do you prefer hostels or 5 star hotels to stay when you're travelling abroad?

I prefer to stay in a backpacker's hostel or locally owned guest house than a five star hotel. When I visit a foreign country I like to see life as it is for the local people not experience luxury like I could get in my own country. I know that all inclusive hotels can be owned by foreign companies and the people in the resort miss out on the tourist dollar. A guest house owner might have great suggestions about where to eat, the things worth seeing and the five star hotel might provide fancy food and keep its guests on the beach outside the hotel. cold water can be quite refreshing in a hot climate. It can be sad to hear whilst tourists have lots of water in a huge swimming pool water is in short supply for the local population. A wooden guest house with a thatched roof might blend into the local surroundings, but a high rise five star hotel made form bricks might look out of place. Security measures should be taken in a cheap guest house or an expensive hotel.

When I was a young kid and single, I used to stay at hostels or even camp out in the parks where I was travelling at. However, now that I'm older and married, I enjoy the comfort and privacy of a 5 star hotel, though I usually don't stretch quite that far and stay in 4 star hotels. The amenities are soothing.

I do not need a five star hotel, however I do need a nice and comfortabele bed. the most important thing for me is that it is clean and that there are no coachroaches and stuff like that. I have stayed in 5 stars hotels and they are usaully bery unpersonal - the smaller ones are usually more fun!

It depends on the budget. If I can afford a 5-star hotel, then why not? As you said, a 5-star hotel has very nice facilities, accomodation, food and service and also very good security. However, if I cannot afford a 5-star hotel, I will go to a 2-4 star hotel, depending on the price and the quality of the service the hotel offers.

I would prefer hostels because I don't think I would stay in the hotels that much when I am traveling to a foreign country. I prefer to utilize my time to go out and check out the places and stuff, so I don't think I would be able to enjoy the facilities a hotel offers. Besides, usually when I go on travel, I would have a tight budget and I tend to cut down the budget on accomodation, so that I could utilize the money to do something else.

for me i prefer hotels rather than hostels. i would want to stay in a comfortable place and have a clean and nice en-suite bathroom :) ..it doesn't have a to be a 5 star hotel, preferably a 3 or 4 star hotel with affordable room rates is good enough.