Backpack & Budget : Collegiate Snoozes in Chicago

Travelers will have another low-cost lodging choice in Chicago this summer when Columbia College Residence Hall opens June 11, just in time for the World Cup Soccer games at Soldier Field.

Operated by Hostelling International-American Youth Hostels, the residence hall has private bathrooms, a game room, workout room, and self-serve kitchen and laundry facilities.

Rooms are $14 per person, per night, and have no more than three beds. Non-members of Hostelling International pay $17.

The hostel will be open until Sept. 5. For further information or reservations, contact Chicago Summer Hostel, 731 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago, Ill. 60605; telephone (312) 327-5350.

Hostelling International has more than 200 facilities worldwide that can be reserved for a small fee through its International Booking Network. The booking centers are in gateway cities such as London, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand. In the United States, call the Washington, D.C., office (tel. 202-783-6161) or San Francisco (tel. 415-788-2525.)

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Euracom, a new London company specializing in apartments for students, offers small apartments, hotel-style lodging opposite the British Museum, and university residence halls in Bloomsbury and near Regent’s Park (facilities include tennis courts and a restaurant). Prices (for four sharing) start at $23 per person or $104 weekly in an apartment. From the United States, tel. 011-44-71-436-3201 or fax 011-44-71-436-3203.

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Travelers who want to use Britain as a gateway to Europe won’t find train travel through the new Channel Tunnel affordable until the new year.

The first service, which started May 19, is “Le Shuttle” for passengers and their vehicles. Limited “Eurostar” foot-passenger rail service is expected to start in June and build in the fall with two or three trains crossing each week from London’s new Waterloo Station. Although fares have not been announced, the early crossings will be a novelty and are not expected to be priced competitively with the ferry service..

Competitive rates should start in 1995 with scheduled hourly service to both Paris and Brussels. The Brussels journey will take 3 1/2 hours; the Paris run will be three hours and finish at Gare du Nord station, where a youth accommodation reservation service is located.

Passenger service is operated by Eurostar, a consortium of British, Belgian and French rail services.

BritRail expects that Channel Tunnel service will incorporate BritFrance rail passes in 1995. They can be purchased from travel agents in North America. Discounts are available to travelers under 26.