THE Y OPTION : YMCAs...

I was heading to Hong Kong. Alone. On a budget. I’d never been there, didn’t know anyone. I needed a hotel where I’d feel safe, that was clean and decent, that I could afford.

My choice: the Y.

Since that first Y visit 10 years ago, I’ve often stayed at YMCAs and YWCAs. (Yes, most are co-ed.) Some facilities have been basic--just a narrow cot in a bare room with linoleum floors and a bath down the hall. But others have been the equivalent of a Ramada or Holiday Inn: attractive carpeting, color TV, air conditioning, private bath with a marbled sink, international phone line, fax and currency exchange services. Most had pools; some had fitness centers rivaling a pricey gym.

“In many cities, YMCAs and YWCAs are almost exclusively concerned with providing cheap long-term accommodation. In other places, they provide a good, safe, economic place to stay, just like any youth hostel or cheaper hotel,” says Tony Wheeler, founder of the Lonely Planet guidebook series that specializes in budget travel.

“In some places in the world, like Lahore in Pakistan or Rangoon in Myanmar (formerly Burma), the YMCA or YWCA provides the most popular cheap beds in town. In others, such as Hong Kong, they provide good lower-cost accommodations aimed squarely at the three-star hotel market.”

Indeed, in my own travels I’ve noticed a trend toward upgraded Y hotels. Old dorms have been replaced by mid-range hotels. Basic rooms have been refurnished and may include phones or TVs; bathrooms are remodeled.

The YMCA in Hong Kong, for example, is located in a modern Kowloon district high-rise. Entering the lobby, a visitor expecting a Spartan youth-hostel atmosphere might be quite surprised to find himself standing in a light-filled atrium decorated with plants, sleek furniture and whimsical bird sculptures hanging from the ceiling. In fact, the hotel doesn’t even include “YMCA” in its name: It’s called The Salisbury.

All the Ys where I’ve stayed were staffed by friendly people. Most had tourist information readily available. Even the more modest ones were scrubbed clean--though the older, unimproved hotels were sometimes yellowed with age. Most had casual restaurants with well-priced food and room service. Never have I had cause to worry about my belongings in a Y, something I couldn’t say about other hotels I’ve visited.

And I’ve always felt secure; during a stay last April in Hong Kong, I found desk people at the YWCA--which had a marble-covered lobby and rooms with spectacular city views--were careful to check that I was a registered guest before allowing me access. Rules generally prohibit guests from entertaining overnight in their rooms.

Still, I’ve always found the Y atmosphere relaxed and comfortable. Couples--married or not--are often allowed.

Though Christian is part of the Y name--Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Assn.--I’ve found few religious overtones. Usually, the only overtly “Christian” accouterments were a Bible in the room--standard in nearly all hotels--and information about nearby Sunday services. There are often no bars or discos.

“From a religious standpoint, we’re not beating anyone over the head,” says Valerie Henry, director of the 15-year-old The Y’s Way International reservation service in New York. “You really cannot infringe upon someone’s religion--that’s a personal matter. We don’t ask someone when they come in what their religious affiliation is.”

The idea, says Aldrin Leung, manager of The Salisbury in Hong Kong, is to provide travelers with a clean, safe, enjoyable, secure place. Part of the mission: reasonable cost. “We’re nonprofit. We try to provide good value to travelers.”

Good value doesn’t always mean cheap. Regular double rooms at The Salisbury cost about $100 per night (though the facility also has dormitory rooms for about $22). If that sounds pricey, consider this: The Salisbury is located next door to the famed Peninsula Hotel, whose room rate starts at about $305. At such international Y centers, clients often include business people, families and general travelers for whom a dorm-style room isn’t a realistic option.

In London, the former Y just off Oxford Street wasn’t attracting enough visitors so it was sold and turned into the modern, 700-room St. Giles Hotel, though manager Kevin Frisby says guests can still use the adjacent Y pool and fitness facilities.

“It’s better in terms of marketing and selling the property,” says Frisby. “People in this country don’t perceive a Y as being high quality. The perception in the U.S.A. and in Europe of YMCA, is (as) a hostel-style accommodation.”

By no means have all the Ys in the world suddenly turned into upscale hotels; the Hong Kong hotels are probably the spiffiest of them all. Individual YMCAs and YWCAs set their own policies. Hotel and hostel-style Ys are usually found in the Asia (revenues raised by Y hotels are used to support the local organization’s community service programs). Ys in Europe and the United States tend to provide only long-term stays. Some Ys offer only daytime programs for local residents, with no overnight facilities for visitors.

Other facilities, such as those served by The Y’s Way, are favorites with students (though they must be 18 to stay on their own) and budget travelers. An arm of the YMCA of Greater New York, The Y’s Way makes reservations for its network of 40 overnight centers--mostly YMCAs, though some are other budget hotels--in North America and five countries abroad.

In New York City, the YMCA has three hotels: The recently refurbished Vanderbilt Y on East 47th Street; the Westside Y, currently being remodeled on West 63rd Street, and the McBurney Y on West 23rd Street. Single rates at the Vanderbilt Y and Westside Ys are about $38 when reserved in advance through The Y’s Way. Single rates at the McBurney Y cost $34. (The price is a few dollars higher when guests just show up at the door.)

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When it comes to making contact with YWCAs, you’re on your own. YWCAs have no reservation service, according to Doreen Boyd, deputy director of the worldwide YWCA office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Many YWCA shelters are primarily for long-term residents--traditional since early YWCA days at the turn of the century, when one of the main goals was to provide safe housing for young women who moved from the country to the city to work. That role is still especially important today in countries such as India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. “Women in those cultures can’t rent (apartments) on their own,” Boyd says.

In those countries, residents may include professional women. In the United States and Canada, some shelters have been converted in recent years to provide interim housing for battered women and children.

Still, some YWCAs do operate hostels and hotels. In Portland, Ore., for example, programs such as those for battered women and homeless children have reduced the number of rooms available for travelers. But the 14 that remain--some dorm style, some private--are nearly always full of visitors, from elderly to students, though only women, says Jim Brooks, facilities director.

In my case, recommendations to stay in Y hotels come from budget travel guidebooks. I look at the suggested accommodations in the city I’m visiting, then phone or fax. Replies are generally quick and complete, listing rates and confirming the dates of my stay. Occasionally, the facility is booked: I couldn’t get a room three weeks in advance at The Salisbury in Hong Kong.

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I have sampled Ys in Athens, Hong Kong, Bangkok and New Delhi. This is what I found:

ATHENS, GREECE

When I stayed at the YWCA here about four years ago, I found a Spartan but welcoming place, and I’m told little has changed. The floors and walls were bare, but many rooms had balconies looking out either on an interior courtyard or a wide terrace over Amerikis Street that had a great view of the city. (Unfortunately, the noise level on the street side approaches raucous.) My own room was about 12 by 12 feet, fitted with a blond wood vanity shelf built into the wall, wooden shelves for clothes, a good-size mirror, a bench and vanity and a narrow single bed. Double glass doors led out to the wide terrace, where I chatted with other young women; we also gathered in the lounge, which included a TV. There was no air-conditioning. Current rates are about $11 for a single with shared bath, $15 with private bath; doubles about $17 with shared bath, $21.50 with private bath.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong boasts a number of Y facilities. This past spring, I stayed at the Garden View International House on Hong Kong island, a YWCA. The 2-year-old hotel was a marvel: a cylindrical skyscraper overlooking the Hong Kong Botanical Garden on the one side and, on the other, condos reaching into the clouds.

The lobby was marbled and comfortable, the adjacent restaurant cheap and friendly, the room smallish but nicely appointed, with a big comfortable bed, table and chair, vanity, marbled bath, phone, TV and refrigerator. The facility has a pool. Rates start at about $90, including tax, for a double room.

The Salisbury can claim as good a location as any hotel in Kowloon: across the street from the arts center, next door to the famed Peninsula hotel, steps from shopping and the Star Ferry, which takes visitors to Hong Kong island. Everything is new (the hotel was gutted, completely renovated and reopened this year), from the cheerful cafeteria with the best-priced full breakfast in town (under $10) to the airy lobby. Rates start at about $85 for a single; doubles from $99, including tax. There are also family suites (about $164) and dorm bunks (about $22).

BANGKOK, THAILAND

When I visited Bangkok this spring, I stopped back at the YMCA Collins International House, and everything seemed just as it had been a few years ago. Located near many of the embassies, the Y reminded me of a Holiday Inn or Ramada Inn. My room had a private bath and carpeted floors, air conditioning, radio, good closets, a phone and writing table. The hotel had a tour desk and TV in the lobby, a reading and cocktail lounge, coffee shop and pool. Current rates are $52 for a single with private bath; about $56 for a double.

NEW DELHI, INDIA

India is a difficult place for a woman traveling alone--which is how I have traveled there. The YMCA was one of the few places where I didn’t feel hassled. The facilities--basic when I stayed there six years ago--have been upgraded in recent years. Current rates are about $9 for a single room without bath, about $14.50 with private bath. Doubles cost about $15 without bath, about $26 with private bath.

GUIDEBOOK

Y Not the Y?

Many budget guidebooks list Y hotels, along with rates, addresses and telephone and fax numbers. The Y’s Way makes reservations for 40 lodging centers--27 in the United States and Canada, and 13 abroad. A free brochure is available by writing The Y’s Way International, 224 East 47th St., New York 10017; telephone (212) 308-2899. A reservation fee of $3 is charged for U.S. rooms, and $5 for rooms overseas. The YWCA and YMCA publish worldwide directories of their affiliates that indicate which have overnight facilities. Contact each facility to confirm that it still provides hotel service. The organizations share an address but operate separately, so it is necessary to write each for its directory: World Young Women’s Christian Assn. or World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Assn., both at 3y Quai Wilson, CH-1201, Geneva, Switzerland; from the U.S., tel. 011-41-22-732-3100; fax 011-41-22-731-7938. Send $14.50 for the YWCA directory and $6 for the YMCA directory.

A Y sampling:

Athens: YWCA, 11 Amerikis St., Athens, Greece; tel. 011-30-1-362-4291; fax 011-30-1-362-2400.

Bangkok: YMCA Collins International House, 27 S. Sathorn Road, Bangkok, Thailand; tel. 011-66-2-287-1900; fax 011-66-2-187-1996.

Hong Kong: Garden View International House, 1 MacDonnell Road, Central, Hong Kong; tel. 011-852-877-3737; fax 011-852-845-6263.

The Salisbury, 41 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong; tel. 011-852-369-2211; fax 011-852-739-9315.

India: YMCA Tourist Hotel, 1 Jai Singh Road, New Delhi, India; tel. 011-91-11- 311-915; fax 011-91-11-374-6032.

London: St. Giles Hotel, Bedford Avenue, London WC1 3AS, England; tel. 011-44-71- 636-8616; fax 011-44-71-631-1031. Single rooms about $96; doubles about $143--all with private bath.

New York: Vanderbilt YMCA, 224 East 47th St., New York 10017; tel. (212) 755-2410.

West Side YMCA, 5 West 63rd St., New York 10023; tel. (212) 767-1301.

McBurney YMCA, 215 West 23rd St., New York 10011; tel. (212) 741-9210.

Portland: Portland YWCA, 1111 S.W. 10th Ave., Portland, Ore. 97205; tel. (503) 223-6281; fax (503) 223-5988. Rates range from $7.63 for a dorm bed, if guest provides own sleeping bag ($10.90 if the Y provides linens) to $32 for a double with semi-private bath.