Never been a big fan of dorm-style accommodations. Started my first tour in the HI hostel in Seattle in '99. It was really big. A bunch of young folks cam back drunk. One of them snored horribly. Snoring is one of my pet peeves.
Stayed in a private hostel in Whitefish, MT. It was in a house on a property owned by a couple who lived in the main residence. The wife was about to give birth any day. Stayed there the following year (2000) and got to meet the baby girl. Was in Whitefish again in 2009. I had heard that the hostel had closed. Walked by the property and saw what looked to be a girl of about 10 playing in the yard.
The HI hostel at Lake Itasca, which I understand recently closed, was ok, but the guy running it was quite unfriendly. Drill Sergeant when it came to chores the morning we left. He acted like he thought we were going to skip out on him. The weird thing about our two-night stay there was that on the second night an odd woman got in a bit of a row with him because she was uncomfortable sleeping in a room with other women. WTH? Why did you choose to stay at a hostel? She left in the middle of the night.
The private hostel in Minneapolis would probably have been shut down if city officials knew what was going on there. There were many young people living there for the summer. Most of them were Irish and were working in entertainment-related places, like concert venues. The place was so packed, people were sleeping on couches and even floors. I remember getting up on Sunday morning, coming downstairs and having to step over sleeping people to get to the kitchen.
The Rainbow Hostel in Niagara Falls, ON, was a throw back to the 60s. There was even a Merry Prankster-type bus that gave tours of places most tourists didn't see.
Last edited by indyfabz; 08-05-20 at 12:10 PM.