FOR a lot of people, the word “hostel” conjures up images of bunk beds, wet towels, dirty bathrooms and moody backpackers.
Well, good news — hostels are not like that any more . . . at all.
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Staying at The Independente in Lisbon, it’s hard to believe it’s a hostel.
Once a 19th Century palace and home to the Swiss ambassador, its grand rooms have soaring ceilings and ornate plasterwork.
The downstairs lounge looks like a posh bar. Its restaurant, open to non-guests too, is so highly recommended by city guides there is a queue of diners waiting to be seated.
The cocktails are incredible — or if you want a cheap beer, they’re just one euro during the happy (three) hours between 4pm and 7pm.
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The dorms have six, nine or 12- bunk beds, from £13.26 a night. The rooms, including exclusive female dorms, feature gorgeous wooden floors, hip white walls and some funky vintage furniture.
The bunks themselves are cleverly designed with plenty of space to sit up, your own individual light and secure storage.
The bathrooms are also sparkling clean, although I would have preferred a door to the shower enclosures instead of a curtain.
The Independente, in the centre of the buzzing Bairro Alto and Principe Real districts, also has suites on the top floor from £123.74 a night with double beds, vintage furniture and balconies with great city views.
Guests can access the rooftop bar next door at the Insolito and get ten per cent off drinks or dinner.
The mix of hostel users has changed too — it’s no longer a sea of teenagers in tie-dye trousers swapping stories about how long they’ve gone without washing.
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We were there to celebrate travel website hostelworld.com’s 20th birthday with a party, but downstairs in the hostel’s foyer, families with young kids mixed with couples in their thirties, and an older couple and a family with teenagers sat in the bar and ate in the restaurant.
A budget option in a hostel gives you more spare cash to enjoy Lisbon. It’s the ultimate affordable break, just over two hours from London.
Unusually, the city centre is just 15 minutes from the airport by taxi (lift-share company Kapten seems to have the most available cars in the city), or a 25-minute ride on the Metro underground line.
Compared to the UK, public transport is incredibly cheap. Charge up a reusable card sold at Metro stations and you can ride the Metro, trains, buses and the city’s iconic trams to your heart’s content — eight euros should easily last the weekend.
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And you’ll need those trams when Lisbon’s steep hills get too much after trying the local beer, Sagres.
Lisbon knows how to party, whatever your budget. Starting at the Independente at the top of Bairro Alto, work your way down the Rua do Diario de Noticias, where lively bars serve ice-cold €1 (91p) beers, before hitting the Time Out market.
The Mercado da Ribeira is essentially half working food market, half restaurant hall. Long communal benches are surrounded by bars and counters serving everything from traditional Portuguese bacalhau (fried salted cod with potato, egg and onion) and caldo verde (cabbage soup with chorizo — nicer than it sounds) to sushi, burgers, pizza and seafood.
After hours, it turns into a huge bar, with beers and local favourite white port and tonic at €3 (£2.72).
After that, hit the late-night party district of Cais Do Sodre.
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Formerly the seediest part of the city by the docks, it has now been made over, with new bars and the main street, which used to be the red light district, now painted pink — something Instagramming tourists can’t resist posing on.
Party at Pensao Amor (meaning Love Boarding House, the building’s former use) or Lounge, where the party spills out on to the street most nights and goes on until 4am.
The next day, shake off your hangover with a trip to the beach — the nearest ones to the city are Cascais or Estoril, and the train from Cais Do Sodre goes every 20 minutes and costs around €1.65 (£1.49) one way.
Stop off at Belem on the way back to see the town’s famous tower and, if you can bear the queues, taste the legendary pastel de nata (custard tarts) at Pasteis De Belem.
GO: Lisbon
GETTING THERE: Fly easyJet with one-way fares from London from £31.24 and from Manchester from £28.99.
See easyjet.com.
Ryanair, BA, Finnair and TAP Portugal also fly from Heathrow.
STAYING THERE: The Independente Hostel & Suites has dorm rooms from £13.26 per night and suites from £123.74 per night.
Book at hostelworld.com.
MORE INFO: See visitlisboa.com/en.
