Comfort vs. more days in europe

I convert the price to USDollars-
and i found a place opening this month that can give me an all female dorm/floor
with alot more amenities than the other places for 191USD 4nights- that sounds like a better option, I''ll have to look at the other places again-
I see in the reviews that people get upgraded...maybe a chance of an upgrade along the way if I travel alone? I won''t hold my breath...

I think Alayna, from your other posts, that we travel a bit differently, but I will share my hostel opinions with you from the days (about 10 years ago when I was hostelling around Europe). The dorm experience was fine, I even hosteled with my 2 parents in a room of 6. It's just a place to crash each night, ok a little slop and snores, but mostly REALLY cool people. I wasn't in Europe to sleep anyways. Hostels are about meeting and hanging out with other people, and getting by as cheap as possible, cooking together, clubbing together, site seeing together, often hooking up to the next destination together.

Now that I am older and stay in hotels and apartments with my family, truly I miss the comradere of my hostelling days.

Something else to add.

Keep in mind my information is dated 1999-2002
Several years ago when I was in the Hostel in Amersterdam I found it to mostly be a collective of travellers who had come to Amsterdam to do drugs, albiet mostly pot, but a little hard stuff. Drugs have never really been my scene, I can tolerate it a bit but the Amsterdam hostel was just too "hippy" for me.

But places change over time Do so research on the web or hopefully someone here will correct me and reassure you that it's a great hostel these days.

There are hostels that have single-sex dorms. Find one of those. I would not stay in a coed room. It's a personal choice, but I think the coed situation would encourage two in one bed and a more partying atmosphere. With your reservations about the coed dorm option, you would probably be happier with the shorter, more comfortable choice. Just be more focused on your time in Paris and Amsterdam.

Which web site did you use to book your hostel?
There are many , some better , some worse. I use hostels.com or worldhostels.com
You can chose what type of bedroom you want.
I would not stay with guys in the same dorm.
However, I think it's a good idea to stay 2 more days, if you have the opportunity and if you are not tired.
Have a nice and safe trip!

oops, it's actually hostelworld.com

As long as the hostel you pick has a reputation for being clean and quiet, you'll be okay. I like these hostels. The goal is to get sleep, shower, and eat some breakfast (sometimes a cheap dinner too). Even a coed dorm room isn't bad because the goal of everyone is sleep.

The hostels I avoid are the party hostels. They are usually noisy and dirty. The objective here is to stay up all night partying. Look at graffiti boards to see what people say about different hostels. If the entry starts, "Dude..." or something to that effect, I'd skip it.

Overall, I don't like Amsterdam. I've stayed at Vondelpark hostel in Amsterdam. It wasn't bad. I was traveling with my family of 5. We were in a six-bed dorm with one other person so our room was quiet. There is supposed to be no drugs, but I saw a bag of pot someone had dropped on the stairs. The park accross the street was full of people doing drugs.

Well here are the hostels i have so far- the best are on STA Travel and I'm booking my plane through them, so I will book the hostel same time when I can.

Paris: St christophers - opens this month and female dorm&floor will allow me to save enought to stay another night

Vienna: Wombats- good reviews and female dorm

Amsterdam: STAYokay Vondelpark- has good reviews, but is a 4bed mixed dorm
OR- St christophers- little more, good reviews,8bed female dorm

I share the same feelings about amsterdam, I was trepidatious about going there because of all the 20 something backpackers smoking out-I got to music school and I avoid it here as well. Was this a good hostel choice, because I just see alot of hostel boats...?
I have 2 nights planned to see museums and stuff, is that enough?

Ok a bit off the subject of Hostels...

Don't be discourged about the city of Amsterdam, what I hear time and time again is how lovely the city is. My experence (after getting out of the dorm) was that it was one of my favorite cities. The drugs, and party scene is there if you want it but easy to avoid as well. Amsterdam is infamous for many things but forgotten for its great museums (Van Gogh!), beautiful walks, and houses and neigborhoods, coffe shops, WAFFLES. It is student town with lots of young people there. It is a bit cheaper than Paris and other parts of Europe. If clubbing is your scene check with current guides for students, they will give you an idea what club is for what scene.

I've got an itinerary set for now so I can book everything tomorrow.
I can take sky europe paris-vienna and vienna-AMS
I would arrive in AMS at 840pm and stay the night and can add on an extra night
so I can spend 2 days in amsterdam. I can take cheap morning train from amst.
to arrive in paris the same day and depending on what flight i get, can leave at night to boston or can stay somewhere overnight in paris and leave the morning of 24th.

I am a planaholic!

Wait until some people review St. Christpher's in Paris before booking a room. It's important to see some good feedback before committing to a particular hostel.

Although the paris on hasn''t opened, they have other branches that have excellent reviews. I decided not to book the one in amsterdam although it had 81% rating, it has a bar attached and I noticed some people complaining about that; plus it was in red light district and not great since I'l be getting to the hostel
at night.