I think if you are travelling with someone it's best to avoid hostels - it's simply cheaper to stay in a hotel. This place was very clean, cool, and crowded - a busy international crowd. the dorms are not co-ed, so my gf suffered through sleeping with a bunch of loud party girls, I slept like a champ. don't linger too long on the lake, head south to Lugano, or Como, simply gorgeous spots in south Switzerland, and Northern Italy.

I stayed at Lausanne Youth Hostel for two weeks, while attending a conference at a local university. The university granted my colleagues and me a discounted rate of 30 Swiss Francs per night, which was an excellent deal compared to hotel options in Lausanne. The accommodations were unbeatable for the price.

The hostel rooms that I saw consisted of three single beds or two single beds and one bunk bed. Rooms were either male or female. There were also options to have private single or double rooms, but these rooms cost more per night. Some of the rooms had windows without screens, and it was very warm and humid during our stay...We would leave our window open through the night, but mosquitoes would come in and bite us, leaving us itchy in the morning!

Bathrooms were also male or female, and the female bathrooms consisted of two bathroom stalls, two shower stalls, and one long sink with three faucets. Bathrooms were generally clean, which many of us appreciated. Be sure to bring your own towel to bathe with, but if you forget, towels can be rented at the front desk for 2 Swiss Francs.

The buffet breakfast, served every morning from approximately 7:00am to 10:00am included bread, jam, corn flakes, oatmeal, cold milk, yogurt, ham, cheese, orange juice and coffee. I believe that the cafeteria also served lunch and dinner daily, but this is not included. Dinner was usually 16.50 Swiss Francs.

The common area of the hostel provided guests with a pool table (not sure how much this was), a vending machine with sandwiches (about 6 Swiss Francs) and snacks, ice cream (3 Swiss Francs), and a bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. There were also two pay phones and two computers with internet access (1 Swiss Franc for 10 minutes). In addition, there were laundry facilities on site. You could rent a laundry room with a washer and dryer for a half day for 7 Swiss Francs.

As a side note, if you are traveling on a budget, there is a gas station down the street from hostel, where you can purchase snacks (pretzels and chips), as well as bread, pre-packaged deli meat, fruit, drinks, sandwiches, salads, and yogurt. The gas station also sells "Flash" calling cards, which are printed out on a receipt. The calling card for 20 Swiss Francs gave me 300 minutes to call the USA. Additionally, there are several grocery stores along the bus and metro lines (Migros and Co-Op) where you can purchase food and snacks.

There was a diverse crowd staying at the youth hostel over the two weeks that I was there. The guests included college students, parents with children, older backpackers, and younger teenagers attending some sort of youth camp. In general, the hostel was quiet at night, and we were able to rest and sleep soundly. However, some of the larger groups, particularly the youth camp, were loud in the evenings.

All hostel guests were provided with pass that allows for unlimited free access to the bus and metro for the duration of one's stay. This was great, as the bus and metro system was convenient and the free pass encouraged us to get out and explore the city. If you are planning to stay out late, especially at a club or bar, be mindful of when the public transportation stops running, or runs less frequently. I believe a "pajama" bus ran past midnight on weekends, but only every 2 hours or so, depending on your destination.

Lausanne is a great little city. It will help A LOT if you speak French. I would encourage visitors to take a boat cruise on Lake Geneva (from metro stop: Ouchy), enjoy an ice cream sundae at Movenpick (also at metro stop: Ouchy), and if you are there in the summer, find out where local festivals are being held.

Our institute offered a a subsidized trip to Switzerland, involving Lectures, Seminars and local sightseeing at the end of our MBA. Lausanne Youth hostel was where we based ourselves as we travelled up and down in that beautiful country. The hostel was conveniently located about 5 minutes bus ride from the city center (Ouchy) and about 15 minutes from Lausanne Railway station.

Having never seen student hostel life, it was a unique experience for many of us. There were seperate rooms for boys and girls. Most rooms had 3 or 4 Bunk Beds. Bathrooms were located outside the rooms, common for all residents. Taking baths in shower stalls while chatting and throwing soap and shampoo bottles to our friends in adjoining stalls still brings smile to my face. Buffet breakfast was a simple affair, nothing fancy. Juice, Milk, Cereal, Toasted bread and Eggs.

The hostel was always full of backpackers and people seeking overnight budget accomodation. The regulars gave us great tips about which sights to see and places where we can get cheap beer ! Lausanne is a beautiful city. The lake front at Ouchy is where we spent most of our evenings. Also, 20 minutes away is Nyon, the prettiest cobblestoned village you will ever see.

Lausanne tends to miss out amongst big Swiss cities like Geneva, Zurich and Bern. However, it is no less worthy of a stopover. The Olympic Museum is also located here.

I am a Swiss resident so maybe my opinion is based on the consistent quality that you find here, but we were disappointed with this hostel.
I was travelling with my boys by bike and had stayed several nights at other official Swiss Youth hostels on the way. All were better and cheaper than the this one.
As an example, for just Sfr 10 more ($7) than the nights lodgings for the 3 of us in Lausanne, we stayed in Fiesch with half-board and free access to the swimming pool! Quite a difference.
Local motels (in Crissier) also offer prices for Friday and Saturday night stays that are lower than at this hostel, and you get a shower in your room and non-bunk beds.