joining a hostelling org

I'm backpacking Europe for the first time this summer and planning to spend part of my time in hostels. Is it necessary to join a hostelling organization? Do you really get discounts? If so, which is the best to

The only one of any consequence in mainland Europe is Hosteling International (www.iyhf.org). You pay $28 and then you get a couple bucks off a night when you stay at their hostels.

Maybe 10% of the hostels in Europe are affiliated with them and provide the discounts. They are proportionally better represented in the countryside than in the cities, where there's an awful lot of competition. Personally, I think it's a total waste of time because they tend to be large institutional properties with little personality, lots of dumb rules, and filled with school groups. And even with the discounts, they're quite often more expensive than independent hostels - they can do this because they sell people the memberships before those people know what's up, and then they get sort of 'trapped' in the network.

On the other hand, if you want to have a little map and booklet listing places to stay and to be able to take advantage of their fairly-well-run reservation network, perhaps it's worth it to you.

Ireland has its own network (not sure whether memberships are sold/significant) and those places actually are nice.

In Spain and Portugal, you'd have to be insane to stay in a hostel unless you really wanted to meet people. For a couple bucks more you can get a room in a pension rather than having to bunk up with 10 strangers.