Whether you class ‘flashpackers’ as tech-savvy backpackers, high-flyers on a career break, or independent travelers wishing to see the world in style, they have all led to the same thing – the unstoppable rise of the ‘boutique hostel’, where private rooms, stylish interiors and cool bars come as standard.

These hostels are the last word in cutting-edge chic, springing up in the hippest cities and along the well-trodden backpacker trail. Sleep in style with this selection of hostels for flashpackers that boast top-rated guest reviews alongside the designer furniture.

Stay Hostel, Los Angeles, USA

This 81-year-old hotel has been renovated into Stay, a hostel for ‘the hip and spendthrifty traveler’ that offers a dose of California cool in glitzy LA. The pop-art palette, in-house art gallery and common room with 42-inch TV mean the private rooms are snapped up weeks in advance. Luckily the inexpensive shared quarters are equally chic, with hand-shaped chairs and abstract art on the walls.

Located on up-and-coming Main Street (when Johnny Depp moves in next door, you know you’re hip and happening), the hostel is close to the Museum of Contemporary Art and Little Toyko for some late night sushi. Next along is Tuck, a comfort-food restaurant and room service for mac-and-cheese and milkshakes.

Pfefferbett Hostel, Berlin, Germany

If you want to take ‘having a pint’ to a whole new level, you can actually stay in this 19th century brewery on the Pfefferbett complex; a ‘cultural centre’ with cutting-edge art galleries, beer garden and concert venue on your doorstep.

Inside, the private and shared rooms are spacious and modern, with vaulted ceilings, wooden floors and silver steel furniture adding an industrial edge to the historic architecture. Right in the heart of Berlin’s coolest district, the hippest nightspots are just streets away, but there’s also a lively outdoor terrace at the hostel for flashpackers looking to just sit back with a beer and check out the scene.

Albergue Juvenil Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Repeatedly named one of the best hostels in Europe, the Albergue is an ultra-modern hostel with hotel facilities – how many hostels do you know with a room full of exercise bikes and Audrey Hepburn prints on the wall?

The shared rooms are a minimalist mix of black bunk beds and bright red lockers, and there’s an artsy common room with pool table and wall murals, and a line of high-tech computers for your ‘e-postcard’ home. With a central location close to all the main sights (and the odd lively Tapas bar), this is a spot of urban cool tucked away in Madrid’s historic streets.

YHA London Central, London, England

London isn’t known as the cheapest of cities, so flashpackers all over the world rejoiced when the YHA chain gave their original outpost a slick makeover. With an enviable West End location, the hostel is on the doorstep of cosmopolitan Soho, the buzz of Oxford Street and one of London’s most popular nightlife hubs, crowded with pubs, bars and clubs.

Stay here for the ultimate in ‘flash’ packing, with private ensuite rooms, a cool café with giant street signs plastered over the walls, and a minimalist bar which serves coffee in the day.

Base St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia

Backpackers flock to Melbourne for its beautiful beaches, lively bars, and laid-back Aussie lifestyle. But the Base puts all other hostels to shame with its state-of-the-art design, minimalist-chic interiors and own ‘Red Eye’ Bar – a super-cool drinking den with a futuristic bar and bright red walls.

Located in the cosmopolitan suburb of St Kilda’s, it’s close to the beach and the lively bars and clubs of Melbourne’s newest hip spot. The private rooms are like a trendy New York loft apartment, and the shared rooms offer comfortable bunk beds with huge under-bed drawers. The icing on the cake is the ‘Girls Sanctuary Rooms’, a pampering paradise for female travelers with free towel hire, hair products and champagne every night between 6 and 7pm.

This blog post was written by Lauren Smith. When she’s not flitting around the world, Lauren Smith is one of the authors of the new Hostel Bookers blog – the insiders’ guide to hostels and budget travel.

If you too want to feature on The Tux in Backpack with a post related to Flashpacking feel free to give us a shout!

Gadgets and accessories are indeed vital for a Flashpacker. It’s not surprising then to see many articles on the web about what are the must-have Flashpacking accessories.

Flashpacking though is not simply travelling with a huge amount of tech gadgets. I believe a Flashpacker is defined by the travelling style; even if accessories are a big help, the ideal Flashpacker is not the one with the most gadgets in the backpack. At the contrary, Flashpacking is also travelling in a comfortable (read: light) way.

The gadgets you need depends mainly on what is your “basic package” of accessories following you on your travels. For example if you have a big laptop with lot of memory you don’t necessarily need an external hard drive, or if you have an iPod you don’t necessarily need an iPhone too.

Here’s a list of gadgets that, depending on what you bring with you, you might not necessarily need.

LAPTOP
What? A Flashpacker without a laptop?
Well, if you only need to check your emails, update your Facebook and do some minimal blogging even a good phone with a browser could simply do. The most known (and expensive) of all is of course the iPhone. With a toy like that you can do even quite advanced blogging tasks. Check out these 13 Apps to Turn Your iPhone into a Blogging Machine.

PORTABLE HARD DRIVE
As mentioned, if you are already carrying with you a decent laptop with plenty of memory, and thanks to all online virtual back-ups you don’t necessarily need to bring with you a portable hard drive. If instead you have a netbook with little memory and an old 160GB iPod, how about bringing the iPod to listen to your 20GB of music and use the rest of the space as an hard drive?

INTERNATIONAL SIM CARD
No matter how cheap they are getting nowadays, there are still better options. If you have anything with you that connects to internet (even a PSP would do) Skype or similar VoIP services are still cheaper. If you don’t mind having few SIM cards with you and you are not visiting 20 countries in a month then a cheap option is buying a local SIM card. Prices to same-country phones calls are unbeatable and in most cases calling abroad is cheaper then with an international SIM card.

IPHONE
If you already have a netbook or a laptop, and your old mobile phone is still working, do you need an iPhone too? Especially if you already possess a camera and maybe an iPod to listen to your music. Definitely fashionable, but with only 16GB of memory is it the wisest choice?

CARD READER
Many laptops and netbooks nowadays come with a built-in card reader. Again it depends on what is your “basic package” of accessories.

WIFI FINDER
Pretty handy to find out if there’s some Wireless connection available in the area. It will save you the time to drop your bags, take out and turn on your big laptop. But what if you’re using a tiny netbook or an iPhone instead? Another down side is that many of those little “keychain” wifi finder don’t distinguish between free networks and protected ones, although this one does.

GPS
Let’s be honest here. If you’re not going in the very middle of an inextricable jungle, or going to drive through the desert for a week, do you really need one? Is it not part of the trip getting lost in a city and in this way discover an off-the-beaten track jewel? Consider also that most mobile phones nowadays come with a GPS or at least Google Maps.

Well, I guess the bottom line is: be wise in choosing your gadgets, there’s a lot there you might not need.. It all depends on how and why you travel. After all Flashpacking is about the style, and that do means travelling comfortably as well.

But I’d like to hear from you: any useless gadgets you’ve been carrying around lately? What you think for example of water purifiers or universal adapters?

A while ago TimesOnline published a list of Europe Top 10 Boutique Hostels. The list is based on ratings on HostelBookers.com.

Few ratings may have changed meanwhile, but here’s the list as of last June:

Lisbon Lounge, Lisbon

Red Nest Hostel, Valencia

Miss Sophie’s Hostel, Prague

Mandragora Hostel, Budapest

Mleczarnia Hostel, Wroclaw

Greg Tom Hostel, Krakow

La Controra Flashpackers Hostel, Naples

Langholmen Hostel, Stockholm

St Christopher’s, Berlin

Centric Point Hostel, Barcelona

Mleczarnia Hostel, Wroclaw

The first thing to notice is that more and more hostels are catering for flashapackers. The one in Naples has the word “Flashpackers” even in the name. The old days to stay in an hostel meant to go for the cheapest accommodation, no frills, no privacy, and of course no luxurious extras like a flat screen TV. The Flashpacking phenomenon is really growing, and hostel owners are aware of it.

To me it was striking also how many of the best hostels are located in East Europe. Out of 10 hostels 2 are in Poland, 1 in Prague and 1 in Budapest.

While Prague and Budapest are acknowledged tourist capitals, Poland is not often mentioned as a tourist destination. That means that while Prague is already boosting with tourists and prices are getting more expensive, Poland still offers a lot of jewels virtually tourist free and with very affordable prices.

Wroclaw, Market Place

Warsaw, Krakow Gdańsk and Wroclaw just to mention the most known destinations, still offer luxury for the flashpacker at very reasonable rates. There’s plenty of culture, architecture, history and gourmet food to be discovered. Have a look at few cities here for example, and get ready to discover one of Europe’s best kept secret.

As many new visitors are familiarising themselves with the concept of Flashpacking, and as the buzz keeps growing on the internet with more and more websites, stories and blogs, I’d like to provide a little list of the best Flashpackers blogs out there.

These are not blogs about Flashpacking, like the Tux In Backpack here, but rather the Flashpackers’ tales from around the world. They’ll save you time from searching online and separate the fresh and relevant stories from the wannabe Flashpackers, and most importantly they will give up a good idea of what it is like to be a Flashpacker around the world.

Here are then (in no particular order) 7 Great Flashpackers Blogs out there. Enjoy!

TheFlashpacker.com

Entertaining tales from various destinations, combined with excellent tips. Bennet The Flashpacker will observe what happens around him, investigate and study more about it, and finally share the learnings with the audience in excellent posts. The very last one about bedbugs is an example. Memorable the post on creating your own flash environment despite all kind of conditions around you, Luxe among the cockroaches, also reviewed here under Extreme Flashpacking Tips. Truly Flashpacking at its best: not simply money or gadgets, but style!

FlashpackingLife

If the Flashpacking phenomenon is getting so popular is also thanks to this excellent blog. Curtis was recently interviewed by CanadianPress, and the result was a huge attention to his travels and to the Flashpacking phenomenon. From that interview and original article sprung dozens of press articles, from Canadian press mainly. Curtis is also thinking of writing a book about Flashpacking. A true Flashpacking ambassador.

FlashpackingWife
Change a letter in FlashpackingLife and you have FlashpackingWife, from Lindsie, Curtis’ wife. Beautifully complements the stories in Flashpackinglife, adding of course the more feminine wife’s point of view. A pink approach to Flashpacking.

Passing Through India
Probably the blog that started the bigg buzz around Flashpacking as far as back in 2006. When Lee Gimpel was travelling independently through India he was carrying with him a whole load of tech gadgets and accessories. His travelling style was very similar to Backpacking though, so Flashpacking was the closest the huge press coverage found to define it. I believe style rather than tech gadgets is what defines Flashpacking; nevertheless Passing Through India is a pillar within Flashpackers blogs.

TheFlashpackers.com
The International Women of Mayhem don’t backpack. An hilarious blog about two girls flashpacking around the world. Particularly important to mention are the Mayhem rules. Like the “There are no calories at altitude” or “Tasting tours are not considered drinking – they are educational”. Highly entertaining.

FlashpackerBackpacker

The title already explains how the two ways of travelling are not that different after all, and that the one doesn’t exclude the other. You can be a Backpacker but every now and then choose to relax in a nice hotel for a change (and a treat), or go for a nice accommodation because is as cheap as a dorm in another country. Or on the other side you can be a Flashpacker deciding to stay in the cheapest hostel available to save some money for later on or because prices are particularly expensive in that place. Mattis does indeed that. His huge passion for travelling brought him to save and save while he was working. He’s now enjoying Flashpacking/Backpacking around Africa mainly for the moment; the rest is on his blog together with nice sections of resources used and travelling gear.

Backpacking Ninja
Despite the blog name the travel style is definitely Flashpacking. Just look at the pics and you’ll see some nice restaurants. And the Asus Eee PC, which is really becoming the Flashpacker laptop choice of excellence. Contributed to put Flashpacking in the spotlight in India thanks to a nice article on Mumbai’s Mid Day newspaper. Maybe too much enphasis on gadgets, but still helping the cause!

There are few other promising blogs out there, but it’s a bit too early to put them in the top list. We’ll keep an eye on these fresh Flashpackers and of course keep you posted. As the phenomenon keeps growing maybe we’ll have a top 50 blogs list in 6 months time?

Meanwhile any major omission here? Or you think your blog should be here too? Add your blog in the Comments sections below to be added to the list.

Internet has indeed replaced travel guidebooks. While before you had to carry with you as many guidebooks as the number of countries you were planning to visit, now you can replace that weight with quality books, and access more up to date and more varied travel info with a laptop or just finding an internet cafe.

Here are the top 10 Online resources currently available to Flashpackers.

1. Wikitravel
Wikipedia little sister specialised in Travel info.
If I had to decide in two minutes whether to go to a certain location or not, and could use only one website, I would just go to Wikitravel. Compiled by fellow travellers it might not have exhaustive info if you’re searching for a tiny location, but still you can find enough info on many off the beaten path destinations. The focus is definitely on how it is to travel to a certain place, and it’s easy to get the info you need as every article uses the same topics (Understand, Get in, Get Around, Do, See, Buy, Eat, Drink, Sleep, Stay Safe, etc). Being a wiki you can replace some info yourself, in case in the meanwhile that nice restaurant has shut down.

2. Tripadvisor
Reviews and info about hotels AND hostels. From big chains to boutique ones, to small family run ones if you want to be a Fair Flashpacker and support local communities. Plus if it’s a popular place on the destination Forum you might get info on things to do or to avoid. Great tool to read reviews and judge from the profile if the reviewer would have similar tastes to yours. When it comes to booking though you can simply search for the hotel/hostel website and contact them directly, so you dot pay commission to the referrals sites or sponsor on Tripadvisor. But on this see below point 8).

3. Hostelworld
Like Tripadvisor, but specialised in hostels. Great place to find a jewel hostel at a very decent price. Hostels.com is pretty good and similar, but doesn’t allow you to see who the reviewer are (apart from name and where they’re from). Hostelworld instead rates its reviewers based on how “well travelled they are”, which is basically how many reviews they’ve written. You have then Novice Nomad (1-10 reviews), Avid Traveller (10-20) and Globetrotter (20+). Plus you can see their profile, and decide if they’re usually too easily pleased or never happy about accommodations.

4. TravelPod
Learn from other fellow travellers’ experiences. If they had a very good or very bad experience you can be sure they will mention it in their blog. The beauty of TravelPod is that you can search by destination, with the latest blog posts coming up first, so the info you get is always up to date. And you can read other posts from the same blogger to find out if his/her tastes are similar to yours. Or you could even open your own blog. The interface is easy to use and specifically designed for travel blogs, so you have maps with a spot for every post, and you could also have some of them private and other public.

5. Google
When you need info on a new destination I would first consults the websites above mentioned, as the first Google (or any search engine’s) results for a destination name are usually that destination tourist board or private tourism organizations, and they tend to tell you only the good news about the place. When it comes to accommodations and places to eat, search engines’ results will first show you of course the most popular ones, which quite often are not the flashpacker’s choice. Nonetheless Google search features and its services are irreplaceable when travelling, and you can discover here 20 less common ways to use Google (and its products) when travelling.

6. Skype
Probably the most popular VoIP service out there. Popularity due to the fact that for what you pay you get a good call quality. Whether your friends and family have it installed, or whether they haven’t and you have to call them on a normal phone, it’ll save you some good money anyway. And you don’t have to queue anymore in those “call abroad for cheap” phone boots. With 3, the mobile provider offering Skype on its handset in many countries to replace mobile line with internet connection and VoIP you can clearly see where we’re heading when it comes to phone lines.

7. Wikipedia
There’s quite a lot of info available on Wikipedia only, and although not strictly travel related like Wikitravel, a lot of that info is good to know if you’re going to a certain destination. What you find here will give you more insight on a place, will help you to better understand the culture, and sometime even strike a conversation with a resident. Some example are info on History, Religion, Language, and sometime even info more useful to someone visiting the place, like markets, festivals and fairs. Complements beautifully the content on the little sister Wikitravel.

8. eDreams
There are many airline companies out there, the majority of the new ones being low cost ones. Difficult to know them all, especially if you’re in a part of the world you’re not too familiar with. Flight comparison sites come in handy. Expedia, Orbitz,Tripadvisor, and similar can all give you some idea of the best rates, but what’s different about eDreams is that it has (fast) access to a huge number of airlines, including the low-cost ones. If you really want to find out the cheapest way to fly from A to B then eDreams is the one. The result will be often a few hundred bucks difference. The trick is then to book directly with the airline to avoid paying commissions. Unless you want to thank them for finding you such a great deal and saving you so much money, which makes sense if you want any comparison or review site to survive. After all if you saved so much on that flight or accommodation a few dollars is not much for you, and will ensure that next time that site is still there for you.

9. VirtualTourist
The great thing about VirtualTourist is that the contributors are really passionate about the topic they write about. Sometimes the contributor is not even a tourist, but an expat or a resident simply in love with the place and with a great will to share, which makes the info there even more valuable. It depends on the destination, but particularly good are the “Off the Beat Path” and “Tourist Traps” sections. The only little downside is the way the ads are displayed. They tend to interrupt a bit the flow on some pages. But apart from that VirtualTourist is chock full of interesting info.

10. Your Online Resource
As usual we would like to hear from you. What’s your online travel bible? What’s the first website you consult as soon as you know you’re going somewhere? Would you replace any or the ones above with a better one? Something to move up, down or out of the top ten?

Looking forward to hear from Flashpackers (and not) around the world in the comments below.