What is the Difference Between Guesthouse and Hostel

Primary Difference

Guesthouses and hostels both have one common similarity between them, that they are both used for accommodation of people. Accommodation can be a big problem for travelers, students, tourists, and businessmen when they are in a foreign city or a foreign country and there is a lot of hassle in looking for accommodation for the stay. These two modes of accommodation, guest houses and hostels are used to provide shelter and space to people for staying. Also these both places are much cheaper as compared to hotels for a stay. The basic difference between guesthouse and hostel is that a guesthouse is used to accommodate people for a shorter duration of time and it provides facilities to visitor and travelers to spend the night or stay in for a sleep over. Some guesthouses provide only a bed to sleep in while some also provide food. While on the other hand, hostels are large buildings used for accommodating many students and sometimes, visitors too. Hostels provides a place to stay for a longer span of time, as compared to guesthouses.

Comparison Chart

Definition of Guesthouse

A guesthouse is basically a lodging facility or a place to stay for travelers and tourists for a short span of time which is mostly for two to three days. It is mostly to spend the night. Some guest house give accommodation only to sleep in for some nights while some even offer the facility of food and breakfast. As the name implies, it is a house for the guests and in the past, out house built outside the main house, in the garden or backyard and was referred to as a guest house for the accommodation of the guest. Tourists and travelers usually prefer to stay in a guesthouse rather than big hotels because guesthouse is comparatively cheaper, but, guesthouse do not provide the proper facilities or room services like in hotels but they give the privacy of a separate room. In some guesthouse, visitors give rent for a sleepover. A guest house looks like a private home in many countries with separate rooms that are provided to visitors on a daily rent basis. A guesthouse is just a source of mutual; benefit and a business scheme to earn money. Many people have opened small guesthouses in their own homes and the accommodation of the night for travelers is exchanged with money.

Definition of Hostel

A hostel is a huge building that has many rooms and the facility of many beds to provide shelter and accommodation for people to stay for a longer period of time. Hostel is mainly used for the purpose of providing accommodation facility to the students. Students, if coming from foreign countries or cities can stay in the hostel to study and complete their education. Some hostels are built within the colleges and universities to provide accommodation and studies at the same time. In the western part of the world, hostels are not limited to accommodate only the students, but is also used for accommodation purpose for visitors and travelers. Generally there are many rooms on one floor of the hostel with around five to six beds in one room. The room may or may not have an attached bathroom, in some cases there are two to three bathrooms on one floor for the inmates to use them. It is used to accommodate a large number of people, hence there is a lot of sharing in a hostel. Some hostels may also have the facility of a kitchen for the students and visitors, so they can cook food for themselves.

Differences in a Nutshell

1. Visitors or travelers stay for a shorter duration of time in a guesthouse while the stay of time is longer in a hostel.
2. Mostly travels, visitors and tourists prefer to stay in a guesthouse while on the other hand, a hostel provides accommodation to mostly students.
3. A guesthouse has complete facility for travelers of bathroom and kitchen while in a hostel they might have an attached bathroom inside the room and a kitchen or else kitchen and bathroom facility is available only on the floor for all rooms.
4. A guest house provides the facility of privacy to single traveler or visitor or a family, while on the contrary, there is no privacy in a hostel as many people share the same room.
5. A guest is a house with less rooms for visitors to stay in while a hostel is a huge building with a large number of rooms for a large number of people to stay.