Everyone starts as a beginner backpacker. You feel both excitement and a lot of uncertainty at the same time. In this series, I’ll explain how to travel cheaply but safely as a backpacker. For this first episode, we’ll cover how to choose budget accommodation. Make sure to read until the end.
Choosing Accommodation
There are mainly two platforms for finding accommodation: Booking.com and Hostelworld.
However, based on experience, Booking.com tends to have more reliable reviews and better refund support. It also has a much larger selection, so I personally use it more often.
1. How to Choose Accommodation
The method is simple. Enter your destination and length of stay, then sort by lowest price and go through the listings from the top. The most important factor here is reviews. First, only choose places with at least 30 reviews. The more reviews there are, the more reliable they tend to be.
Next, always check reviews in latest order. Platforms often display the best reviews first, but recent reviews can sometimes be more negative.
It’s important to focus more on negative reviews than positive ones, and judge whether you can tolerate those issues.
In addition, the quality of reviews matters a lot. Unfortunately, even on Booking.com, fake reviews do exist. For example, around Delhi in India, many hostels had clearly fake reviews, making it difficult to find trustworthy places.
Similarly, in Turkey and Bolivia, some guesthouses had well-balanced international reviews, but once I arrived, the location was impossible to find or the host could not be contacted.
To avoid these issues, always check both the content and the dates of reviews. Fake reviews often have clustered posting dates or very similar wording.
It’s also important to confirm whether the place actually exists on Google Maps.
If it doesn’t appear on Google Maps, even if it has good reviews on Booking.com, it’s safer to avoid it.
2. Location
Next, location is very important. Cheap accommodation is often located far from the city center. If it’s within about 1 km, it’s usually fine, but if it’s too far, transport costs can add up and cancel out the savings. Also, the further you are from the center, the fewer people there are around, which can increase potential safety risks.
3. Price
Even if the price looks cheap, always check for additional fees such as “additional charges apply.”
The final cost can sometimes end up much higher than expected.
Length of Stay
It’s not recommended to book long stays in advance. There are two reasons:
- The place might turn out to be disappointing
- Plans often change frequently while backpacking
A better approach is to book 1–2 nights first, then extend if you like the place. In most cases, extensions are possible. If not, you can simply move to another place.
4. Dorm types
For women, choosing between mixed dorms and female-only dorms can sometimes be difficult. Based on my personal experience, I have never had any serious issues in mixed dorms. If you ever feel uncomfortable, you can always talk to the hostel staff, and they will often help you change rooms.
5. Country-Specific Tips
Here are some important notes by country:
India: Be careful of fake reviews, especially around Delhi.
Egypt: Hotels and guesthouses are more common than hostels. Reviews are often limited and harder to judge. Also be careful of overpriced tour offers from owners.
South Africa: Always check whether the area is safe. Use the safe box for valuables.
Bolivia: Some accommodations use a “blue rate” system. If you pay in bolivianos instead of USD, the total cost can end up about 1.5x higher.
Conclusion
Choosing accommodation in backpacking is not simply about picking the cheapest option. Focusing only on price can lead to problems with location, safety, authenticity, or hidden fees. What really matters is finding a balance between
price, reviews, location, and flexibility.
Especially at the beginning, it’s more important to learn how to avoid bad choices than to search for the perfect place. And even with careful planning, there will always be uncertainty until you actually arrive. That’s why it’s best to start with short bookings and extend if needed. This simple approach is often the most flexible and least stressful way to travel.
Accommodation is not just a place to sleep—it’s also a place where you meet people and gather travel information. As you gain experience, your ability to choose better places will improve significantly, and so will the quality of your trips.
In the next episode, we’ll cover the basics of staying safe while traveling. Stay tuned!
