means A budget lodging offering shared dormitory beds and communal spaces, popular with backpackers and traveling students.

from From Old French 'hostel,' a place that lodges and feeds guests, descended from Latin 'hospitale' (a guest-house) and 'hospes' (host, guest, stranger — all one tangled word). The same root branches into 'hotel,' 'hospital,' and 'hospitality,' so the snoring dorm and the five-star suite are quite literally cousins.