youth hostel

hostel (def. 1).

[1935-40]

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Supervised shelter providing inexpensive overnight lodging, particularly for young people.

Often located in scenic or historic areas, hostels range from simple farmhouses to hotels able to house several hundred people. Guests often cook their own meals, make their own beds, and do other chores; in return they receive lodging at much less than the usual commercial rate. Hostels place limits on the length of stay and formerly set a maximum-age limit for guests. The hosteling movement was founded by Richard Schirrmann, a German schoolteacher concerned about the health of young people breathing polluted air in industrial cities. Common in Germany in the early 1900s, youth hostels spread through Europe and other parts of the world after World War I, and an international organization was formed in 1932; currently known as Hostelling International and based in London, its membership includes national federations in more than 60 countries, comprising some 4,000 hostels. Some hostels still impose age limits.

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▪ hotel

      supervised shelter providing inexpensive overnight lodging, particularly for young people. Hostels range from simple accommodations in a farm house to hotels able to house several hundred guests for days at a time. They are located in many parts of the world, usually in scenic areas, and are spaced at intervals so that hostelers can hike, bicycle, or canoe from one to the next in a day. Hostelers often cook their own meals, make their own beds, and do other light work to help maintain the hostel. In return they receive lodging at much less than the usual commercial rate. In some countries hostels impose a maximum age limit on guests. Limits on the length of stay are also common.

      Youth hostels were common in Germany in the early 1900s. After World War I they spread rapidly through Europe and other areas of the world. The International Youth Hostel Federation was formed in 1932 to coordinate activities of the various national youth hostel associations and to facilitate international travel by members; by 1980 its membership included national federations in 50 countries. National organizations regularly publish handbooks describing hostel locations and facilities.

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