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How important is the location for a HOSTEL ?

General Hostel Operations

LatestViking started this discussion 15 years 7 months ago

Recently a had a chat with some friends, regarding how important is the location, against other things like Security, Cleanliness, Character and Fun ?
Presuming that you have all of them with good ratings :

Security
Cleanliness
Character
Fun

If the location is good, but not very good, do you think will affect your bookings, ratings, etc.

PS: Considering that the Hostel could be a backpacker paradise...:)

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aboriginalhostel

15 years

The locations of these hostels are not nearly worth 80%.

So true. Meanwhile I'd like to mention that you can have a good rated hostel with a bad location but that doesn't mean you'll have a full house. Both hostels have around 50 beds but still less reviews than we have, which means they even have less bookings than us and we are much smaller than them!

You can have a very good rated hostel with a bad location, but then you need to find those people who are uninterested about the location. You can spend a week in these hostels having fun without actually visiting the City but those guests who want to explore the town might not choose such location then. :rolleyes:

Outskirts hostels have to find an alternative strategy promoting themselves... just like off-beaten track hostels (as it's been described in Dresden).

Overall it's not about ratings (even if this feature is a good feedback) but how many bookings you get! ;) Even more, not about how many bookings and how much revenue but how much profit can you make at the end of the year...

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Nickognito

15 years

This thread?
http://www.hostelmanagement.com/forum/f32/hostelworld-ratings-improvement-worksheet-1222.html#post5058

Related Wiki page: How to improve hostel reviews

yes, maybe it was this thread, thanks :)

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HostelOffice

15 years

Overall it's not about ratings (even if this feature is a good feedback) but how many bookings you get! ;) Even more, not about how many bookings and how much revenue but how much profit can you make at the end of the year...

That is spot on. In Riga the best located hostels do not have free car parking or a BBQ area, or ..... The list goes on.

So you have to find ways to promote the benefit of your location. One hostel I visited in London complained about their poor location but nowhere on their website did they mention they were one block away from the University of London offices used to give classes to Distance education students! I studied there and knew first hand how difficult it was to identify accommodation close to the school.

Walk around the streets near your hostel and read the signs of offices and even go in and ask if they need to inform people of accommodation nearby. Then at minimum add the name of their business in your location page and at best get them to add a link to your website.

You have got to Hustle. The end result is really good job satisfaction and a more secure source of bookings.

I have added names to my website like the Air Baltic ticket office nearby, the Tallink Hotel that is not built yet and a couple sports stadiums in walking distance. A month ago I emailed a group telling them I had moved them to a better located hostel. But within 5 minutes they telephoned me saying that they thought the original hostel was best located as it was closer to what they want to see and do. So I moved them back.

There are more businesses opening outside the best located areas where there are also less tourists. This is attractive for many travellers. Maybe we need a term for this so travellers can search for such hostels.

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