housing vs hostel

housing and hostel both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
housing	Yes	No	No	No
hostel	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, hostel is a hyponym of housing; that is, hostel is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than housing:

housing: structures collectively in which people are housed
hostel: inexpensive supervised lodging (especially for youths on bicycling trips)

housing (noun)	hostel (noun)
structures collectively in which people are housed	inexpensive supervised lodging (especially for youths on bicycling trips)
a protective cover designed to contain or support a mechanical component	a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
stable gear consisting of a decorated covering for a horse, especially (formerly) for a warhorse