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What should you check before paying for a hostel bed near campus?

Answer sixteen questions about a hostel you are considering: the room, water, power and security, getting to campus, and how you pay. See which checks are done and what to ask before you pay. Runs in your browser. No account, no card, no call.

The hostel you are considering

Parents can answer on a student's behalf. Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent.

The room

Have you seen recent photos or a video of the actual room, not a sample room?

Has the hostel confirmed in writing that a bed is free for you, and from when?

Do you know how many students share the room?

Do you know how many students share each bathroom?

Water, power and security

Do you know where the hostel's water comes from, and what happens when supply stops?

Do you know whether there is power backup, and whether it covers the rooms?

Do you know the security arrangements, such as who controls the gate and whether rooms lock?

Do you know the curfew and visitor rules?

Do you know whether internet is included, and what it costs if not?

Getting to campus

Do you know how long the journey to campus takes at the time lectures start?

Have you worked out what transport to campus will cost over the year?

Have you asked current residents about the route back to the hostel after dark?

Paying

Are you paying the hostel owner or manager directly, not a runner?

Will you get a receipt naming the hostel, the room type and the amount paid?

Is the balance paid only at check-in, after you have seen the room?

If an agent is involved, is their fee agreed in writing before you pay anything?

Answer the questions to see your score. It updates as you go.

Method: yes scores a question in full, partly scores half and no scores nothing. Each is weighted from one to three by how much it matters to your money and your daily life, and the score is the weighted share, as a percentage. It lists what to ask; it does not judge the hostel.

What should you check before paying for a hostel bed near campus?

Answer sixteen questions about a hostel you are considering: the room, water, power and security, getting to campus, and how you pay. See which checks are done and what to ask before you pay. Runs in your browser. No account, no card, no call.

Open the free tool

It runs in your browser. CediHostel never sees your inputs.