I switched from hotels to hostel dorms in 2022, and my 10-day trip to Portugal went from $1,400 to $410
Two years ago I was booking a solo trip to Lisbon and Porto and almost dropped $1,400 on hotels for 10 nights. Then a friend who travels constantly told me to just try hostel dorms, so I did. The total came to $410, and honestly the dorms were cleaner than the last motel I stayed in off I-80. The catch is you trade quiet for people coming in at 2am, so bring earplugs and a sleep mask. What's your cutoff for when a private room is actually worth the extra cash?