Sometimes I wonder what has happened to me in my old age. What could possibly compel a grown man to book a €24 bed in a n 8-person hostel when a perfectly respectable Hyatt-affiliated hotel was available nearby? Let me at least try to explain the logic.
What Is Wrong With Me?! My Hostel Experience In Brussels
Yesterday you may recall that I mentioned that I faced a hotel dilemma after failing to modify my Eurostar ticket at Brussels Midi/Zuid station. It was around 5:00 pm and I just wanted to walk around town a little bit and then take a nap and get some work done.
I’m a “free agent” when it comes to both airlines and hotels this year, but I am still partial to Hyatt and I noticed that The Standard had rooms available, which is affiliated with Hyatt. But that hotel is in the Northern Quarter, which is the opposite direction I wanted to go to explore the city center.
I also had a train departing at 5:53 am the following morning and this was not a city I was familiar with. Right outside the station is a Pullman Hotel, which would have been perfect…but it was sold out.
But down the street a couple blocks away was the Meininger Hotel Gare du Midi, a hostel…yes, the sort of hostel with 4-8 bunks that I stayed in when I was kid. And the price was only 24€…
I know I’m cheap, but the thought of having a place to work (and use the WC) for 24€ struck me as a great bargain, and I figured I could catch upon sleep during the 11-hour flight from Amsterdam to Los Angeles the following morning.
So I booked it…
I don’t know if calling it a “youth hostel” is fair because there were (mostly German) families there and some older travelers, but yes, it was mostly kids.
But this was a huge place and it even had a bar and a self-service kitchen.
I was assigned a room on the top floor.
As I walked into the room, there was a Brazilian guy on one of the beds with his laptop open and hands in his pants…
He was startled by my entrance and stopped whatever it was he was engaging in, but unfortunately was a chatty type and tried several times to strike up conversations with me.
I just wasn’t in the mood and let’s just say the Delhi Belly was still causing met trouble, which probably should have been more than enough justification for me to get my own room…
He wasn’t a student or backpacker…he appeared to be a worker delivering food for Uber Eats who just needed a place to sleep. His bicycle helmet and box to keep the food warm was sitting on the floor of the room.
I had to shake my head…what the heck was I doing? Thankfully, he soon left and I had the room to myself.
I went out for my walk and came back around 8:00 pm and the room was empty…Mr. Brazil came back later but it was just us…the other beds (and there were eight of them) never filled up.
I got up around 3:00 am and went down to the lobby, where I spent the next two hours working before heading over to the train station at 5:15 am to catch my train.
Would I have been a lot more comfortable in my 250€ room at The Standard? Without a doubt.
But somehow I’m kind of glad I spent 1/10 as much at this place and was able to get a solid seven hours of sleep and get my work done..
Is there something seriously wrong with me?
8 bunks? Could have been a lot worse.
Matthew, my goodness, the risks you’ve taken on this trip, from transiting the Middle East during an active war, drones and missiles flying by, to salads and Taco Bell all over India, resulting in *explosive diarrhea*, and, now, youth hostels. Please, stay alive; it’s “live” and let’s fly. Not ‘risk it all’ and blog finished. *wink*
When the Pullman sells out, I just stay at one of the hotels near the Gare Central, just one stop away on the Metro. Midi is not in a great neighborhood, though there are a couple of good breweries nearby.