Description
HI France is the French network of Hostelling International youth hostels: about 80 hostels with some 5,000 beds in cities, by the sea and in the mountains, with beds in shared rooms from about twenty euros a night. The hostels are open to all ages.
The FUAJ association ran the network from 1956 until a Paris court put it into liquidation on 2 March 2026. On 27 May 2026 the court chose a buyer formed by the student housing association ONLE (Fac Habitat) and the company GSE, which set up a new non-profit association, ONAJ, to run the network. In November 2026 ONAJ was still completing its membership of Hostelling International, which counts about 2,500 hostels in 58 countries.
Most rooms have 4 to 6 beds. The price includes the bed and sheets, sometimes breakfast, and most hostels have a kitchen for guests. In Paris, the Yves Robert hostel has 332 beds, a guest kitchen and a bike garage and is open all year, while Le d’Artagnan is closed until 2028.
Strengths
- A dorm bed costs far less than a hotel room: 24 € a night in Paris in November 2026.
- Shared kitchens to cook instead of eating out.
- About 80 destinations, from big cities to islands and ski resorts.
Weaknesses
- The cheapest rate can’t be cancelled, and tourist tax is added on site.
- Dorms shared with strangers, up to 9 people in some hostels.
- After the 2026 liquidation, a few hostels were not taken over, Le d’Artagnan in Paris is closed until 2028, and others open only part of the year.
Who it is for
Travellers alone or in pairs visiting a city or hiking on a budget, and students looking for a first bed in a new city.
Sources
- HI France: Home, Notre association, FAQ, Paris Yves Robert, Paris Le d’Artagnan, checked November 2026
- Wikipedia: Fédération unie des auberges de jeunesse