Hostels in Belgrade

By Jelica Tapuskovic

Belgrade, Aug.17,2009, (Serbia Today) - There are about 60 hostels in Belgrade of which 12 are members of International hosting network.
It means that they work under International Youth Hostel Federation rules. Hostels are clean and cheap places to stay, located in houses, apartments and other objects with one, two, three, four or even 20 beds, where tourists can sleep and stay. Some rooms have a bathroom, but mostly, few rooms are sharing it.
Personal things are usually locked in little closets, or in safes. Overnight stay is much cheaper than in hotels, but service is also different. In hostels is not so comfortable, like in hotels, but the atmosphere and communication between guests is better.
It is a normal thing that two or more complete strangers are sharing the room, and after staying in a hostel they continue their friendship, during their stay in Belgrade, and even after that. Each hostel, besides an overnight stay, gives to their user a kitchen and dining room, internet, and laundry self-service.
It is not a rare situation that some guests prolong their stay in a hostel, just because of good atmosphere, even for one or more months.
Usually, hostels are on good locations, but because of a possibility to meet many people, guests of hostels are predominantly young people, who are traveling all around the world with backpacks on their shoulders. Besides them, visitors of hostels are also families and tourist groups.
Prices are lower than in hotels, and they are from 10 – 25 Euros ($14.2 - $35.7), depending on the number of beds in the room.
First hostels in the world were established 100 years ago, and first hostels in Serbia are established eight years later, in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians. Today, international hostelling includes hostels organizations from 70 countries all over the world, and it brings big profits.
International hostelling network consider some standards, and all hostels in Belgrade obey the criteria of International Youth Hostel Federation, the main hostel organization in the world. Those standards mean hospitality, safety, cleanliness, privacy, comfort and a joint room in which all guests are having leisure time.
In last few years hostelling developed in Belgrade, and one of innovations are hostels on water. That are float boats made like hostels, and they are very popular among young travelers who underline sleeping and staying in houses on one of Belgrade’s rivers.
Besides Belgrade, there are hostels in all big towns in Serbia.
In the future, there is a plan for making categorization of hostels. That means that they will be valued from one to three stars. Also, there is a plan for making legal act, which will regulate working of hostels.