Dorm room in hostel ensuite

I can't see any other way to interpret that. Large or largish room with several or many beds and a bathroom for that room. Probably there are other rooms with a different bathroom too. Where is it, Tom?

Tom, Yes, that's generally what it means. The Hostel that I normally use in Rome has Dorm rooms that sleep 4-6 (two or three bunk beds) but each room also has an "ensuite" bathroom. This seems to be more common with many Hostels these days, although some still have the bathroom down the hall. Cheers!

Yes, I think it does mean many beds in the room with a bathroom as well. Ken, what hostel in Rome do you like? I have stayed at The Beehive and like it very much but I don't remember seeing a dorm room with the bathroom in the same room.

Nigel, I found it the one and only time browsing hostels in Istanbul on hostelz.com. I thought I understood it, and I guess I do, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Thx, all, for the help! MC and HNY

@Linda, The Hostel that I usually use in Rome is Alessandro Palace, which is located in the Termini area. I've stayed there a number of times and always enjoy my time there. They seem very progressive, as each room has electronic card locks, and the same card activates the electrics in the room. In other locations, I usually check HI Hostels first, as I've also enjoyed staying there (I always renew my HI membership every year).

My daughter and I stayed in more than one hostel (private just the 2 of us - 2 beds) with an ensuite bathroom and shower.....Germany, Switzerland and Czech Republic.

You guys ought to see the modern "dorms" in the U.S. college communities these days; in my day that kind of comfort and privacy would have been luxurious. Many have 2, 3 or 4 small,single-bed sized, bedrooms attached to a galley kitchen and living room and 1 or 2 bathrooms. Would have called them apartments if they didn't have meal plans available.

Burg Stahleck in Germany gave us a room with ten bunk beds and a "dedicated" en suite bathroom - only the occupants of that room could access the bathroom. Institute San Sebastian in Salzburg had something similar - two, three-bed rooms (each with it's own door) shared a small hallway that accessed a bathroom, then another door to limit acess to only those two rooms. Traditional dorm rooms have a room with multiple beds and shared facilities in a hallway that anyone in the building can use.

Ken.. I checked out the website for Allesandro Palace and noticed they have a second location called Allesandro Downtown. The second location apparently does not have a bar attached to it. I like that about the property since I want to limit the late night visits from fellow roommates and am concerned about noise from the bar in the Palace. What was your experience with the Palace? was it noisy because of the bar? Thanks for your suggestions.

The concept of ensuite dorm rooms at hostels has really started to spread the last few years. I stayed at a lot of hostels in Australia & New Zealand that fell into the "Flashpacker" category and they all had ensuite bathrooms in dorm rooms for anywhere from 3-12 people in addition to the standard hall bathroom. A few hostels with ensuites were even promoting that they supplied Aveda bath products and hair dryers for use by hostelers who booked these ensuite dorms!

@Linda, Yes, there are two Alessandro Hostels in Rome, and they're not too far apart (the Palace is on the other side of Termini). I've never stayed in the downtown property, but I'm assuming the facilities are much the same. I suspect that the Bar noise could be a problem if you're assigned a room on that side. That was my experience on a stay at the Palace in 2006, as there was lots happening in the Bar on one particular night. The noise didn't bother me though (Ear Plugs or good Noise Cancelling Headphones are always a good idea when staying in Hostels). When I stayed there last year, I didn't notice any noise, nor were there any disturbances from "late night visits". I've found that people staying in Hostels are usually considerate for the most part, and try to be quiet if they enter the room when others are sleeping. One point to note. If you decide to stay at Alessandro Palace, the check-in time is about 15:00 so if you arrive earlier you'll have to leave your gear in the luggage room downstairs. Lockers are provided but of course you'll have to supply your own Padlock (be sure to buy a good quality Lock). Cheers!

My family has stayed in a room like that. It had bunk beds, and a tiny bathroom with a toilet and sink that doubled as the shower. (You couldn't even hang a towel in the room because the entire thing got soaked by the shower!) Plus, it had shared bathrooms in the hallway for people in non ensuite accomodations.