What do people think about carpeted floors? I've recently seen an otherwise well-designed, custom-built hostel that has carpets. They are already stained even though they are new. I imagine a lot of backpackers drop things or throw up occasionally.
It seems like if an accident happens it's going to take longer to clean it out of a carpet than on a solid floor that can be mopped...
14 years
We have polished wooden floors but we use rugs in the centre of each room. We find it makes the rooms seem warmer (in the cold-ish Central European climate), dampens ambient noise and protects the floor from scratches.
There's a bit of extra cleaning but we think it's worthwhile, and we've never found the rugs have caused problems with bugs, fleas, lice, allergies or people not being able to breathe after an hour.
14 years
I am so happy to have found this thread. I spent last week working a hostel and they have carpet throughout. I tend to hate on carpets. I think they get dirty too quickly, cleaning can be a bit of a nightmare if it involves fluids of any kind (I heard a dog poop story, gross). However, the owner of the hostel I worked at brought up 2 important points:
1. Carpet works as an insulator. Great for keeping in the heat! Which also adds to comfort.
2. Carpet functions as a sound barrier.
Now, depending on the type of hostel you have and the location you are in, these are two things to consider. For example, if you are in a one story building, maybe a sound barrier isn't so important as far as hearing people walk around the floor above you. If you are in a particularly warm location, maybe it's better to have cooler floors.
My sister made the point that people often end up sitting on the floors of hostels. I tend to be a floor-sitter. I like to pack on the floor, draw sitting on the floor, etc. Carpet can definitely add to comfort. But maybe mats or rugs that you can throw in a washing machine are better??
As far as bedbugs are concerned - are hostels guaranteed to encounter these menacing bugs? Or if you are good about it can you avoid them?
Thanks for the carpet discussion. I'm still on the fence, but everything I've read is good food for thought.
14 years
I am personally pro carpet and all of our new hostels we do have it so far. Makes the room warm and cuts down on noise. Getting a commercial quality carpet is the most important thing so it can hold up to the wear and tear and has good warranty in place. We are getting great results out of the activate range done buy these guys http://www.feltexcarpets.co.nz/commercial/our-range/feltex-commercial.aspx
Maintenance is the key. We schedule carpet cleaning periodically. Unless the carpet is really old the most effective way to cut down smells is to use an Ozone machine... those thing kill smells really well and hotels have been using them for years. They cost about NZ$500-$1000 and are worth every cent.
One thing on carpet squares/tiles... great idea but when the carpet fades over the years it look pretty odd when you have a bright colored tile in the middle of the faded stuff
14 years
Just on the Ozone machines. I did a quick Google search to find out more about it and the first one to pop up in my search was this link from NSW State (Australia) Health Department which had concerns about Ozone geneators:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/factsheets/environmental/ozone_generators.html
It was posted in 2005, perhaps they are better versions out now which are safer?
Any thoughts?
Cheers
Jon
14 years
Interesting article... and i must say i have never seen anything warning that hard against it... though the assumption has always been that breathing it can not be good for you.
What we do is close down a room, Give it a 15 minute whack in the morning (thats all it takes) and then air out for the remainder of the day. No one has ever reported any of the adverse effects so I can only assume that and fresh air out is satisfactory. A bit of googling and i did find these (though one may consider it bias as it comes from a manufacturer) http://www.jenesco.com/ozone-generator-danger.htm and here http://www.air-zone.com/isozonesafe.html.. i think this one is un-bias http://www.environmentalhygienist.com/ozone-cleaning-safety.htm
14 years
It's true that ozone isn't good for you. It's also true that ozone molecules are extremely unstable. i.e they don't last for long.
So unless there is an active source of ozone production the ozone turns back to good ole' breathable oxygen in about 30 mins.
Ozone is safely used as a dissinfectant for drinking water for this reason. While chemical (liquid) dissinfectants can affect the taste of the water. The ozone leaves no trace of it's presence.
I admit I'm not familiar with these machines specifically, but I'd be really surprised if used with a common sense approach to use there would be any problems.
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