Unfortunately, the HI movement in the U.S. is in decline - - although they say their numbers are constant. Originally, hosteling was very decentralized with local councils offering rustic accommodations so that young people and others might be able to travel and explore new places / new cultures on a budget. Contributing to upkeep by small chores was a central part of hosteling. There used to be hundreds of hostels in state parks in Ohio, Michigan, Washington - plus lots of home hostels in small communities across the country.

Today, AYH concentrates on a small number of urban hostels which are huge and serve foreign and American young people hopping from New York to Chicago to L.A. But the rustic hostels in places like Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania on the Youghiogheny River Trail are long closed. A few of the older style hostels persist - such as those on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard Islands or Pigeon Point in California.

But since the mission and purpose of the AYH (and most likely hosteling in general) has changed, it mostly is about cheapo accommodations in places where it might cost $100 to $200 per night, otherwise. Since non-HI hostels have fewer standards and oversight - they often can be little more than flop houses. Not always, but certainly a strong possibility. I am glad that I stayed in many of the park hostels on bicycle trips in the 1980s - they were wonderful, but a thing of the past.