Unique Hostels

I'm doing a bit of solo traveling in europe this summer and while in the past i've stayed at hostels, I'm starting to feel a bit....old for them. I'm only 24! And while I still like to have fun, I don't necessarily want to stay at a place that feels like a frat house, where everyones goal is to get blacked out drunk. I still want to meet people, and even though couchsurfing is great hostels expose you to a larger population. My ideal situation would be like a big farm with lots of young people, but doesn't involve working like wwwoofing. Does anyone know anything like that in Austria/Germany/Switzerland? Or has anyone been to those 3 countries and can recommend any hostels that are good for meeting people who arent 18?

Thank you guys! :)

I just reread my post, and I sound like a bit of a snob, couchsurfing and wwoofing are great resources! Didn't mean to diss them, just seeing what else is out there.

'A bit old' for hostels?

Try saying that to our 70+ y.o.s on the Older Travellers branch and they'll laugh themselves silly.

What you need to look for in hostels which do NOT give a high rating for 'atmosphere' - because atmosphere means a 'party hostel'. Read the reviews and you'll find some amazing places. And you'll be one of the younger ones in most situations.

Sorry, I can't help with the countries you mention, though.

I travel with my family and stay at hostels most of the time. We don´t feel too old or too young (the kids) to stay at hostels, as long as we make sure, by reading the hostel description closely and the reviews of the places, as Go_2 also say in the post above, that it´s not a party hostel.
Hostels are a great place to meet other travellers and great value as well. If you book through the Hostelling International (HI) chain then you are pretty sure you won´t stay at a party hostel as many of the travellers staying there are of the slightly older variety (or just not part of the party crowd).

For Germany I recommend to stay in smaller towns and book guesthouses. Hostel rooms in cities are (for my feeling) incredibly expensive. Close to ripp-off. Compared to guesthouses and stuff... and I am German. I would rather sleep in the car then supporting those gangsters.

I once had a couchsurfer with me from China and I could not host her any longer so I was looking for hostels...

Just make sure you do not show up somewhere during trade fair shows ect.

Indeed plenty of nice hostels which are not party hostels (let's face most nice hostels are not party hostels as party hostels often end up being about cramming people in who get drunk and therefore don't really care).

When in Europe, in particular, I'd try and avoid HI/YHA hostels as my experience with these are that they tend to be a bit 'industrial' no character and often with ridiculous curfews (I assume that whilst you're not after a party hostel you would like the option of going out in the evening and not having to be back and in bed by 10pm). There are plenty of independent hostels which are worth checking out.

Also consider the price of a private room compared to a dorm - it may be more but you may be happy to pay the extra for a bit of privacy. Best of both worlds, your own room but access to the communal areas of the hostel.

I travel around Europe a fair bit from my base in Amsterdam and know what you're saying- I'm 27 myself, and love to meet people in hostels but am a bit beyond the party hostel scene. So what I often do is go for ones that have an option where I can get a private room for not too much more- I like the privacy but you still have access to the hostel network, and that seems to work great for me.

As for specific hostels, the best I've stayed in in that part of Europe are the "Wombats" hostel chain which is in Germany, Austria, and just saw one new one in Budapest when visiting my brother. The bar definitely gets lively but the rooms have a great layout with lots of space between bunks and such, and I've really enjoyed staying in a few of them.

The other one I really liked in the area that I can recommend (albeit this was a few years ago) was Snowbunnys in Kitzbuhel, Austria, which was a skiing hostel. I met a lot of great people there but there's no bar there so the party inevitably moves elsewhere; if you're up for checking out a small Austrian town that might be a good bet.

i find that hostels outside the city center tend to be quieter. also if there is a bar at the hostel then it's probably a party hostel. also depends on the season and if it's a weekend where young people from neighboring countries or cities might be having a weekend getaway. i'm older than you and still don't feel too old for hostels... love the variety of people you can meet in them!

My wife and I will be 60 soon and for the last few years we have been spending a lot of holidays in hostels all around the world. Apart from the cost one advantage is that you meet so many people and can pick ups lots of useful info. We only stay in those where we can get a private room for two. The trick is to read reviews and avoid those hostels where reviewers have commented favourably on the party atmosphere !! We are planning some long trips (several months) and hostels will be essential becasue of the cost and the ability to cook your own food, also saving money.

Don't give up on hostels, just choose carefully

Thank you everyone for your replies! Very helpful. I recently went to miami and stayed on two different hostels. The first was what I described in my opening post, music blasting 2 feet away from me until 3am, finally had to switch rooms because I realized they were never turning it off. Everyone either super young or creepy middle age men hitting on the girls. People drinking the cheapest alcohol they could find and then puking it up. All the staff completely hammered. So I switched hostels. The second one I went to was still really fun, it had a bar on the hostel, but it specialized in craft cocktails and there were lots of locals there, still plenty of people in the 20s and 30s, but also some older (but not hitting on the 18 year old girls!). People were enjoying there drinks, and they knew how to handle their liquor. There was also ways to meet people outside of drinking, they had a pool and a bocce ball court and ping pong table, and inside there was a common area with books and games. It was such a great hostel. So not all hostels with a bar have to be crazy. I guess I just need to do a lot of reading of reviews!!

Yes, you have to read the reviews well first. :>))

But don't necessarily avoid HI hostels. Some of them are a bit souless, but some are very good. For example, in Spain recently I stayed in HI hostels in Cordoba and Toledo. The first was fine but very 'clinical', the second was really wonderful. It depends on the size of hostel and the person/.people running it, I think.