With British tourists increasingly looking beyond the eurozone to get better value on holiday, eastern Europe is more popular than ever. And while they're looking looking that way, they might be interested to know that this part of the world is home to some of the finest hostels in the business.

Hostels have changed. In an effort to attract visitors "downgrading" from conventional, pricier hotels, they have raised their game and smartened up their act - the better ones have a clean, modern design, better facilities and high-quality double rooms that come as standard.

Here's our pick of the best:

1. Miss Sophie's, Prague, Czech Republic

For those still a little confused about the concept, Miss Sophie's is one of Europe's original and best boutique hostels. It has a cellar bar framed in exposed brick, en suites with stone and glass-encased showers, slick bedrooms, and even housekeepers. But alongside the crisp doubles and generous apartments, its equally stylish dorm rooms fulfil the "hostel" brief ... starting from under £14pn.

• Miss-sophies.com, doubles from £50pn.

2. Mandragora, Budapest, Hungary

A common hostel misconception is that "hippy vibe" mean cruddy rooms. Not so at the Mandragora, an alternative guesthouse on the fringes of the city centre. Created and staffed by yoga teachers and design enthusiasts, the dorms have foregone bunks in favour of single beds on mezzanines and individual "lofts" subdivided by colourful sheets. The in-house double is similarly styled, smothered in red paint and oriental throws, and a separate location in the city centre also houses a collection of apartments.

• mandragorahostel.com, beds from £11pn, doubles from £36pn

3. Hostel Mleczarnia, Wroclaw, Poland

You'd be hard pressed to find a single hotel in Poland that matches the antique interior of Hostel Mleczarnia, let alone a hostel that offers beds from £9 a night. The downstairs cafe is the only remaining Yiddish-style bar in Wroclaw and is dripping in old world romanticism - from oak floorboards to wobbly antique furniture and sepia-toned photographs. Upstairs, the rooms are furnished with ancient dressers, vintage gramophones and old rugs on stripped floorboards and with exposed brick walls. A true hidden gem.

• mleczarniahostel.pl, beds from £9, doubles from £45pn

4. The City Lounge, Riga, Latvia

On various hostel listings sites, the City Lounge Hostel in Riga asserts that it is "not the cheapest" in town ... before claiming that it certainly is the "trendiest". And it seems to walk the walk, with frosted glass, exposed brick walls and a blood red colour scheme throughout. Opened last year, it has added a touch of class to a city where hostels have traditionally spent more time thinking about their pub crawls than their aesthetics.

• citylounge.lv, dorms from £9pn, doubles from £42pn

5. Greg & Tom Hostel, Krakow, Poland

Back in the day, backpackers were satisfied with a bed for the night. These days, flashpackers expect more, and the Greg & Tom hostels in Krakow show just how far things have come. That the rooms range from spacious dorms to large doubles is a given, but behold the "added extras" list: huge home cinema screens, free Wi-Fi, massage showers, bounteous continental breakfast (included), nightly activities ranging from Polish banquets to tours of the old town ... and a ban on stag groups.

• gregtomhostel.com, dorms from £10pn, doubles from £26pn

6. Silver Central Hostel, Split, Croatia

Despite being one of the most popular non-Eurozone locations, Croatia's Adriatic coast is surprisingly bereft of good hostels. Split's newest arrival is a shining exception, set in a townhouse within the walls of Diocletian's Palace - the walled old town of central Split. Alas, this one does not offer doubles, but the dorm rooms are distinctly high end, with stripped wooden floorboards and sculpted straw furniture.

• silvercentralhostel.com, beds from £13pn

7. Art Hostel, Sofia, Bulgaria

Often, a hostel's calibre is defined by its communal areas - and occasionally, you'll find a hostel with a bar that is as popular with locals as it is with guests. The Art Hostel's cellar bar is one of the trendiest drinking dens in Sofia, with regular parties at weekends and a garden that buzzes with artsy locals over the summer. The dorms are standard fare, but a handful of doubles and a loft in the upstairs floors are surprisingly elegant, with antique furniture and balconies overlooking the garden.

• art-hostel.com, dorms from £9pn, doubles from £32

8. Hostel Hullam, Balaton, Hungary

Just 100 metres from the beach on the northern shores of Lake Balaton - the largest lake in central Europe - the Hullam Hostel occupies a turn-of-the-century building in the village of Révfülöp. Guests here can expect a triple whammy. Alongside miles of cycle tracks snaking through the Balaton Highland National Park and the Kali Basin, lake-side jetties and beaches primed for sunbathing during the 30-degree-plus summer season, the hostel is also home to one of the liveliest bars in the area, where local bands frequently play into the small hours.

• balatonhostel.hu, dorm beds from €13pn, doubles from €35pn

9. Buzz Backpackers, Zagreb, Croatia

Another of the misconceptions about hostels is that evenings are dominated by Bob Dylan sing-a-longs and drinking games. But like an ever-increasing band of family-aimed hostels, the Buzz Backpackers, set in a baroque building in the heart of the city, operates a no-noise policy after 11pm. It also conforms to another boutique hostel standard: private rooms that put budget hotels to shame - the well-designed top floor loft double sleeps two with space for a third.
• buzzbackpackers.com, dorms from 14pn, private rooms from £39pn

10. Green Lizard, Hvar, Croatia

Long billed as Croatia's answer to Ibiza, the jetties and ports of Hvar teem with yachts and perma-tanned Adriatic It-people throughout the summer. Most budget accommodation-seekers opt for the "soba" rooms - private beds offered by local families at the ferry port, but this entails the risks of having to be home by midnight, or up at the crack of dawn for prayers with granny. The Green Lizard is the best hostel on the islands off Split, and offers prime views of the bay from its balconies. In a country that is getting more and more expensive by the year, doubles from £31pn, with sea views thrown in, is a godsend.

• greenlizard.hr, doubles from £31pn, beds from £12pn