Charity Simon is sharing a bedroom and a bathroom with two young women she had never met before she checked into the Tropics Hotel & Hostel in Miami Beach. But that's fine with her since she is saving a ton of money every night.

Simon, who is from Germany, says she used to stay in four-star hotels until she found out about hostels, which offer low-price lodging and the chance to make new friends.

''I wanted to travel around the world as much as possible,'' said Simon, who declined to give her age. ``I asked what is it all about? They said a hostel is where you save . . . a lot of money, where you meet a lot of people from all over.''

With its Art Deco buildings and late-night party scene, South Beach attracts young travelers looking to spend less money on lodgings and more on sightseeing.

Three to 14 travelers stay in one room at a hostel, sleeping on bunk beds. A room with 12 beds can run $18 a night per person; an eight-bed room is $18; smaller rooms are $30 to $40.

At Jazz on South Beach Hostel, some rooms are segregated by gender, while other rooms are mixed. People who are traveling together can request a room together; if they pay for all the beds in the room, they can have it to themselves.

''But the point of the hostel is to meet other people,'' says general manager Bobby Gera.

SOME PRIVATE BATHS

Some hostels on South Beach offer private bathrooms with each room and have individual wall units or central air conditioning.

There are also private rooms for two to three people. Those are popular in the slow season when travelers want to save money but still take in the experience, hostel operators say. Those rooms can run $100 to $125 per night -- still cheaper than most South Beach hotels.

Visitors are provided with bed sheets, a towel and a locker (bring your own lock) to store their belongings. Some hostels have a kitchen for visitors to prepare their own food. Most offer computers with Internet access and a lounge area to watch television.

Hostels have always been more popular in Europe and Asia, where the beds are seen as a cheap rest stop. But hostels on South Beach help create a sense of community by organizing trips to the Florida Keys or Fort Lauderdale, outings to the Miami club scene, or Sunday beach parties.

And at $30 a night per person -- sometimes as low as $16 -- the American hostel market is starting to come into play.

Travis Lajoy, general manager of South Beach Hostel, said there were only three or four Miami-area hostels six years ago. Today, there are more than a dozen. ''That's insane. You know it's 300 percent more competition than there was when we first started,'' he said.

The industry in the United States generated $17.8 million for the 2007 fiscal year, according to Hostelling International USA, which oversees the largest U.S. network of hostels.

But some hostels are not members of the organization, like many in Miami Beach, and there is no association that keeps track of industry-wide data.

DISCOUNT HOTELS

Hotel experts say the industry is going through a transformation, especially in South Florida, where discount hotels are now offering hostel room prices.

'Discount hotels are saying, `I don't want to convert fully to a hostel because of the connotation that comes with that, but I want to provide hostel rooms,' '' said Andrew Wharton, managing director for the accounting firm KPMG, who is responsible for the firm's real estate and hospitality practice in the Southeast.

Plus, owners of older properties in Miami Beach are realizing they may not have the money to renovate their buildings. So owners are looking at converting to a hostel as a way to ''put more heads in beds and pack the square footage,'' he said.

Hostels may not be for everyone. Jessica Lopez, 21, of the Bronx, N.Y., stayed at Tropics Hotel & Hostel with her brother and a friend but said she would feel ''very uncomfortable sharing a space with complete strangers,'' especially when she had to get dressed.

But for the experienced backpacker who has seen it all, hostels are a great way to travel on a budget.

Xain Coslow, 22, from Oregon, has stayed in more than 40 hostels in the past two years in Thailand, Costa Rica and San Francisco.

''People hear hostel and they think horror movie or they think of a cramped little space,'' said Coslow, who was staying at the Jazz Hostel on South Beach. ``But in reality, though, it's like meeting a bunch of friends pretty much.''

SOUTH FLORIDA HOSTELS

Here are a few hostels in Miami Beach and the Everglades, with per-person rates for dormitory-style bedrooms. The prices also depend on the season:

• Tropics Hotel & Hostel, 1550 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-531-0361; www.tropicshotel.com. Rates $27-$34.

• Jazz on South Beach Hostel, 321 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-672-2137; www.jazzhostels.com/jazzsouthbeach.php. Rates $19-$35.

• South Beach Hostel, 235 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305-534-6669; www.thesouthbeachhostel.com. Rates $22 and up.

• Everglades Hostel, 20 SW Second Ave., Florida City; 305-248-1122; www.evergladeshostel.com. Rates $22-$25.

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