BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

Europe's youth hostels are shedding their image of bedbug-ridden dorm rooms and mildewed showers as they attract a new clientele.

Annie Worth, a 21-year-old from Orinda, Calif., said she and her friends were used to staying in nice hotels with their parents on vacation but had chosen to stay in no-frill hostels during an 11-country backpacking trip through Europe.

"Especially with the Euro being so strong and the U.S. dollar being so weak, I think a lot of younger people who had initially avoided them are staying there because they are hearing so many great things about them and money is tight,'' she said.

Hostel owners are reporting that they are attracting a different type of customer. Alongside young people on shoestring budgets, they are also seeing more students from wealthier backgrounds and more travellers over the age of 30.

Lynn Schouten, manager of the Shelter Jordan in Amsterdam, said she is getting more well-heeled students and older guests who are used to the finer things in life -- and are not so keen on 18-bed shared rooms.

In response to this new demand, her hostel was renovated last year to add smaller suites that "are more expensive but also provide more privacy and luxury,'' she said. Hostels are not always ridiculously cheap.

Most single beds in dormitory rooms cost between $31 and $47 a night and can climb as high as $78 for a dorm-room stay in tourist hotspot Amsterdam.

Heather Barrett, 21, also of Orinda, Calif., said she was surprised by how much hostels in Britain, Spain and Italy cost.

"I thought they would be much cheaper,'' she said. "They can be surprisingly expensive for the quality, so I suppose the image of the cheap backpackers' hostel is rapidly disappearing.''

The charm of the hostel experience draws many people to shun cheap hotels with private bathrooms.

Instead, they stay in dormitories sleeping up to 20 strangers, with shared bathrooms where shower sandals are a must.

While there's always the risk of the occasional bedbug, a quick look at reader reviews on sites like TripAdvisor shows that infestations are not all that common, and can be found at hotels just as often as they can at hostels.

It's not for everyone. Travellers usually have access to lockers to ensure their belongings are safe and may even be able to cut costs by doing chores to earn their keep.

But on the upside, hostels give people a chance to mingle and share their tall travel tales.

Vincent Dewilde, manager of 2GO4 Quality Hostel in downtown Brussels, said he often sees single travellers meeting in the lounge of the Brussels hostel, swapping sightseeing tips and going out for drinks together.

"It's a whole different style of travel,'' he said.

IF YOU GO

SHELTER JORDAN: Bloemstraat 179, Amsterdam, www.shelter.nl Summer dorm rates start at around $36.

YOUTH HOSTEL JACQUES BREL: Rue de la Sablonniere 30, Brussels, www.laj.be/html/en/hostels/brel/aubergesbrel--en01.htm Rates start at around $25.

2GO4 QUALITY HOSTEL: Boulevard Emile Jacqmain-laan 99, Brussels, www.2go4.be/quality Rates start at around $31.

HOSTELS: You can book hostels online through websites like Hostelworld.com. Each listing on Hostelworld includes reviews from readers and ratings for six aspects of their hostel stay: cleanliness, staff, location, security, character and fun.