Concerning Accomodation Selection

Due our large following of readers, I thought I´d try to describe a few of the things that are now part of our everyday life. I asked myself "What do our millions of readers want to know about us?" and after figuratively putting myself in the shoes of several million people, I came up with the answer... I will describe the boring and mundane aspects of how to go about choosing our nightly accomodation!!
For starters we begin by consulting the all-important guidebook. (an essential item to say the least) The guidebook that we selected to get us through the South American leg of our journey is Lonely Planet: South America. (from here on to be known more efficiently as "LP") LP is very useful in helping us to decide which part of town we want to stay in. When deciding on an area LP tells us how close we´ll be to sights, bars, restaurants, etc. The only problem with LP is that it is so comprehensive and well-respected (no I don´t own LP stock) that every backpacker is also using it. As a result, it is not uncommon for an LP recommended place to raise their prices upon the recommendation being published.
The type of accomodation we are usually staying in is called a hostel. I know what you´re thinking ¨What´s a hostel?¨. A hostel is an alternative to a hotel that usually caters to the budget traveler. Most hostels have dorm style rooms (more than 3 beds to a room), kitchen facilities, and shared bathrooms. (this lifestyle is not for everyone) Think summer camp except without the bug juice.
What do we look for when selecting a hostel? There are 3 main factors: cheapness, affordability, and price, in that order. (hey, we´re on a tight budget ok?) We usually view several hostels, which means we do quite a bit of walking around. We will ask to see the room (the pic at the top is an example of a typical dorm room). Most hostel dorms contain 6-8 beds. We generally go for the rooms with fewer beds, as the rooms tend to be quieter. (we recently made the stupifying realization that we´re not 21 any more) We also will examine the kitchen facilities. We look for them to be clean and well stocked with important items like a large pot, strainer, and can opener. (for our regular meals of pasta and tomato sauce) Bathroom cleanliness also is important. Besides location these are the 3 most important factors. I intend to devote another entry on other hostel ammenities.(eg. internet, bicycles built for 2, a pool, etc.)
Once each of us has an idea of which hostel we want to go with, we hold hostel discussions that go something like this:
Mark: So, Dave, which place did you like best?
Dave: I liked Hostel A because it offers bicylces built for two.
Mark: Hmmm, well I liked Hostel #2 because it had free high speed internet which enables me to keep our millions of readers informed on our daily happenings. How strongly do you feel about Hostel A?
Dave: I´m 60-40 towards Hostel A.
Mark: Ok, well I´m only 55-45 for Hostel #2, so we´ll go with Hostel A.
(please note: Dave´s affinity for bicycles built for 2 is the reason we haven´t been able to make more blog entries)
In the event we can´t break a tie using the aforementioned civil method, then we´ve agreed it shall come down to fist-a-cuffs. When/If this happens, I´m sure we´ll devote an entire entry to this. (hopefully complete with pics and videos)
Well hopefully this entry has gone a long way toward quenching your curiosity on how we decide where to stay. Stay tuned for the next exciting entry where Dave will address the myth that south of the equator a flushed toilet spins counter clockwise...