact far better with people during the day if I've had a good night's sleep.

(EDITED TO ADD: I also interact better with my partner when we've had bad night's sleep... )

The OP's idea that "travellers" interact more than "tourists" doesn't ring true to me, the length of time someone has the luxury of visiting India for doesn't have much bearing on how much they interact with people. In my view, staying in a hostel and making friends with other travellers actually isolates travellers and groups them together, and does nothing to encourage interactions with locals.

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Nick-H

My reviews of the YHAI in Delhi would be nothing but good. Yes, I had a problem with hot water, but, even though they did not succeed in the time I was there, the complaint was taken seriously, and lots of people buzzed around. I got the impression of a, albeit slightly institutionalised, very efficient and well run place. Certainly everything was clean.

Especially considering that the only other alternatives in that district have five stars and tariffs to match, it is a gem of a place!