Anonymous wrote:Never ever stayed in a hostel or Airbnb.

Okay?

OP here. Thanks to those with first hand experience!

I always stay in hostels— private room, private bathroom. Nice ambiance in the all purpose room with young people from everywhere. There always someone to hang out with.

Never ever stayed in a hostel or Airbnb.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to go against the grain and say that it is kind of embarrassing and creepy for an older person to be staying in a hostel.

I’m also a long-time expat after moving to Europe in my early 20s for work and then meeting DH there, so I’ve seen many, many of these types, and also hosted a lot of young family members of friends who were hosteling in Europe. You might be fine, but there are plenty of older people who are mentally ill, impoverished due to reasons that become apparent in group living situations, or have unsavoury intentions. Just get yourself a hotel room like a grownup. Don’t be the creepy old person haunting the hostel and making the young people wonder why you are there. It’s a loser-ish thing to do.

"These types" You're a real peach. I can just imagine what you think of minorities, LGBTQ, disabled, etc. Looks like you've acquired a robust case of discrimination as well as an annoying habit of spelling, dear expat. "OU" indeed.

Thanks, my spell-check corrects to “ou”, actually. Since that’s what I need for my work-related documents, I’m not changing it for DCUM posts.

You sound a little crazy. I have a lot more experience with young people hosteling than you do, and you have decided that I am racist and homophobic, etc? Bizarre. Your experience is based on…what? The time you stayed in a hostel once, years and years ago, and had a super cool time even though there was that old dude?

I still maintain that it is creepy and sad for an older person to be staying in hostels. Unfortunately there are a lot of people in hostels in that age bracket with addiction issues or a desire to hook up with really young women.

DP here, but you just seem to be making broad statements about entire groups of people with no evidence to back it up. Is there information about old men invading hostels to prey on young women?

Change "old people" to various races and your statements would be racist.

No, crazy, there is no equivalence here.

Would you not question a teenager who liked to spend his time hanging out on a children’s playground? What about a middle-aged person who wanted to hang out at dances for teens? An old person staying in a hostel sticks out in the same way. It’s kind of pathetic, at best.

My “evidence to back it up” is that I live in a European capital, have an early 20s son who has lots of other early 20s friends who do the hostel thing, and I know what is the normal age groups for these things, and I’ve heard the experiences and perceptions of these individuals from young adults who ARE in the target age range for hostels. Why would you want to put yourself in a situation where you are pitied or where people wonder what your reasons are for choosing a budget accommodation meant for young people who can’t afford hotels?

Anonymous wrote:What's creepy is frequently "hosting" young people in your home. Crazy, meet thyself.

I live in London. So many friends/family in the US have invited themselves or their children to stay with us, some of them annually. It’s normal, though often annoying. We lived in Paris for a few years prior to this and the same thing there. But the point is, I know many more people who have stayed in hostels than you. And older people staying in hostels is not the norm: people will wonder about the intentions of these individuals, or simply pity them.

I have a friend in her 50’s who stays at co-living spaces around the world as a digital nomad. They have to be lined up well ahead of time & typically have minimum length of stay requirements. But they are very economical vs hotels, and offer much more of a sense of community vs Airbnb (since people stay for longer at each place, and there is often programming like yoga/language lessons/etc and/or communally-cooked meals). Most of the guests are much younger than my friend, and some co-living spaces have age caps, but many are open to all ages.

What's creepy is frequently "hosting" young people in your home. Crazy, meet thyself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to go against the grain and say that it is kind of embarrassing and creepy for an older person to be staying in a hostel.

I’m also a long-time expat after moving to Europe in my early 20s for work and then meeting DH there, so I’ve seen many, many of these types, and also hosted a lot of young family members of friends who were hosteling in Europe. You might be fine, but there are plenty of older people who are mentally ill, impoverished due to reasons that become apparent in group living situations, or have unsavoury intentions. Just get yourself a hotel room like a grownup. Don’t be the creepy old person haunting the hostel and making the young people wonder why you are there. It’s a loser-ish thing to do.

"These types" You're a real peach. I can just imagine what you think of minorities, LGBTQ, disabled, etc. Looks like you've acquired a robust case of discrimination as well as an annoying habit of spelling, dear expat. "OU" indeed.

Thanks, my spell-check corrects to “ou”, actually. Since that’s what I need for my work-related documents, I’m not changing it for DCUM posts.

You sound a little crazy. I have a lot more experience with young people hosteling than you do, and you have decided that I am racist and homophobic, etc? Bizarre. Your experience is based on…what? The time you stayed in a hostel once, years and years ago, and had a super cool time even though there was that old dude?

I still maintain that it is creepy and sad for an older person to be staying in hostels. Unfortunately there are a lot of people in hostels in that age bracket with addiction issues or a desire to hook up with really young women.

DP here, but you just seem to be making broad statements about entire groups of people with no evidence to back it up. Is there information about old men invading hostels to prey on young women?

Change "old people" to various races and your statements would be racist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to go against the grain and say that it is kind of embarrassing and creepy for an older person to be staying in a hostel.

I’m also a long-time expat after moving to Europe in my early 20s for work and then meeting DH there, so I’ve seen many, many of these types, and also hosted a lot of young family members of friends who were hosteling in Europe. You might be fine, but there are plenty of older people who are mentally ill, impoverished due to reasons that become apparent in group living situations, or have unsavoury intentions. Just get yourself a hotel room like a grownup. Don’t be the creepy old person haunting the hostel and making the young people wonder why you are there. It’s a loser-ish thing to do.

"These types" You're a real peach. I can just imagine what you think of minorities, LGBTQ, disabled, etc. Looks like you've acquired a robust case of discrimination as well as an annoying habit of spelling, dear expat. "OU" indeed.

Thanks, my spell-check corrects to “ou”, actually. Since that’s what I need for my work-related documents, I’m not changing it for DCUM posts.

You sound a little crazy. I have a lot more experience with young people hosteling than you do, and you have decided that I am racist and homophobic, etc? Bizarre. Your experience is based on…what? The time you stayed in a hostel once, years and years ago, and had a super cool time even though there was that old dude?

I still maintain that it is creepy and sad for an older person to be staying in hostels. Unfortunately there are a lot of people in hostels in that age bracket with addiction issues or a desire to hook up with really young women.

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to go against the grain and say that it is kind of embarrassing and creepy for an older person to be staying in a hostel.

I’m also a long-time expat after moving to Europe in my early 20s for work and then meeting DH there, so I’ve seen many, many of these types, and also hosted a lot of young family members of friends who were hosteling in Europe. You might be fine, but there are plenty of older people who are mentally ill, impoverished due to reasons that become apparent in group living situations, or have unsavoury intentions. Just get yourself a hotel room like a grownup. Don’t be the creepy old person haunting the hostel and making the young people wonder why you are there. It’s a loser-ish thing to do.

"These types" You're a real peach. I can just imagine what you think of minorities, LGBTQ, disabled, etc. Looks like you've acquired a robust case of discrimination as well as an annoying habit of spelling, dear expat. "OU" indeed.

I’m going to go against the grain and say that it is kind of embarrassing and creepy for an older person to be staying in a hostel.

I’m also a long-time expat after moving to Europe in my early 20s for work and then meeting DH there, so I’ve seen many, many of these types, and also hosted a lot of young family members of friends who were hosteling in Europe. You might be fine, but there are plenty of older people who are mentally ill, impoverished due to reasons that become apparent in group living situations, or have unsavoury intentions. Just get yourself a hotel room like a grownup. Don’t be the creepy old person haunting the hostel and making the young people wonder why you are there. It’s a loser-ish thing to do.

There are senior hostels too. Although they may have an age requirement of over 50.

Where do you find reviews of European hostels?

I stayed at one a couple years ago in Reykjavik and I am in my 50s. There were about 8 women in the room and the others were probably all 20s. They were very friendly, especially one of them inviting everyone to eat together that night, and I would definitely do it again. You might meet a judgmental person like the former poster did, but really, who cares?