Irritating laws!!! Is there a way around?
Start a Hostel
Hi,
I finally contacted the government and asked for the main requirements in setting up a youth hostel.
In fact, there is no law or anything else for a youth hostel! To the government, a youth hostel is considered as a 1* hotel!
In order to set up a 1* hotel, it is required to get a property which has 8 rooms (bedrooms) and must be on a plot size of 2,000m²!!
Now, when it comes to cheap cheap hotels, who would be interested in a large garden?!
Hostlers are interested in cheap bedding, a place to make their own food and interact with other folks. This enables them to have more money to explore the countries they are in. Cities too.
Has anyone got any ideas on how to get round this bureaucracy? Is anyone good at commercial or government laws? Is it possible to say, that I am running a commercial business and providing something to tourists or 'client's?
Many thanks!!
Leah
- Comments
13 years
It sounds like your government (like many others) has no idea what a hostel is. If you go back and ask someone else the same question tomorrow you may get a completely different answer. Assuming it’s the answer you want, write down their name and make them your preferred contact person.
Is there another accommodation option that has less prohibitive restrictions? B&B, pension, guesthouse? If the requirements of one of those options more closely match what you want to do, then register your business under that classification.
If you can run your hostel the way you want to while fulfilling all of the official requirements for SOME approved accommodation type, then who cares what the government calls you?
13 years
In neighbouring Greece there is an 18 year old law that prevents new hostels from opening; don't you just love the hotels association for that one!
However, one or two hostels open every year. How? Because the owners don't go around asking questions, they just do it!
13 years
Plakian,
They just do it.. as Nike says....
What happens if someone complains and reports my hostel to the government? I would be screwed. Cyprus is a very small island. Crete is even smaller. I wonder how they do it! I've never been to Crete - shame on me. I am planning to use my mother's money as I don't have any but turn this into a family business which will then turn this into a long term investment and help us with our retirement when we're older (much older!). One of the reasons why Cyprus is so successful in the tourist business is because the official are very strict when it comes to regulations for hotels or accommodation of all sorts for all sorts of tourists. In fact, this year, tourists have jumped up 50%.
I'm now emailing a lawyer who is a specialist in commercial and property law. She finds my request very interesting and has done some research.
As Rucksack Brian says, find laws under B & Bs, guest houses etc. Well, that is what my lawyer suggested too :) So.. there might be light at the end of the tunnel.
Also, what I find very irksome, are the 2* hotels claiming to be youth hostels and advertise themselves on hihostel.com, hostelworld, com etc etc as youth hostels however they are not! I know these hotels very well and are just plain hotels which serve breakfast and have a swimming pool. One has a casino now.... One is right in the countryside and not easy to spot and needs a car to get there. Right, rant over!
13 years
Hi people,
You will not believe this.. but a youth hostel has opened in Nicosia... by the government youth society!!! Arrrrgggh..
I was told that a youth hostel does not exist. Yeah right. And they open one.
The newsarticle is here: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/youth-hostel/nicosia-mansion-stay-those-budget/20110703
The building was a very old one and located within the old city walls of Nicosia. The aim was to bring people to this area and are targeting younger people.
So perhaps if I find an old building that needs renovating and is located within the old parts of Paphos, will I be given the rights to set one up???
Looks like some phone calls are needed....
13 years
How did they open it if there are no laws concerning hostels on the island? Maybe things have changed very recently.
Why not call in and talk to the staff - provided you are under 35!!!!
13 years
I think Plakian has excellent advice there. I looked at opening a hostel here in Jersey, so I popped into the Tourism office, and asked if there was any one I could speak to about opening a hostel, and I got some contacts, which got me more contacts. From making one inquiry, I had various leads to various government departments.
I eventually found the right department, unfortunately, as I was dealing the government here in Jersey, they were not too receptive about reopening the old hostel, and the Government was saying one thing publicly, then saying one thing privately. They kept saying they wanted more tourists to come, and even built a new 3 or 4* hotel on our Waterfront, and converted a disused building into a hostel. Then privately they were saying, they didn't see any point in opening new hotels, or hostels as tourism is decline, and they didn't want to spend any money on a hostel. Basically, they didn't want to know anything about it. Bureaucracy.
So make some inquiries with the local planning office, tourist office, population control office, etc.
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