You need a valid credit card, debit card or Paypal account to book online. The cards we accept are JCB, Maestro, Mastercard, Visa, Visa Debit, and Visa Electron. Your card will be charged for a deposit (down-payment) and a booking fee (US$2 unless you are a MyWorld or Gold Card Member, or hold a valid discount card).

Once you have selected your destination, preferred property, number of guests, and number of nights, you will be prompted for your card details to confirm your booking. You will receive an on-screen confirmation of your reservation which you should print and bring to the property. The balance due when you arrive at the property will be clearly displayed on your booking confirmation. This will always be in the local currency of the property.

You can change your booking in one of 2 ways:

1. You can change the booking online through your MyWorld account by paying a small change booking fee. Just log in to your account here, and you can see a list of your upcoming bookings. Click on the booking reference number for the booking you wish to change. There will be a "Change" button enabling you to change your booking online. Please Note: If you have made a Standard Flexible Booking, you will be unable to change your booking online and instead will need to cancel and re-book with the changes you want.

2. If you have booked on one of our affiliated web-sites or you do not have a MyWorld account, you can also change your booking by contacting the property directly using the contact details on your confirmation e-mail. Things to Note: Acceptance of any amendments to your booking is at the discretion of the property concerned. If an amendment of your reservation is not possible, then your deposit and booking fee are non-refundable.

You can cancel your booking by contacting the property directly, using the contact details on your confirmation e-mail. Please note that the deposit and booking fee are non-refundable.

The cancellation policy on this site is 24 hours prior to your scheduled check-in date (unless otherwise stated in the property's conditions). This means you must cancel at least 24 hours prior to your arrival date to avoid a no-show or late cancellation charge. The no-show or late cancellation charge is the total of the first night's accommodation cost for your party, which will be charged to your credit/debit card if you do not notify the property in time.

Once you click on the "Confirm" button, it should only take up to 1 minute to receive confirmation of your booking on screen. Do not click the confirm button more than once or you will be charged more than once. Please note that due to the nature of the internet and individual e-mail servers, sometimes confirmation e-mails will not be received, or you may have misspelt your e-mail address. As a precaution all your bookings are also stored in our online travel itinerary planner MyWorld.

Please log in here to find your booking. By booking through Hostelworld.com, you automatically become a MyWorld member and can access this area at any time to view your bookings. If you would like us to resend your confirmation, please contact us with your reference number and we will be happy to help.

If you have a problem with your existing reservation, please contact us, quote your booking reference number, and we will be happy to help.

We do not provide contact information for properties before you book them. You will receive complete directions and contact information, including e-mail address and telephone number, on your booking confirmation. If you have a question about a specific property which is not covered in their description online, please contact us and we will be happy to find out for you.

We accept JCB, Maestro, Mastercard, Visa, Visa Debit, and Visa Electron cards. Please note, not all properties will accept bookings made using debit cards but you can check the property's micro-site details while booking to see if they do or not.

While most properties do not impose an age restriction, this is not always the case, particularly in those which have a bar on the premises, or are specifically tailored for the 'youth' market. It is recommended that you check the property's details on their micro-site to find out whether or not there is an age restriction.

Unless specified by the property directly on the micro-site or on the conditions you have received, you do not need to reconfirm. Please print out your booking confirmation, and have it ready for check-in at the property you booked.

People from all walks of life and every corner of the world stay in hostels. Many are misled into thinking that this form of accommodation only appeals to the younger generation of travellers, but we have booked people as old as 90 years and as young as 6 months into hostel accommodations.

Hostels provide a great way to meet new people and experience new things, which is why they appeal to such a diverse range of people.

All sensitive information exchanged between your computer and our site is encrypted using SSL. Our SSL Certificate is provided by Verisign. This ensures that your information is transmitted securely and is safe from third parties. For more information, please read our security notice.

This depends on the property's own policy. Each property will have clearly displayed on its micro-site which methods you can use for payment upon arrival, either cash or credit/debit card.

Once you click on the "Confirm" button, it should only take up to 1 minute to receive confirmation of your booking on-screen. Do not click the confirm button more than once, or you will be charged again.

Our credit/debit card bookings are secure and processed through WorldPay. There may be some reasons why your credit card transaction will not go through. Please check the following and try your transaction again:

• There may be insufficient funds to cover the transaction being booked;
• You may not have filled out all the information fields requested.
• You may be choosing the incorrect card type. For example, if you have a 'Visa Electron' card, you must choose 'Visa Electron' in the drop-down menu and not just 'Visa'. Please check that this is not the reason, and try to complete your transaction again.

If this has not answered your question then please contact us and we will be happy to help.

You can cancel your booking by contacting the property directly, using the contact details on your confirmation e-mail. Please note that the deposit and booking fee are non-refundable.

Unless otherwise stated in the property's conditions, you must cancel at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled check-in date to avoid a "no-show" or late cancellation charge. The no-show or late cancellation charge is the total of the first night's accommodation cost for your party, which will be charged to your credit/debit card if you do not notify the property in time.

No, as per our Terms and Conditions, the deposit is non-refundable.

You can change your booking by contacting the property directly, using the contact details on your confirmation e-mail. Please note: Acceptance of any amendments to your booking is at the discretion of the property concerned. If an amendment of your reservation is not possible, then your deposit and booking fee are non-refundable.

No, if you have already checked in and then decide to change your reservation and check out early, you will lose the deposit amount you have paid for the remaining nights.

Our company is based in Dublin, Ireland – so the charge on your statement will most likely show up as 'HW Dublin' or 'Hostelworld Dublin'.

We allow you to view and charge your deposit and booking fee in US Dollars (US$), Euro (€), or GBP/British Pounds (£). Please note that the final balance due will always be in the local currency of the property booked. The option to view your booking in any currency is an indicator only, and we cannot guarantee that the exchange rate on that day will be the same as when the charge appears on your card. Please allow for fluctuating exchange rates. If this does not answer your question, then please contact us and a member of our Customer Service Team will be happy to help.

If you have a problem with your existing reservation, please contact us, quote your booking reference number, and we will be happy to help.

Booking with a debit card or Paypal is slightly different than booking with a credit card. In those cases, you should contact the property to reconfirm your booking 24 hours before arrival. If you do not arrive by 12:00 noon on your check-in date, the property can cancel your booking.

We accept JCB, Maestro, Mastercard, Visa, Visa Debit, and Visa Electron cards. Please note, not all properties will accept bookings made using debit cards but you can check the property's micro-site details while booking to see if they do or not.

We do provide the option for you to pay the deposit using your PayPal account. However, please note that not all properties accept Paypal, so this is why you may not see the option when you try to select PayPal on the page where you enter your booking details.

To make a PayPal booking, once you are on the 'Enter Details' or 'Check-Out' page, select the tab marked 'Paypal' just above the credit card name/number fields. When you click "Check out with Paypal" you will be redirected to the PayPal site to run through their charge process.

Some properties will not accept debit cards. This is why you will not see the option when you try to select the card type on the page where you enter your booking details.

You need a valid credit card, debit card or Paypal account to book online. The cards we accept are JCB, Maestro, Mastercard, Visa, Visa Debit, and Visa Electron. Your card will be charged for a deposit (down-payment) and a booking fee (US$2). Once you have selected your destination, preferred property, number of guests, and number of nights, you will be prompted for your card details to confirm your booking. You will receive an on-screen confirmation of your reservation which you should print and bring to the property. The balance due when you arrive at the property will be clearly displayed on your booking confirmation. This will always be in the local currency of the property.

When you book online, through our online credit card processing company, we take a deposit (down-payment) for your reservation plus a US$2 booking fee. This amount will not be refunded to you on arrival at the property. The balance of your accommodation cost as shown on your booking confirmation is due on arrival at the property. All charges from our site will be in US$, Euro (€) or GBP/British Pounds (£), depending on which you choose at the time of booking.

No, the deposit is a down-payment and is non-refundable. It should be deducted from the overall balance due on arrival at the property, though.

We do not provide contact information for hostels before you book them. You will receive complete directions and contact information, including e-mail address and telephone number on your booking confirmation. If you have a question about a specific hostel which is not covered in their description online, please contact us and we will be happy to find out for you.

All availability is uploaded by the properties themselves, so it is up-to-date. To check availability, please use the search box on our home page by clicking here, or look for the search box on the left side near the top of this page. We cannot check availability, rates or make bookings for you.

Yes, you do. You must have a valid credit card, debit card or Paypal account to make a booking with us. We accept JCB, Maestro, MasterCard, Visa, Visa Debit, and Visa Electron cards. We do not accept American Express. Please check the property's micro-site to see if they accept credit or debit cards on arrival. Most will accept debit cards, unless otherwise specified.

You can book up to 10 people in a regular booking on our site.

Our credit/debit card bookings are secure and processed through WorldPay. There may be some reasons why your credit card transaction will not go through. Please check the following:

• There may be insufficient funds to cover the transaction being booked;
• You may not have filled out all the information fields requested.
• You may be choosing the incorrect card type. For example, if you have a 'Visa Electron' card, you must choose 'Visa Electron' in the drop-down menu and not just 'Visa'.

Please check that the above reasons have not caused the error message, and try to complete your transaction again. If this has not answered your question, then please contact us and we will be happy to help.

Simply add your membership or discount number in the box provided on the 'Check-Out' page to get your discount. Hostelworld offers a discount to holders of the following:

• Student Advantage members;
• Isic cards issued by USITNow Ireland;
• ISIC, IYTC, and ITIC membership cards issued by Sincerity Travel;
• International Student Exchange (ISE) Cards;
• Irelandcard.com cardholders.

We would advise that you do. Properties will display on their micro-site if they are child-friendly, and if there are any conditions that apply especially for children.

While most properties do not impose an age restriction, this is not always the case, particularly in those which have a bar on the premises, or are specifically tailored for the 'youth' market. It is recommended that you check the property's details on their micro-site to find out whether or not there is an age restriction.

This depends on the property's own policy. The property will have clearly displayed on their micro-site which method(s) you can use to pay upon arrival – either cash and/or credit/debit card.

If you are a national of Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria, in order for us to facilitate your booking you must confirm to Hostelworld that your credit card is not issued through one of these countries, and that you are not present in one of these countries at the time of your booking.

This has been a difficult decision for us, but unfortunately, it is beyond our control – owing to new regulations to which Hostelworld must adhere by law. We sincerely hope that at some stage in the future we will be able to assist you again in your travel arrangements.

For legal reasons, Hostelworld does not currently facilitate bookings for accommodation or other travel products in Cuba, Iran, Myanmar (Burma), North Korea, Sudan, or Syria – or any facilities offered by nationals of those countries.

This has been a difficult decision for us, but unfortunately it is beyond our control – owing to new regulations to which Hostelworld must adhere by law. We sincerely hope that at some stage in the future we will be able to assist you again in your travel arrangements for these countries.

Contact details for the property you have booked are found in your confirmation e-mail.

Unless specified by the property directly on the micro-site or on the conditions you have received, you do not need to reconfirm. Please print out your booking confirmation, and have it ready for check-in at the property you booked.

After each departure date of a booking, you will receive an automatic e-mail asking you to review your stay, giving you an opportunity to rate your accommodations and add your comments, so that other customers can see them. If you did not receive a review e-mail, please contact us with your reference number and we can resend this to you.

Unfortunately we do not send out documents for Visa purposes. The only confirmation that we send is the automatic e-mail you will receive after booking, which you are advised to print upon receipt.

No, the confirmation e-mail contains only the name of the person who made the booking.

We do not provide contact information for hostels before you book them. You will receive complete directions and contact information, including e-mail address and telephone number on your booking confirmation. If you have a question about a specific hostel which is not covered in their description online, please contact us and we will be happy to find out for you.

All availability is uploaded by the properties themselves, so it is up-to-date. To check availability, please refer to the web site. We cannot check availability, rates, or make bookings for you.

Only customers who have booked a stay on Hostelworld can review a property. After each departure date of a booking, you will receive an automatic e-mail asking you to review your stay, giving you an opportunity to rate the accommodations and add your comments, so that other customers can see them. If you did not receive a review e-mail from us, please contact us with your reference number and we can resend this to you.

Hostelling is, in part, the act of travelling and staying in hostels. Referred to as "backpacking" in many parts of the world, it is perhaps best described as travelling cheaply with an adventurous spirit. The terms 'hosteller' and 'backpacker' are basically synonymous. Backpackers tend to travel for longer periods that the typical tourist.

In many countries, especially Australia and New Zealand, it is customary for students and recent graduates to take trips of up to a year or more. While hostelling, you see the world from a perspective that the average tourist will never see. You meet local people, learn new customs, eat local food and often have opportunities to do things you never imagined. Trips are usually only roughly planned in advance, to allow for last-minute changes when something unexpected and exciting presents itself. Basically, backpackers stay longer, see more, and do more — for less money!

Hostels have probably been around for over a thousand years, as a low-cost place for a traveller to stay for the night. The hostel movement as most people know it, however, was started by a German school teacher named Richard Schirrmann back in the summer of 1907. It was at this time that Nette School began providing overnight accommodation to young travellers. Each night the classrooms were cleared of desks and chairs and thin straw sacks were placed on the floor for the travellers. As was the custom, each hosteller in the morning helped to put the school back together and sweep the straw from the floor.

The philosophy as stated by Mr. Schirrmann was this: "Suppose that the thoughtful young people of all countries could be provided with suitable meeting places where they could get to know each other! That could and must be the role of youth hostels, not only in Germany, but throughout the world, building a bridge of peace from nation to nation!" (from American Youth Hostels "First Fifty Years: Young at Any Age")

The answer to that question is becoming more and more difficult to define, as hostels are changing all the time. Today, many hostels are even higher-quality than budget hotels, with a more social atmosphere at a lower price.

For example, many of the hostels listed here will offer private rooms with ensuite facilities, smaller dorms for groups of between two and eight, or larger dorms where you could share with up to twenty others. In addition, many offer bars and restaurants, 24-hour opening, self-catering kitchens, Internet cafés, and other conveniences.

Some hostels have still remained true to the basic budget model, so it's important to maintain an open mind when choosing this form of accommodation.

They come in all shapes and sizes. There are hostels in castles, tee-pees, former prisons, and even a jumbo jet! They are located in sleepy towns, sprawling metropolises, and everything in between.

Some hostels are huge, providing beds for hundreds, while others consist of a single room in a friendly family home. Some are mountain huts that require extensive hiking to access them, while others are in urban jungles of towering skyscrapers. And this is what makes the entire experience so appealing to backpackers – you really do not know what you are going to get from one hostel to the next!

People from all walks of life and every corner of the world stay in hostels. Many are misled into thinking that this form of accommodation only appeals to the younger generation of travellers, but we have booked people as old as 90 years and as young as 6 months into hostel accommodations.

Hostels provide a great way to meet new people and experience new things, which is why they appeal to such a diverse range of people.

There are as many different atmospheres as there are hostels. Each one has a different scene. Part of the adventure of hostelling is experiencing the variety. Sometimes you will find yourself in bed by 9 p.m. and up at 6 a.m. with the chickens gathering eggs. In others, you may party until all hours in a world-class cosmopolitan city, and sleep until 3 p.m. the next afternoon.

Backpacks containing non-valuable items such as clothes and toiletries are usually left in the dorm room. Valuables such as cameras, passports, and money should always be safeguarded. All properties will have a safe storage area, and many larger city properties will have lockers in the rooms for your backpack.

Theft is relatively uncommon, and it would be nice to keep it that way. Either keep valuables with you, or place them in the property's safekeeping facilities. If you do have something stolen, be sure to report it to the management. While properties are not responsible for lost or stolen items, you will be helping in the effort to catch thieves.

A single room sleeps only 1 person. This will appear as 'Single' or '1 bed private' on the site.

A double room has 1 bed which sleeps 2 people. Only 2 people can sleep in a double room.

A twin room has 2 beds and sleeps 2 people only.

A private room is where you will need to book the entire room. For example, three persons booking a four-bed private room will need to select and pay for four persons, if they wish to have a private room. If you set your preference to 'private room' and there is no private room available, the web site will offer you the best alternative available.

An ensuite room is a room that has a toilet and comes with a shower and/or bath. Private rooms and dorm style rooms can be ensuite. You may pay more for an ensuite room.

Dorm rooms are shared with other people. They will usually have bunk-style beds. There may be lockers or safety deposit boxes where you can store your valuables in the room also. Some dorm rooms now will have a bathroom or shower, as well. This will appear as a 'shared dorm with ensuite' on the site.

Dorms are often, but not always, separated by gender. There will be between 2 and 10 people sharing a room with bunk beds. Sometimes, particularly during peak seasons, large rooms sleeping as many as 30 people are made available, but these are not commonplace.

Many hostels now offer private rooms. For example, a hostel will have smaller dorms (4-6 beds) which can be booked by an entire group, so that you have the room to yourself. Also, many are not unlike hotels – offering private, single, twin and double rooms with ensuite facilities.

A tent will be found in any property type classified as 'Campsite'. It will be a canvas structure with a small bed that will normally sleep mixed-gender.

Our market-leading booking technology successfully processes millions of confirmed reservations each year for our valued customers. We're so confident in guaranteeing your reservation, that we will credit your Hostelworld account with the full deposit PLUS an additional $50 credit that can be used toward the deposits of future bookings on this site, in the extremely unlikely event that upon arrival at your chosen property, your reservation cannot be located by the reception agent.

In order to make a claim under our Booking Guarantee, you must contact us through our online Booking Guarantee Form within 48 hours of arrival at the property – as per the arrival date and time outlined on your reservation confirmation.

You should include your Booking Reference number when detailing your claim. If requested by Hostelworld upon making your claim, you must be able to provide a copy of your confirmation e-mail (either digitally or print); it contains your Booking Reference number which Hostelworld will use to validate the booking confirmation and verify your claim.

On approval of a claim, Hostelworld.com will credit your account with the deposit amount and the additional US$50 credit, both of which can be used toward deposits of future bookings made through Hostelworld. Credit will be applied to your account which is identified by the e-mail address used to process your initial booking.

In order to use credit simply log-in and make a booking using the same e-mail address. Your credit will automatically apply to your booking once you confirm the reservation. Credit cannot be applied to a booking made using a different e-mail address. Credit is only valid for bookings made online, and must be used within 6 months from the date the credit is applied to your account. Credit only applies to accommodation booking deposits; it cannot be used against other Hostelworld charges including booking fees or other purchases.