A hostel usually offers only the basics -- a bunk bed in a shared room, a bathroom at the end of the hall and a no-frills kitchen.

Guests are expected to clean up after themselves.

The Hostel on Main in Rockwood, the newest overnight lodging in the Somerset County community, has all the basics -- and a lot more -- for $22 a night.

There are 24 bunk beds, including six in each of two private rooms; three bathrooms, one of which is handicap-accessible; a kitchen with a refrigerator, microwave and coin-operated washer and dryer; basement storage for bikes; a large front room with a sofa, comfortable chairs, a wall-mounted television and a phone.

The private rooms are $50 per couple and $18 for each additional person.

Groups of 10 or more pay $18 a night. There's a small charge for wash cloths and towels.

"We already have our camping [and] B&Bs," genial owner Judy Pletcher said.

"This is the middle-of-the-road -- affordable, clean lodging. It gives cyclists, hikers, skiers, hunters and other visitors to the Laurel Highlands a place to lay their heads in Rockwood."

The town, about 8 miles south of Somerset, sits across the Casselman River from the Great Allegheny Passage. It is about 10 miles from Hidden Valley, Seven Springs and the state game lands.

The distinctive hostel, with terra cotta siding, green trim and yellow shutters, was formerly a grocery store and retains its original woodwork and tin ceilings. It is about 75 feet from active railroad tracks and a nearby crossing where locomotive engineers must sound their horns.

Guests are welcome to bring food that can be prepared in the microwave or visit several establishments that offer food and drink. Chief among the latter, and only two doors up Main Street, is the Rockwood Mill Shoppes & Opera House, also owned by Pletcher. But arrive before 9 p.m.

Although a group of five cyclists from Wilmington, N.C., members of the Cape Fear Cyclists, had assured Pletcher Sept. 28 that they would be there between 7 and 7:30 that evening, they hadn't arrived when the mill shoppes closed at 9 p.m.

"If they haven't stopped for dinner, they're going to be hungry when they get here," she said. "I'll bring a few things down for them before I go home."

The "few things" included large containers of chili, vegetable soup, iced tea, fresh rolls, a three-berry pie, coffee and tea.

Jill Barcia, Terry Benjey, Bethel Paris, Pat Patrick and Karen Ruefle, all in their 60s, couldn't believe their good fortune when they finally arrived at 9:30 p.m. after pedaling 48 miles, including two hours in the dark in 50-degree temperatures. They started the day with a visit to Fallingwater, a too-long lunch and didn't get on the trail in Connellsville until about mid-afternoon.

"We are so happy to be here," said Ruefle, who led the group through the darkness because she had the biggest light on her bike.

They were greeted by their fellow hostelers -- Roger Wilcox of Willoughby, Ohio, and Bill and Amy Drew of Greenbelt, a suburb of Washington, D.C. They also were biking to D.C.

After a pastry and coffee breakfast at the mill shoppes the next morning, they packed their panniers, loaded them on their bikes and got back on the trail.

"I've never been in a hostel before so I didn't know what to expect," Bill Drew said. "This is really nice."

For more information on The Hostel on Main and the Rockwood Mill Shoppes & Opera House, go to www.hostelonmain.com, www.rockwoodmillshoppes.com or call 1-814-926-4546.

For more information on Rockwood, including other overnight accommodations, restaurants and services, go to www.visitrockwood.com.

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