1. Who has a bar in their hostel?
2. is it open to the public, or just guests? or a combination thereof?
3. how many heads?
4. what sort of turnover?
5. can you drink your own booze elsewhere in the hostel?
and now the specifics :P
i think having a bar is essential - ok, not essential, but the ideal hostel IMO has a bar. i personally prefer bars open to the public as travelling is all about interacting with different people, ideally locals. so i was wondering for those with a bar, what sort of proportion of those in the bar are guests or outsiders, how old are they? basically, what sort of people drink in your bar. what sort of offers/promotions/events do you have? do they work?
now 3 of the 4 hostels ive worked in had bars, and i worked behind all of them. but they were remarkably different places:
Nomads Melbourne was (or at least tried to be) very flash. leather couches, plasma TVs, Nomads brand coasters. not really what i would call a typical backpacker bar. nice, but id say neither the GM nor the bar manager really knew who their market was. tried to be too many things to too many people. license for 200 (260 bed hostel, go figure).
H.I. Banff - very slapdash, considerably smaller. license for 60... 220 bed hostel, again, go figure. we were a bit out of town and the winter had a LOT of long term guests (big problem in my books). of the 220 beds, id say 100 were up for sale at any one time. made the bar feels a bit like a locals bar and possibly a little intimidating for guests. especially on quiet nights when 1/2 the drinkers were staff.
Globetrotter Inn, 24hr license, 330 heads, only open to guests. no cash, everything ran on a keycard system. bit weird but tended to attract good sorts... and stag parties...
i guess im at the point now where im confident enough to run my own hostel... but despite having worked in more than a few bars, im still really keen to learn about that side of things. so if anybody wants to share their experiences, id be very grateful. ESPECIALLY to anyone who runs a hostel bar in the USA as id really like to know how the drinking age effects things.
cheers
chris
16 years
I worked at a hostel in the US that had an attached bar. I don't think they were checking IDs as often as they were supposed to.
is it open to the public, or just guests? or a combination thereof?
It was open to the public...
can you drink your own booze elsewhere in the hostel?
No outside alcohol was allowed in the hostel, which bothered some guests...
16 years
We don't have a bar at our hostel. I guess it depends on the size of the place you're going to operate. With the costs associated with licensing, staff, security etc. you'll obviously want to have a pretty large place to justify the expense. If you do then it could be a real money earner I guess. Funnily enough I think the places that need somewhere to drink - such as those places out in the middle of no-where like here don't have it as it's hard to justify the expense for limited number of people, while those places where there are plenty of bars such as large cities often will have a hostel bar, when you could just go next door to a bar anyway.
Personally It wouldn't worry me one way or the other if a hostel had a bar, but I know a lot of our customers would appreciate one.
16 years
For the smaller hostel, we have 60 beds, I would recommend a lockable drinks fridge that can be seen from the reception desk. We do good sales of beers, local wines, soft drinks and bottled water. Our prices are well below the local bars but a bit above supermarket prices; but to buy at a supermarket involves a 15 minute round walk, so not many bother.
Having a "help yourself" drinks fridge no extra staff are needed; so prices can be kept lower.
As we have about 11 ex hostel folk now living in the town it would be churlish to keep the locals away.
16 years
For the smaller hostel, we have 60 beds, I would recommend a lockable drinks fridge that can be seen from the reception desk. We do good sales of beers, local wines, soft drinks and bottled water. Our prices are well below the local bars but a bit above supermarket prices; but to buy at a supermarket involves a 15 minute round walk, so not many bother.
I certainly think that's a good idea, and one I'd like to do - we certainly don't have the room for a separate bar here. The main problem in countries like the UK is licensing laws. To be able to legally sell alcohol you need a license, and this is not cheap. If you don't bother with the license and get caught, the penalties are stiff. A lot of visitors from foreign countries are surprised by these laws - as in a lot of places you can just sell what you want - unfortunately here it's not so simple!
16 years
personally id like to have an separate bar, rather than one included in reception - mainly because if the bar is popular, reception starts getting... well... difficult to manage. but my favourite hostels have all had bars (in one form or another), usually not as a business in their own right but as an attraction of the hostel. sociability is always a ket factor and alcohol is, for better or worse, a great social lubricant.
im looking at about 80 beds and a small bar, bottle led. of course having a sponsored, multi-tap bar would be awesome but for a hostel that size, i doubt it could be justified, even if open to the public.
licensing issues are a big one - particularly so in north america. dont get me started on US laws (21?!?!?!?!?) and canada it depends hugely on the province. ontario, for example, has a similar system to scandinavia where only government run stores can sell liquor (the LCBO) and bar licenses are expensive. compare this to quebec, which is considerably more 'european' in its alcohol laws.
on a semi-related note: how many hostels do you guys know of that are 'weed friendly'? im definatley a bit of a stoner and canada is delightfully liberal in that regard but all the hostels i visited still had to make sure it happened OFF property. strangely though, in san diego where you would expect the laws to be a little stricter, the hostel i stayed in encouraged us to smoke outside... directly across the road from the main police station. go figure.
16 years
personally id like to have an separate bar, rather than one included in reception - mainly because if the bar is popular, reception starts getting... well... difficult to manage.
I thought that when I was in the Flying Pig [Downtown]. It is so loud that it´s impossible to speak to someone on the telephone. I guess you don´t even hear a ringing phone in their reception.
on a semi-related note: how many hostels do you guys know of that are 'weed friendly'?
We can´t really encourage guests to smoke weed because the smoke sets off the fire alarm every time. :D
There seem to be much more particles in weed smoke than in cigarette smoke.
What you do on the terrace is none of our business though. ;)
16 years
licensing issues are a big one - particularly so in north america. dont get me started on US laws (21?!?!?!?!?)
The drinking laws here in the USA make things difficult. If someone underage drinks at your bar and then does something bad, I think you can even go to jail.
21 the minimum age for purchase or "public possession". Not sure if it applies to "private clubs".
More here:
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/05/30/170348.php
"In Texas, the complete Encyclopedia Britannica collection is banned because one of the volumes contains a homemade beer recipe."
Plakian's setup is great.
16 years
I thought that when I was in the Flying Pig [Downtown]. It is so loud that it´s impossible to speak to someone on the telephone. I guess you don´t even hear a ringing phone in their reception.
we'd get that problem occasionally at nomads, the reception was separated by a piece of glass and a glass door... which if you were working reception AND bar (often necessary) the door was hardly ever closed. yelling 'CAN YOU SPEAK UP?!' down the phone on a friday night was never, IMO, a good impression.
We can´t really encourage guests to smoke weed because the smoke sets off the fire alarm every time.
There seem to be much more particles in weed smoke than in cigarette smoke.
What you do on the terrace is none of our business though.
and apparently burnt toast has more than a wood fire. cigarettes shouldnt ever really set off an alarm unless you're blowing smoke into it.
terrace hey? :cool:
16 years
and apparently burnt toast has more than a wood fire. cigarettes shouldnt ever really set off an alarm unless you're blowing smoke into it.
You´re right, the toaster in the brekkie room has caused a few alarms already, too.
16 years
id really like to know how the drinking age effects things.
If the bar is restricted to guests only, then it is pretty easy to control the drinking age.
When people check in, you take their passport details as part of the check in process (and check their date of birth) so you know which people are underage and who can drink. You can then update the bar staff with details of who is underage so they don't need to keep checking everyone's ID.
Depending on the market your hostel is going after this can be a problem in the US. It wasn't till my third trip around the world that I was old enough to drink in the States; however the majority of guests will probably be old enough to drink in your hostel. It would be interesting to see what percentage of guests are aged under 21.
I think there are a lot of opportunities to run a hostel in the US, but I would be reluctant to run one with a bar in the States.
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