By 
Finding a place to stay abroad as a budget traveler can be a very frustrating process. While Vicky and I plan to use couch potatoes as our primary source, it can’t be guaranteed that someone will be available, no matter how many people you email or how long you notify. In most cases, the next step will be to use a hostel or a shared flat. So where are the best websites to do this and how do they compare to each other?
Let’s start by looking at some of the top hostel websites and see how they handle a fabricated request.
The websites we are going to review are considered to be some of the best in their industry:
HostelWorld
HostelBookers
hostels
Hostelz
The (false) request
Location: Berlin, Germany
Dates: September 6 – September 9, 2012
Guests: 2
HostelWorld
Results: 167
Lowest total price: $46.89 ***after $2 booking fee*** (ranked 3 in returned results)
When you sort by price, it shows the lowest price per guest/per night for all options that cover the days you requested. One thing to keep in mind is that the first night can often be cheaper than, say, the second or third, thus ranking higher in search engines. For example, the first two hostels that came up were actually $50 MORE EXPENSIVE than the ones I found when trying a few more below…
TIP: If you subscribe to the Nomadic Matt newsletter, you can get the gold card for free, which allows 6 months of no booking fee.
Functionality: There are a lot of things about the functionality that I really liked. First of all, the search filters allow you to select the functions you want, which is essential if you need a place with Internet, for example. Also, the map view functionality is extremely useful if you are looking for certain areas or distances to public transportation. Berlin is a great city and this goes straight to the point. Overall, the review metrics are good, but I don’t pay too much attention to anything out of the ordinary unless something stands out as particularly bad (like cleanliness). Lastly, when you click on a place to view its information, you have some nice summary tables that highlight features, rates (including days before and after your possible selection), and the map in a clear and consistent way.
HostelBookers
Results: 113
Lowest Total Price: $42.72 ***NO Booking Fee*** (ranked 1 in returned results)
It is important to mention a few things here. The first is that the hostel I found here is the same one I found on HostelWorld, but it was $4 cheaper (that’s 10%). The second is that there is no booking fee, which, if you travel a lot, could honestly result in savings of hundreds of dollars. Lastly, although I had some issues with HostelWorld because I felt the price displayed was somewhat misleading (it only represented the cheapest night, which was often 50% lower than subsequent nights), I didn’t run into this issue with HostelBookers. Not saying it can’t happen, just saying I found this site to be more consistent. This is why what was ranked #1 in their search results was only ranked #3 on HostelWorld, because on HostelWorld the first two places were taken by hostels that had very cheap nights but expensive subsequent nights (what which resulted in double the total price).
Functionality – This site and HostelWorld have pretty similar functionality with a few minor differences. The first thing I liked about HostelBookers is the ability to sort not only by price, but also whether or not that price was a shared room or a private room, as I can definitely see that is an important decision for someone. The second is that they mentioned some nice extras about the hostel that I didn’t see on HostelWorld, like check in/check out time, what extras you can buy, and what’s included. Other than that, I found everything to be more or less the same.
hostels
Results: 163
Lowest total price: $46.89 ***after $2 booking fee*** (ranked 3 in returned results)
Basically this returned the same results as Hostel World and as a result also had the same ‘issues’ with pricing. There is also a reservation fee.
TIP: Sign up for Hostels.com’s monthly money-saving offers and pay no more booking fees.
Functionality: In terms of pricing and performance, this site is very similar to HostelWorld but, frankly, it hasn’t advanced that much in functionality. It’s missing some really key search filters (features, for example). Lastly, it does not have as many extras as the websites mentioned above.
Hostelz
Results: 100+ (Did not call specifically)
Lowest Total Price: $42.72 ***NO Booking Fee*** (ranked 1 in returned results)
Hostelz actually combines search results from Hostel World, HostelBookers, Hostel Club, Student Universe and shows you the price of the reservation in each one. You can literally see, for example, that HostelWorld charges more for the same place. Booking through HostelBookers you have the best offer. It’s a great way to get a comparison of the two.
Functionality: A little less attractive to use because it includes some of the extras in the description instead of mentioning them separately like HostelBookers and HostelWorld. That said, I give you credit for comparing reviews and prices on the websites you list (HostelWorld, HostelBookers, HostelClub, Student Universe)
Recommendation: Hostel Booker
Although HostelBooker returned significantly fewer results than some of the other websites, I still prefer this one for several reasons.
Generally better deal and more up front on prices. With Hostel World, if you didn’t research properly, you could end up spending not just 10% more, but 100% more.
It is important to note that this was only a case study and results may vary. If I had enough time I would probably check several of these websites to make sure I was getting the best deal, but I think Hostel Booker is my first choice going forward.