I have slept in every type of accommodation Germany has to offer (sans couch surfing which is an amazing or so I've heard option if you are traveling alone and/or on a very low budget. Check the website out). I've had my own hotel room one night then slept in a room with 40 the next (I'm not kidding...40...I'll explain later). Where to sleep in a foreign land depends a lot of course on your wallet and comfort level. Hotels are priced like they are here depending how nice you want them to be, naturally. Hostels on the other hand are cheap and wonderful (as long as you pick a good one and hopefully I can help you go down the right path with picking).
First and last nights, I like private rooms. They cost a little more but are worth it. While, multiple people rooms are generally very quiet, I like to not be around people while I'm adjusting to the time change and catching up on sleep. I also don't like to disturb people when getting up at 3am to catch an early flight so I opt, again for a private room.
While Eli Roth essentially killed the idea of staying in a hostel for my friends, I can assure you that you will not die while staying at one. The first night I stayed in a hostel, I knew someone else was staying with my Aunt, Uncle and I, I stayed up till the guy came back for the night and alas, nothing happened. He was so quiet and very considerate to my sleeping chaperons. I find in every place, that everyone general goes to bed at the same time because well you all become friends and hang out or go out together. I only had one bad experience, while in Munich, in our 40 person dorm (it was set up like a long hall with four compartments, with five bunks in each-not just an open room like I imagined) when a group of guys came back at 2am and proceeded to be the loudest people on Earth. The 35 other people were none to pleased. We did however seek our revenge when everyone was leaving and they were all sleeping. MUAHWAHAHAHAHA!! Anyways, I've never had anything taken, felt uncomfortable or awkward.
Rooms in a hostel are priced as so...the more people the less money (unless you are in Nuremberg and stay at the A1 Hostel-$16 for a double private room. Can't beat that!) and every place is different. A wonderful resource that I used was HostelWorld.com. You go on pick your country, city, dates and how many beds you need and they give you a list of hostels available. They are ranked in order from Best to not so great. You can book online through them and pay a 10% deposit (it's usually something ridiculous like $2.10) to reserve the room then pay the rest when you get to your hostel.
It's important to make sure that the hostel is in the city you want to be in and not outside of it. We made that mistake in Munich and our German teacher we were staying with this past trip had to call and tell them that we were deathly ill and that we couldn't come because of a strict cancellation policy that we missed by one day. We lost the deposit but it saved us money regardless by not using the U going in and out.
**Super Helpful Tip** Try not to stay in major cities on the weekends in the summer. Hostels are packed and the room prices soar! Hence why we booked the wrong hostel and we were stuck in a 40 person dorm. You live and you learn.
A slight disclaimer, if you don't bring a towel with you, you can "rent" one for usually a 2-5 Euro deposit. You can check on the Hostels profile on Hostel Worlds website what services they provide and try to make sure bed sheets are included in the room price and you don't have to put a deposit on them either. One thing I have learned: Germans are crazy about deposits.
They do have lots of perks though including walking tours, happy hours, free meals, bar crawls, free WiFi, laundry services (5 Euros), full breakfasts buffets that aren't just cereal and a muffin but that will cost a couple of euros too. If they get to be more than 5 Euros, skip it, there is a bakery nearby, I promise. At the International Hostels, breakfast is included!! FREE NUTELLA!!!!
If you are a young person there are a lot of other young persons staying in hostels (there are also very old ones like the very sweet 80 year old Belgium woman I had the pleasure of meeting in Wurzburg) to make friends with. In Berlin, we met the coolest people and made some friends by hanging out in the common area in East7Berlin (the best hostel basically ever). We played cards, games,and drank 2 Euro beers during happy hour and when that was over we went down the street to White Trash (a bar you must go to if you stay in Berlin especially if they have live music-an absolute blast!). You will meet people from all over the world especially Australians...they. are. everywhere.
Here is a brief rundown of the Hostels I've stayed at and if you find yourself in these places stay there too!! They were all fabulous and clean so instead of repeating myself they were all nice. If there are any side notes, I'll make them ;)
Berlin:
East 7:The best hostel known to man. The staff is so helpful and beyond nice. The rooms are nice, clean and reasonably priced for being in the middle of the city, a short walk to all major touristy attractions.
Dresden:
Kangaroo-Stop: Just make sure you get out at the right train station-there are two in Dresden. If you do get out at the Neustadt (new city) station it is literally right around the corner from there!
Nuremberg:
A1 Hostel-a little out of the way but it's just a 5 min U ride away from the main train station in the center of the city. They had the best private room price.
Five Reasons: Great big rooms with great big windows! The bathrooms flooded, a lot, since the showers are elevated and run over onto the floors were the sinks and bathroom stalls are. If you can get past that, it's great.
A&O Hauptbahnhof: Right next to the train station, hence the name. Has a very pretty roof top bar that you can get a nice view from.
Wurzburg:
Jugendherberge Hostel: the comfiest of duvets in all of Germany though it's a bit of a walk from the train station. It's right at the base of a vineyard with the famous Fortress directly above it.
BabelFish Hostel: Right across the street from the train station. Minutes walk for everything you need!
Frieburg:
Black Forest Hostel: This place will do your laundry (well for 5 Euros) but it's awesome. I liked this place a lot. It's a bit of a walk from the train station but there aren't a lot of hostels in Freiburg so beggars can't be choosers.
Munich:
Jaeger's Munich: right across the street from the train station on a road lined with youth hostels. Try to stay up stairs in the more private rooms, if you can. The rooms have hard wood floors and marble counter tops in the bathroom. The most modern of rooms is here.
Euro Youth Hostel: Great lounge and bar! Try the swimming pool and look for the AXΩ dollar bill on the large post in the middle of the bar(that's mine!!)
Fuessen (Neuschwanstein Castle):
House L.A.: The cutest rooms pretty much ever, very fresh looking. Darling, just Darling!
Stuttgart:
Hostel Alex30: Don't leave the windows open if it is going to storm. The sound of the thunder will make you think the Allies are bombing you. Other than that go downstairs in the lobby and get the Beck's version of a Radler (soda and beer-sounds awful, tastes amazing! Try them allllll over Germany!).
Sigmaringen (or the Sig as we fondly refereed to it as):
DJH Youth Hostel: First off, do not park/get off at the trainstation and walk...it's up a huge hill unless you want the workout with all your stuff. We only stayed here because we went to the Southside Music Festival about 20 mins away. We had the room to ourselves because there weren't many people there at the time. There is a giant and beautiful castle in town so take a tour of that if you are passing through. Breakfast is between 7-9 and included in the cost of the room (NUTELLA!!!).
