Found a free hostel trick from a guy in Berlin

Was crashing at a hostel in Berlin last month and this guy told me about hostel job swaps. You work reception for 4 hours a day and get free accommodation. Anyone else tried this at hostels outside of Europe?

2 comments

2 Comments

danielhenderson14d ago

That "work for your bed" setup is pretty common in hostels across Southeast Asia too. Did a similar thing in Thailand where I traded three hours of bar shifts for a free dorm bed. Just gotta make sure you actually get the hours you're promised or it turns into a raw deal fast.

lisa514d ago

Yeah I actually saw this blog post about a guy who did work exchange in Bali and got stuck cleaning bathrooms for way more hours than they agreed on... it sounded really rough. He said the hostel owners just kept adding stuff to his list and he felt like he couldn't complain because he was getting a free bed. I've heard some hostels are super shady about this, like they'll promise you 3 hours of light work but then you end up doing 5 or 6 hours of hard labor. The trick is to get everything in writing before you agree to anything, even if it's just a text message or a screenshot of the conversation. But yeah if you find a legit place that actually sticks to the deal it can be a great way to stretch your travel budget.