10 unspoken rules at hostels every traveler should know

You’ve probably heard the phrase “hostel etiquette” if you’ve stayed in a hostel before. These are the unspoken rules that most travelers try to abide by in order to be a good guest. 

Some hostel etiquette is basic guidance for communal living: clean up after yourself, don’t take other people’s food, be polite, and communicate. 

But other rules are more specific to hostel living, and hostel dorm rooms in particular. 

Ever thought to yourself, how many times can I snooze my alarm in the morning before I get up? Or will anyone really care if I eat this leftover pasta in the fridge? This article is for you.

Whether it’s your first time staying in a hostel or you’ve cooked countless ramen noodles in kitchen microwaves around the world, I’m here to help you get comfortable with hostel living. 

This article will break down some of the unspoken rules of hostel etiquette. 

All of these unspoken rules are things I have personal experience with, and I’ll share some of my hostel horror stories (like the time two guests decided that an 8-person dorm room in Thailand would be the perfect place to test out their romantic chemistry). 

Ready to become a pro hostel guest? Read on! 

10 Rules of Hostel Etiquette

Rule #1: No sex in the dorms.

Around 5 am in an 8-bed dorm room in Bangkok, Thailand, I was woken up by a distinctive sound coming from the bed next to me. 

And as happy as I am for my fellow roommates who achieved approximately four minutes of ecstasy that night, I have to encourage anyone thinking of following in their footsteps to please not. 

Do not have sex in a hostel dorm room. Sometimes it’s a written rule at hostels, particularly in party hostels or cities with vibrant nightlife. But even if it’s not written out, the rule still applies anywhere you go. Seriously — it’s a major no-go. 

If you want to hook up with someone, get a private room or go to the bathroom. Better yet, just leave the hostel. 

Rule #2: Turn your alarm off the first time it goes off.

It’s already slightly annoying to be woken up by someone else’s alarm in the morning, but that’s just a standard part of hostel dorm room living. However, when the alarm goes off multiple times without being turned off, it crosses a line. 

Picture this: I’m in a 6-person dorm room in New Zealand. It’s 5 am and someone’s alarm is going off. Eventually, they wake up and turn it off. I’ve just eased back into a peaceful slumber when… the alarm goes off again. 

Thus began a seemingly endless cycle of blaring alarm, brief snooze, finally getting back to sleep, and then blaring alarm once again. 

This lasted for a full hour. Everyone in the room was woken up repeatedly between 5 and 6 am because one person kept snoozing their alarm.

Don’t be that person. Stop snoozing your alarms. Just wake up, turn it off, and don’t let it go off again. Please, for the love of God, let everyone else sleep. 

Rule #3: No loud conversations when people are sleeping.

No matter what time of day it is try to keep your volume to a minimum if you see people sleeping in the room. 

I notice a lot of guests decide that there are certain “normal” hours where everyone should just be awake — between 9 am and midnight, for example. So they’ll talk at a normal volume, even when it’s clear other guests are sleeping. 

I have been woken up at 9 am, 1 am, and even 5 am by people having conversations at a normal or loud volume. Stop doing this. It’s rude and inconsiderate. 

Someone may need to go to bed at 10 pm for an early morning flight, or someone might need to sleep until 1 pm to catch up from a late night out. Try to let them rest. Whisper in the room, and just go to the hallway or common room if you want to be loud. 

Rule #4: Don’t turn on the overhead light if people are sleeping.

Same principle as Rule #3 — no matter what time of day, if you see people trying to sleep, just leave the overhead light off. 

Most hostels will have individual reading lights by each bed. When someone is sleeping and the overhead light is off, I just turn on my individual light instead. 

Whether it’s 9 am, 3 pm, or 10 pm, just let them sleep. Everyone has a different schedule and we need to be respectful of that. 

Rule #5: Pack the night before if you need to wake up early.

Need to get up at 5 am for a flight? That’s fine — your roommates will understand. Just pack the night before. 

If you decide to pack your bag early in the morning, you are much louder for much longer. Pack as much as you can the night before so that you minimize the amount of squishing, zippering, snapping, and buckling you need to do in the morning. Your roommates will thank you. 

Rule #6: Don’t sit on other people’s beds.

Some people seem to think it’s okay to sit on someone else’s bed if the occupant isn’t in the room. This is weird. Don’t do this. 

I notice this happens particularly with top-bunk people. I’ve seen a top bunk person sit on the bottom bunk in order to put their shoes on, fold their laundry, or just check their phone. 

When I’m in the bottom bunk, I don’t want some random person sitting on my bed. It might not seem like a big deal — especially if the bottom bunk guest would never know — but it’s basic etiquette. 

Rule #7: Keep your stuff in your own area and keep it tidy.

Keep all your things either in your locker, on your bed, or beneath your bed. 

Most beds in hostels will have a locker associated with them. Sometimes people put their suitcases or backpacks in lockers, leaving everywhere else in the room spotless. Other times guests put only valuables in the lockers and leave suitcases on the floor near their beds. 

Whichever way you do it, try to minimize how much you spread out. Keep all your belongings as close as possible to your bed or your locker. If there’s space underneath the bed to shove your suitcase, do that. 

A general rule of thumb is just to do what others in the room are doing. If they put their suitcase in the locker, I put my suitcase in the locker. If their suitcase is under the bed, then mine goes under the bed. It’s fairly straightforward. 

Rule #8: Don’t steal food from the kitchen.

Usually, hostels will have communal fridges and pantry areas for guests to store their food. You need to label your food with your name and the date you’re checking out. 

Many hostels will have a free food area, where other guests can leave food that they no longer want. This is the only area in the kitchen where it’s okay to take food that does not belong to you. 

Someone once stole my leftover mortadella and pesto sandwich from a hostel fridge in Venice, Italy. I have never forgiven them. 

Rule #9: Clean up after yourself in the bathroom.

Most hostels have communal bathrooms with showers and toilets. Take your toiletries back to your room when you’re done using the communal bathroom. 

Don’t leave anything there – for example, shampoo or conditioner – in the shower. The hostel cleaners will often throw items out if they’ve been left in the bathroom.  

Sometimes hostel dorm rooms will have a bathroom in the room — ie, an ensuite. In this case, sometimes it’s okay to leave your bathroom bag on a counter there. But if you only have a communal bathroom, make sure you take all your toiletries back to your own room. 

Also, clean your hair out of the shower drain. Especially if the drain is clogged. Stop being gross. 

Rule #10: Respect the laundry.

When doing laundry in a hostel, there will usually be only a few washers and dryers, all in high demand. Snagging a machine can start to feel like snagging a front-row spot at Coachella. Be patient, be polite, and follow some ground rules. 

Don’t remove someone’s clothes before the load is completely done and the timer has gone off. 

If a load is done and someone hasn’t yet come to claim it, you can move it to free up the machine. If it’s the washer, just move the clothes to an available dryer and leave the door open so the person can find it. 

If it’s the dryer, try to put the clothes on top of the dryer or on a clean surface.

Do not, under any circumstances, put someone’s clean clothes on the floor. It’s rude and weird.

And now for some hostel DO’s

DO bring earplugs. It helps you sleep when there are other people in the room.

DO bring shower flip flops. Because the floors of communal showers are gross. 

DO have a portable charger handy. Just in case there are limited outlets in your dorm room.

DO book a private room every once in a while. If you can afford it, that is. When you’re traveling for a long time and staying in a lot of hostels, having a night in a private room helps to break up your stay. Sometimes dorm rooms can drain your social battery and give you some hostel fatigue. 

DO communicate! When in doubt, talking to your roommates is always a good idea. Ask them if you can turn on the overhead light, and give them a heads up if you have to get up early. Your stay will be a lot more comfortable if you communicate with those around you.

That concludes your first hostel etiquette lesson! I hope it’s been enlightening. Now, a few final words. 

Be a good guest, but also — be forgiving of those who aren’t. A lot of people are new to hostel etiquette, and even veteran hostel-goers can slip up sometimes. Just last week I accidentally snoozed my alarm a few too many times.

Yes, hostel horror stories will still happen. But a good sense of humor is key to surviving the occasional bad experience. 

🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: If you liked this article, you can hear more on Episode 1 of the Travel Lemming Podcast on YouTube! (segment starts at 10:09). You can also find us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

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I promise any unfortunate events will all be a good story one day. But in the meantime… try not to become the subject of someone else’s hostel horror story. With these rules, you’re off to a good start. 

Next, read Jess’s article on staying in youth hostels in your 30s.