When I was in my teens a load of my friends from Spain did a tour of Northern Europe with their school/college (they were doing COU) whilst I was living in England.
Their longest stay (in Cologne) coincided with Easter when I had some free time.
I got a cheap boat/rail ticket and went to see them (this was before Easyjet so it was expensive and difficult to travel to Spain for non 7 day trips, especially at Easter). I thought I might be able to find a hostel once I was there.

Never needed to, one more Spanish speaker in the group and the hotel never raised an eyebrow. The beds were huge, we were skinny, and I was able to come down and eat breakfast with everyone.

So I guess I've been a freeloader too.