Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hostel \Hos"tel\, n. [OE. hostel, ostel, OF. hostel, ostel, LL.
   hospitale, hospitalis, fr. L. hospitalis. See {Hospital}, and
   cf. {Hotel}.]
   1. An inn. [Archaic] --Poe.

            So pass I hostel, hall, and grange.   --Tennyson.

   2. A small, unendowed college in Oxford or Cambridge. [Obs.]
      --Holinshed.

Source : WordNet®

hostel
     n 1: a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers [syn: {hostelry},
           {inn}, {lodge}]
     2: inexpensive supervised lodging (especially for youths on
        bicycling trips) [syn: {youth hostel}, {student lodging}]