The Hague on a Student Budget: Where to Actually Stay
I moved to Den Haag for my studies and spent the first three weeks in a hostel while I found a room. That experience taught me more about the city’s accommodation market than I wanted to know. Here’s the honest version for anyone visiting on a tight budget.
Hostels: limited but they exist
Den Haag has fewer hostels than Amsterdam or Rotterdam. The options that exist are mostly in the centre and Scheveningen. Expect €25–40 per night for a dorm bed, €70–100 for a private room in a budget property. For weekend stays of two nights, a hostel in the Centrum is fine. For anything longer, a short-term Airbnb works out cheaper and more comfortable.
Airbnb: Transvaal and Schilderswijk are the budget neighbourhoods
If you’re willing to stay slightly east of the centre, Transvaal and the surrounding area offers Airbnb rooms at €35–55 per night — meaningfully cheaper than the Statenkwartier or Centrum equivalents. Tram connections to the centre are direct. The neighbourhood is real, not tourist-facing, which means the bakeries and markets around you are priced for people who live there. For a week-long stay this saves real money.
What to avoid
The immediate area around Den Haag Centraal station has a few budget hotels that look fine in photos. They are mostly fine in reality too, but they’re surrounded by very little of interest and the prices aren’t as low as comparable places in more residential neighbourhoods. Unless you’re only here for one night and need easy train access, I’d skip them.
The student room market (if you’re moving here)
The student housing market in Den Haag is tight, not as bad as Amsterdam but not easy. Kamernet and the DUWO housing corporation (which manages student housing linked to THUAS and other institutions) are the main routes. Budget €500–700 per month for a room with shared facilities. Start looking three to four months before you need to move. Don’t arrive and expect to find something immediately.
