Last month, this column introduced the benefits and drawbacks of hostelling (“Hostels yield benefits for single travellers”, May 1-8). Now on to the practical: how to make a hostel work for you.

I’ve stayed in hostels in countries from Spain to Japan, Israel to Australia, and it’s impossible to generalize about the hostel experience. Some establishments are definitely better than others, but a lot depends on happenstance. Bunking in a hostel can be simultaneously rewarding and frustrating.

Take my recent stay at Hostelling International New York as an example. The 624-bed monolith has a fairly good location near the subway, and a brand-spanking-new kitchen so stylish Jamie Oliver could shoot in it. Those who don’t want to cook can conveniently buy inexpensive lattes and sandwiches in the lobby. Unlike cramped Manhattan budget hotels, the hostel offers plenty of communal recreation space, including a movie room and an expansive lawn. The rooms and bathrooms are reasonably clean (although the showers can get a bit grotty), and no hotel can compete with the hostel’s organized activities, including group club-hopping and cheap daily city tours conducted by volunteer guides.

But this hostel caters to large groups, and judging from my two visits, individual travellers get short shrift. Those I met grumbled about being forced to change rooms at least once during their several-day sojourn—a real inconvenience. Door-slamming schoolkids turned some floors into summer camp. And, as is the risk at any hostel, inconsiderate guests arriving at 4 a.m. flipped on the dorm-room lights and made sleeping difficult.

As the Boy Scouts say, the key to happy hostelling is being prepared. Packing an eye mask and earplugs goes a long way to help you sleep through your dormmates’ comings and goings. Using a flashlight is courteous when the situation is reversed; a headlamp is even better for reading or searching through your backpack. A pair of plastic thongs takes the ick out of communal showers. And a padlock is essential for securing your belongings in the lockers provided.

Be sure to consult a hostel’s website to determine whether or not you need to bring bedding. (Sleeping bags are discouraged or banned at many hostels for hygienic reasons.)

According to Heather Cleland, marketing and communications coordinator for Hostelling International Canada’s Pacific Mountain region, most Canadian hostels provide all bedding and include it in the price of a night’s stay. She tells the Straight by phone, however, that hostels in other countries may rent sheets separately.

Cleland advises people to book the first few nights of their trip in advance. They can maintain flexibility by booking the rest as they go. “Especially in Europe in the summer, if you know where you’re going to be the next day, make a reservation, even if it’s the day before,” she says. “It just saves you from showing up to a full hostel and having your Plan A scratched.” Cleland adds that “at most hostels, the front-desk staff will make reservations for you for no charge for your next hostel.”

If you have a preference for a gender-segregated or coed dorm room, be sure to specify this when you make a reservation.

Keep in mind that in some countries, hostels aren’t necessarily the best-value accommodation. For two or more people, a bed-and-breakfast may be only slightly more expensive and offer more privacy. Throughout Southeast Asia, guesthouses are so cheap that dorm-style accommodation is less common.

Above all, hostelling requires flexibility and a sense of perspective. A hostel is never going to have 400-thread-count sheets. But you just might get an invaluable travel tip from somebody you meet in the bathroom.