Avoid at all Costs: Marquette House Hostel

I stayed an extra day in New Orleans after my friend had to leave. I figured I should stay in a hostel rather than a hotel to save money and perhaps rub elbows with some fellow travelers. I've had great luck with hostels in Bangkok, Beijing, Boston and Honolulu.

I booked a room at Marquette House New Orleans International Hostel online.

This turned out to be the worst rat hole I've ever stayed in. The room was filthy as was the bathroom. Guests, long gone, had left food containers and wrappers in the dorms and no one cleaned them up. The showers and bathrooms were a mess. The stairs needed repair. I shared a room with a woman from Isreal and profusely apologized that America was not usually so disgusting.

Is someone paying off the city inspectors? I don't know why this fire trap is allowed to remain open. It's a disgrace to NOLA.

Review: Udee Hostel, Bangkok

Udee Hostel, part of the International Hostel group, is a sleek, modern, friendly place in a residential neighborhood. The rooms are the best I've stayed in for a hostel. Both the single rooms and the dorms are spotless and this hostel won a cleanliness award. Downstairs by reception is an open air terrace where you can watch cable TV, read one of the many English books or magazines, eat or drink. A simple breakfast is free: tea, juice, cereal, toast and fruit. It's not far from the Skytrain. I'm going back next week for Chinese New Year. There are coin laundry machines and a rooftop patio.

During my first visit I shared a room with an interesting woman from Indonesia who'd just quit her job as a reporter for the Jakarta Post and was studying Thai for a month. She already spoke English and Chinese well.

Prices: Dorm bed - 350 Baht (so $12) Single room 1100 Baht (so $37ish).

Members get a 10% discount and you can charge your lodgings, but there's a 3% surcharge.

Bangkok has several beautiful looking hostels with high ratings (90% and up).