Hostels get a bad rep in the United States. I’ve never seen the movie “Hostel” but apparently it did some mental damage to American mindsets. As so many things do.
I stayed in my first hostel in New York City at 18 with my soon-to-be college roommate, Jess. We road tripped to NYC and she booked us a bunkbed hostel room. I had no clue what this meant and remember being slightly stunned when we arrived at the small space with community bathrooms.
In 2015, I took my first backpacking trip on a one-way ticket to Costa Rica. This is where my love of hostels really began.
After the trip, I was obsessed with the idea of traveling the US and staying in hostels. I wanted to write about them, take photos and turn around this false idea that Americans have about hostels. And then, I realized how few even exist.
From the furthest southeast corner to the uppermost northwest of the quite massive state of Michigan, it’s around a 10-hour drive. Within that distance, I have yet to discover more than 5 hostels in the state.
These are the hostels I’ve found in Michigan:
Hostel Detroit
Opened in 2011, at the time it was the only hostel in Michigan and the first in Detroit in 15 years.
Bellows Bunkroom at Creekside Cottages, Interlochen, MI
Michigan Hostel at Mt. Bohemia
Coming summer 2022: Hostel SoHa, South Haven
Near Michigan & worth mentioning:
Lost River Hostel, West Baden, IL
If you are aware of additional hostels in Michigan, please comment or email me. I’d love to add them to the list!
