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Need advice/insight/info...looking to start a hostel in Kenya.

Start a Hostel

Sandra Mukiri started this discussion 8 years 4 months ago

Hi all!

My name is Sandra and I am currently working on my MBA dissertation which happens to be a business plan for a hostel as I absolutely love staying in hostels everywhere I travel. I'd love to open my own hostel in Nairobi, Kenya and therefore using my dissertation as my actual real life business plan.

I haven't seen any information on here on hostels in Kenya or Africa in general. I have a few questions that I'd like anyone's help on.

1. Have any of you traveled to anywhere in Africa and stayed in hostel?

2. If yes, how was your experience?

3. If no, what would your expectations be?

4. What are the main reasons you choose to stay in a hostel over any other type of accommodation?

5. What makes you pick one hostel over another?

6. Have you ever chosen or cancelled a travel location due to accommodation?

Also any advice in starting a hostel on a tight budget, personal or professional insights, Africa travel stories/experiences would be great.

Thanks in advance :)

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Rucksack Brian

8 years

Hi Sandra, welcome to the Hostel Management community!

Your approach to the dissertation and to starting your hostel is fantastic! Creating the business plan for a real hostel will be better for your MBA, and using all of the academic support available to you through the university will help to make the actual hostel even better. Transylvania Hostel in Romania is an example of another hostel whose business plan was developed through an academic competition and then used to open the business.

We have a lot of African hostel professionals who subscribe to our newsletter and read the Forums, but unfortunately not so many who contribute information about their market. I don’t know a lot about the hostel scene in Africa, but I would love to find out more! Please share what you learn with us and keep us up to speed on your project as it develops.

Regarding your questions, I visited Kenya once in my university days to study the biodiversity of the savanna. We didn’t stay in hostels, but I found the whole country to be really fascinating. It was the perfect place to celebrate what traveling is all about. We were surprised at how different things were from what we were used to in the US. We were even more surprised by how similar everyone’s lives were to our own, especially the Maasai kids whose lives mirrored our own far more than we would have expected. It was a very positive experience.

In Nairobi our professors warned us never to leave the hotel at night without a local guide to protect us. They said that thieves would pick us out as tourists and club us over the head to rob us. As a backpacker I tend to disregard that kind of paranoid advice, but I had no way of knowing if there was any truth to it. Is there is any kind of so-called “conventional wisdom” like that which gets spread around among people who travel in that area and which might cause you trouble marketing your hostel to foreigners?

As far as choosing hostels over other forms of accommodation, it always comes down to sociability for me. I know that everyone staying there is likely to be traveling and open to interacting with me and with other guests.

I have definitely picked a destination before because I knew it had a good hostel. I have also decided to skip possible destinations because they didn’t.

Out of curiosity, what kind of tight budget will you be working with to start your hostel?

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SandraM

8 years

Hi Brian,

Thank you kindly for your insight. It has been a struggle getting any information on hostels in Kenya. I booked a night at the three that I found in the city just to get an idea of how they operate and what they offer. Yet still no statistics or data - I even contacted HostelWorld and they don't collect data either!!

Security is the top concern in Kenya! I spoke to a few industry specialists and this was the one thing that came popping back up, other than the obvious location location location! So definitely doing an extensive risk analysis on that.

I'll be moving back to Kenya this year after living in the US and UK and traveling around, falling in love with all kinds of hostels. I plan to travel as much through Kenya and the surrounding countries as I set up, just so I can share more with travelers.

Once I am fully set up I will contribute more info and anyone reading this is welcome to come! In the meantime my dissertation website/ future hostel website is www.mambohostels.com

Sandra

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aliadawn

8 years

Hi Sandra, I am looking to create a business plan for a hostel in Southern California. I would love to look at your business plan to get ideas if that would be ok? I am gathering template info, I realize our hostels are in very different locations, etc. and I am sure there is some great applicable info that works for both. Any help is so appreciated! Best, Alia

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Rucksack Brian

8 years

I'm really surprised that Hostelworld didn't have any information at all. Perhaps their market penetration in Kenya is very limited. Is there another accommodation site that is more popuar for African destinations? Booking, perhaps? Maybe some of the channel management companies would have some information that they could share. You could contact Adam at MyAllocator to see if he has any data that might be helpful.

The more you travel and visit hostels in the neighboring cities and countries, the higher your chances for success become. It would be very informative if you could sit down with the owners or managers to share your interest and pick their brains. They shlould all have an interest in your sucess as a possible source of future business referrals. You will already have established connections who can send you business when you open as well.

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Guigoo900

8 years

Hello Sandra,

I did stay in Kenya for like three months. My sister lives in Nairobi and I worked as a volunteer in Kilifi, on the coast, at Distant Relatives Ecolodge and Backpackers.

What I can suggest is that you go there (to Distant Relatives) and have a chat with Romain and Thomas, the owners. I assure you that they are getting it right, they built up almost from nothing one of the most amazing lodges I have ever seen, very focused on environmental sustainability, good vibes and keeping the prices low.

They surely would have very useful tips on many subjects since they themselves have been operating in Kenya for a few years.

Best of luck with your plans :)

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jason_noronha

8 years

Hey Sandra - I've been to Nairobi a couple of time and even lived and worked for there for around 6 months a few years ago. There were no hostels to be found and I was forced to stay at a hotel every single time (boring as hell). Given how afraid people are of the city, a hostel would be a great idea to provide a safe place to stay in Nairobi before people set off on their safaris (and there are a LOT of travellers).

It was really difficult to meet other travellers in Kenya in general and most people I know used to head out to a few bars (Gipsies for example) but even then, travelers are few and far between. If not Nairobi, Mombasa is also quite a travel magnet with only really expensive all-inclusive resorts to be found.

All the best for your project and I really hope for the sake of Nairobi that you make it happen :)

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Dulce Jacinto

8 years

Hi Sandra,

I stayed at the Wildbeest Eco Camp in Langata, Nairobi 3 years ago. The owners are a young couple from the UK and both have a deep understanding of hotel management from their previous work experience. An Eco Camp has a different concept plan, but the business plan might be similar.

Why don't you give them a call? I am sure they will be of great help in your search.

[email protected] or go to http://www.wildebeestecocamp.com

Telephone #: +254 (0) 202 103 505

Good luck.

Dulce

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lola2424

8 years

Hello. I stayed in a hostel in Uganda which was a really amazing experience. Unlike most USA or Eurpean travel hostels, the African ones I know of cater to long term stays (since most people traveling in the area spent many thousands of dollors to get there, they probably are not leaving any time soon.) So I would suggest keeping that mind - long term stayers have different expectations and needs than your average weekend backpacker.

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SandraM

7 years

Thank you all for your responses and insight! I am definitely taking note on it all.

@aliadawn - kindly send me your email, I definitely don't mind sharing my business plan template and notes. Sorry for the late response.

@rucksackbrian - I am now working on contacting owners/managers as I have officialy moved to Kenya. Hopefully I can get some much needed insight.

@guigoo900 - Thank you! I keep hearing amazing things about Distant Relatives! I was actually racking my brain today trying to remember that name!! I do plan on visiting them.

@jason_naronha - this is exactly one of the issues I would love to solve!! Bringing travelers together! I am still yet to figure out where they all gather (other than the arrivals at the airport and/or hotels - boring indeed!).

@dulcejacinto - I did visit the Wildebeest Eco Camp back in July while doing my research. I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately it was high season so I didn't get a chance to sit and talk with the owners, but will give them another shout.

@lola2424 - Thank you so very much for this insight! I hadn't considered long term stays!

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lola2424

7 years

Sandra (or anyone willing!) I'd also love to check out your business plan or notes - [email protected] thank you!

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