Hey people, need your advise. I have a room sized 15x8m (120sqm) with the ceiling as high as 6 meters. In the future, we are going to divide it into two floors and smaller rooms but right now we don't have a budget and we have few other rooms for a start.
Do you think it is still worth it to use it as a dorm, as it is? Do such hangar-type rooms exist in hostels? And what would guests think about it? There are three 2x2m windows, by the way, but not on the eye level, rather under the roof.
Alternatively, we can use it as a common area (although we already have one, smaller size), a dining room (although the shared kitchen is in the other corner of the house) or just leave it off for now and see what's going to be demanded most.
10 years
Bigger is better when it comes to dorms in my opinion. High ceilings make a room feel more spacious, which is especially important when you are sharing a room with however many people.
I'd say you would be fine to use it as a dorm for now until you divide it into 2 floors.
Are you going to have issues with the room being cold though? With such a high ceiling, all the heat will rise and the room could feel very chilly.
10 years
I've seen a couple of ways people have divided up big rooms on a budget, one I thought was particularly well done was at The Columbia River Gorge Hostel in Bingen, Washington. It was an old school and they divided the old school rooms up using a "+" wall in the center of the room. I'm sure of the best way to describe it, but the wall was only a divider, not going all the way to the roof, so it made the room feel a little smaller without loosing the benefit of the high ceilings, which I also agree makes feel more spacious.
This picture is not the best, but it provides an idea. You can see one wall of the divider, with bunks being on each side, splitting the room into four sections.
10 years
Tom, I thought the same bigger - the better. As for the cold, in my region winter is short and off-season so we will be closing this room for winter.
10 years
this "+" wall actually sounds and looks so cool we're going to seriously think about it. because it means no extra doors, windows, lights, corridors... and the ceiling won't look too far, as if you are in a well, if your walls are half open. thanks!
10 years
It really depends on the market.
I stayed in a 24 bed dorm in helsinki as prices were expensive.
They had a system similar to the other hostle picture with the room divided into sections with walls 3/4 height to divide the room.
This created more intimate spaces and kept the noise levels down.
Lighting can also be an issue as in try to control it.
If you had 24 different people turning on the light during the night it would be fairly annoying.
10 years
I once stayed in a ~40-bed dorm in Greece. It was hard to sleep when a group returned in the middle of the night, flipped the lights on and started having a conversation at normal volume. Maybe the barriers would help. And signs telling people not to turn on the main lights at night...
10 years
As for the height of the room: as long as you are able to control the temperature it shouldn't be an issue... if the room looks very sterile maybe add some low hanging lamps and other orments to have a more comfortable feeling.
As for number of beds inside: it really depends on the situation. I already slept in 8-bed-dorms that had squeaky beds and people getting up at 3am starting to pack their stuff with the main lights on... and 40+-bed-dorms where I had a perfect sleep since there was lots barriers dividing it into smaller private areas and there were no main lights (only for cleaning).
9 years
I appreciate this conversation, even if coming into it late.
I've got a 15-bed dorm (singles, no bunks), on the 3rd (top) floor of the house. It's about 40x24 feet, with vaulted ceilings, dormers, skylights, so it feels open, airy and bright during the day.
I love having it available for groups, but it's also a tough option to sell at times. Things have to be really full around town to get it more than half-full.
My dream design for the room would be 8 beds, each in a pod with 50" tall cubicle-style dividers. I want to keep the bright, airy, communal feel, yet muffle a bit of the snoring and have reading lights and screens not shining across the room.
8 years
I think the general opinion among hostel travelers is that they prefer smaller rooms because there are less people to potentially be noisy. So hostels usually charge less per bed for rooms with more beds in the room because they're considered to be less desirable rooms. I'm not sure if a divider makes much difference if it doesn't substantially block sound. Personally, I tend to like large dorm rooms, but that's because I don't mind using earbuds to block sound when I'm sleeping.
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