Looking to open new hostel on the Oaxacan coast
Hello world! My name is Max! I've traveled in hostels in Mexico, USA and South America and I volunteered for three months in Brazil. I love the traveling community and I got tired and tired of the "real world" after a few years, I've realized I don't need most of the "luxuries" the first world and the "real jobs" offer me, I want a simple yet fun life so a couple of months ago I managed to aquire some land right in front of a lagoon about an hour from Puerto Escondido International Airport, around a 10 minute walk from town and around a 10 minute bike ride from the beach. It's in a "remote" or undeveloped location. There are no hostels in town but a hotel and some rooms for rent.
The idea for the hostel is for it to be a retreat from the touristy places with a focus on adventure and outdoor activities. I'm planning to offer kayak tours in the mangroves, cross country cycling around the lagoon, hiking in the nearby hills, bioluminiscense tours, snorkeling and surfing. I also want to have activities on site like yoga, temazcal (sweat lodge) and workshops like mezcal and cacao tastings and while I don't intend it to be a party hostel I do want it alive during some nights. I want to offer tours to nearby points of interest like beaches, coffee plantations, cultural spaces, waterfalls, hot springs... I want guests to disconnect and enjoy nature but I also want to offer them the classic Puerto Escondido experience by maybe offering a shuttle once a week so they can enjoy the day and maybe pick them up late at night so they enjoy the night life over there.
I'm working with an architect right now (and here is a rought layout) designing the floor plan and as of right now we have 7 six-person dorms (one would be for the voluunteers, and one female only), 6 private king rooms with private bathrooms (one would be for manager/owner) and one double queen room. Three of the private rooms will feature a lagoon view and a balcony. The land is around 475m2. I also have plans for a specialty coffee shop and co-working space, although we're not sure how well it would work since there's only Starlink as of right now. I like the idea of having producing food on site by planting fruit trees and crops through the property.
Now, I'm still on the planning phase and would love to have some advice and I'm open to business partners/investors. With my current funding opportunities, I'm looking to start the build around November 2026 (we'd start earlier on 2026 but we have to wait for the rainy season to be over).
- What do ya'll think of the floor plan? The upper right corner is where kayaks and bikes will be stored and the circles in the patio are were the biodigestor and cisterns would go. The rooftop will feature a bar and a pergola.
- What do ya'll think of the capacity? 42 dorm beds, and five private rooms. Too much?
- To those of you in hurracaine prone areas, what do you do? Do you close during those months?
- How many volunteers seem aproppriate? I do want to hire staff but funding will be tight at first plus I'd like to properly hire passionate volunteers, does that sound right?
- Any tips you wish you knew before you started a hostel?
- I would love to get hands on experience managing a hostel, if anybody knows of a way a could do this, let me know! At least as an apprenticeship.
- I'm open to business partners and investors, hit me up. I probably doing a crowd funding next year so watch out for that!
Thank you for reading
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