Abbey Court Hostel in Dublin, Ireland

This past Sunday’s New York Times had a short piece about hostels. In particular, “green” hostels. Hostels that are eco-friendly.

Now to be honest, I wasn’t really sure what a hostel was. The only experience I had with the word was noticing it was the name of some morbid looking movie that Quentin Tarantino was involved with.

So I looked it up in Wikipedia.

Hostels, also called youth hostels, provide short-term accommodation to travellers or backpackers, particularly encouraging outdoor activities and cultural exchange for the young. In a hostel guests often rent a bed (sometimes a bunk bed) in a dormitory and share common bathroom, kitchen, and lounge rooms.

It turns out there’s a whole universe of hostel options. From a basic bed in an out-of-the-way spot to fancier accommodations (Internet access, laundry, kitchens) on prime real estate in major cities.

There’s a website that will hook you up with hostels all over the world (green or otherwise). It’s a complete travel site which includes hostel reviews and booking. Visit the site at www.hostelworld.com.

[thanks, Susan!]