3 Reasons We Need You To Bring Hostels To NYC

Here’s a piece of hostel news you guys might not be aware of: New York City has a law that makes it near-impossible for new hostels to open in the city. Which is why Hostelworld, the world’s largest hostel booking site, are campaigning to help bring hostels to NYC. And they need your help to do it…

The more I travel, the more I have my beliefs and preconceptions about destinations roughly shoved aside and replaced by the realities. It’s one of the things I love most about travelling. And I’ve learnt a lot of things.

It turns out that the entire population of The Netherlands doesn’t smoke weed just because they can. And Italians don’t eat pasta every night, just because they cook it best. The Moroccans don’t eat that much houmous, despite the tubs of Moroccan houmous that line the shelves of Tesco stores. And most of all I’ve learnt that the public politics and external media of a country don’t represent the entire population of that country.

I learnt that final lesson most of all during the Brexit referendum. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see it’s still a topic that simultaneously disturbs me and keeps me perversely glued to the BBC’s Brexitcast podcast.

Which is why, with the most recent news that the Supreme Court in the US has declared Trump’s latest travel ban as legal, we have even more reason to visit the country. To get to know the people, the culture, and most of all to help bridge a divide that politicians seem to be more and more willing to increase.

But if you’re anything like me, travelling to the US, and particularly New York City, seems like such a huge expense. And with so much to see, do, and experience here in Europe for travellers on a budget – I haven’t even crossed the pond yet!

3 Reasons We Need To Come Together To Bring Hostels To NYC

1. Hostels are cheaper than budget hotels

A quick search for budget hotels in New York on Google shows you that the average price for a night in the city sits at between €60 – €80. But a similar search for hostels in New York brings up results between €20 – €40!

So if you chose to stay in one of the lowest priced hotels for a long weekend (three nights) then you’re going to set yourself back €180, or $217. If you go for one of the highest priced hostels, then three nights will cost you only €120, or $144! So staying in a hostel instantly saves you an average of €60 for a three night stay. Money that you can use on exciting experiences instead!

And do you know what €60 could buy you? A flight to New York City with a budget airline!

2. Hostels help to bring different communities together

The reason I love hostels so much isn’t because they are cheaper than hotels. It’s because they are full of people from all over the world! The way hostels are designed – with shared rooms, shared social spaces, and group events – is literally with the intention to bring people together. Hostelworld knows this and it’s one of the reasons that their motto is Meet The World. They don’t just want you to see destinations, they want you to meet them and get to know the destination and the people that live there personally!

Few writers have showcased the melting pot ideal of hostel life as well as Daniel Krieger in his interviews of New York City hostel guests. Give them a read to just see how many interesting people you could meet in a hostel bar!

An example of a hostel social event at Hans Brinker Lisbon.

3. Hostels help open up more budget experiences

Saving money on accommodation means you have more money to spend on experiences

Once you switch to hostels, you’ll start realising that hostels don’t just want you to have a social experience. They also want to help you make the most out of your trip on a budget, whether that means organising local walking tours, food tasting tours, or putting on events in the hostel

And you can bet these experiences will be a hell of a lot more budget-friendly than the expensive group tours run by the local hotels!

How You Can Help Bring Hostels To NYC

So hopefully, the last section has helped convince you that we need your help to bring hostels to NYC! But if you’re wondering how you can help, Hostelworld have already kick-started a campaign that you can join in on.

Simply put, Hostelworld loves New York and they (not surprisingly) love hostels too! Which is why they want to help budget travellers like you and me explore the Big Apple by providing more affordable accommodation options… as soon as possible!

So do you want to play a part in having the strict law against hostels in NYC change? If your answer is yes, just tweet share this post on Facebook or Twitter, and make sure to include the hashtag #BringHostelsToNYC!

You can also follow Hostelworld on Twitter to be kept up to date with what’s going on with the campaign!

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What do you think? Would you be more likely to visit New York City if there were more hostels in the city?

By the way, this post was sponsored by Hostelworld as part of their campaign to bring hostels to NYC. But more great hostels in the world is something I wholeheartedly support! And so, as always, all view and opinions in this post are mine.