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opening a hostel in korea

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seansul started this discussion 15 years 8 months ago

hello hostelmanagemnet.com crew~
my name is sean.
thank you for such a informative site
i'm opening a hostel in seoul korea.

Could you review my plan and give me some suggestions! PLEASE~ ^^

SITUATION

i already bought a place.(3 floors)
The place has 7 bedrooms.
I can fit 16 bunk beds (32ppl) (possible 18 bunk beds)
and there are two private twin rooms.
There are three bathroom (one bathroom on each floor)

TRANSPORTAION
7min walking distance to a subway.
5min walking distance to a airport bus stop.
less than 5 mins busy streets(starbucks,macdonald's)

Marketing strategies
Hostelworld.com and other sites like that.
Google adwords
Korea tourism sites

Where else can I advertise?
How do i register on those travelling guide books?

I'm still thinkning if i want to charge low or high.

other hostels here charge from 12 USD to 18 USD

I'm thinking charging only 12 USD and fill the beds ASAP
or should charge 15 USD?

I have been to many hostels here and my hostel facilities does worth 15 USD

I'm paying 1000USD monthly for the loan.
and i have to pay for other expenses.

i need to come up w/ a name.
1. Jongno house(Jongno is name of the area)
2. Sean House
3. Kimchi house
4. Sul House
any other suggestions?

I gatta make websites in korea,english, and japanese.
Where do you get this done?
I requested at a few places and they are pricy( 1500 USD per language)

Does this hostel look good?
most well advertised hostels had 70~90% occupancy.

THANK YOU ^^

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Rucksack Brian

15 years

I can fit 16 bunk beds (32ppl) (possible 18 bunk beds)
and there are two private twin rooms.
There are three bathroom (one bathroom on each floor)

Three bathrooms for 36-38 guests will be a problem.

7min walking distance to a subway.
5min walking distance to a airport bus stop.
less than 5 mins busy streets(starbucks,macdonald's)

Sounds great

Hostelworld.com and other sites like that.
Google adwords
Korea tourism sites

Where else can I advertise?

Invite the staff from hostels in nearby cities to visit so they can recommend you to their guests. Word of mouth is powerful and a personal recommendation from someone you already know carries a lot more weight than online reviews or printed material.

I'm still thinkning if i want to charge low or high.

other hostels here charge from 12 USD to 18 USD

I'm thinking charging only 12 USD and fill the beds ASAP
or should charge 15 USD?

I have been to many hostels here and my hostel facilities does worth 15 USD

You might drop your prices initially just to encourage people to check you out until you establish a good reputation, but don't be afraid to charge what you're worth. Your price should be an indicator of your quality, so don't undersell yourself. If the guests are already willing to pay 12-18 USD for your area and your hostel is worth 15, I don't see any reason not to charge 15.

i need to come up w/ a name.
1. Jongno house(Jongno is name of the area)
2. Sean House
3. Kimchi house
4. Sul House
any other suggestions?

Kimchi House / Kimchi Hostel
I like that.

Does this hostel look good?
most well advertised hostels had 70~90% occupancy.

It certainly sounds like it has a lot of potential. What kind of common areas do you have?

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seansul

15 years

thank you for the review brian ^^

yeah. three bathrooms might not enough.
There is a laundryroom and it could be converted to a bathroom.
i'm actually thinking of doing that.

there is a kitchen and a livingroom.
i have a small front yard and balcony on the 2nd floor.

It took me a long time to find this house.

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seansul

15 years

would it be a good idea to lower my price to 10 USD for first two months or so?

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Bocciardi

15 years

Hello Seansul

First, let me tell you that I will open a Hostel soon, so I don't have to much experience on it. However, I have been reading about this subject and I think that it can be a good idea to low the prices on the two 1st months if you would open your Hostel during low-season... It could makes people come... If you will open it on high-season (as it seems), maybe you should keep your target prices at 15 USD, there is a lot of backpack travelling around, maybe the next year, due to crisis issue, there will be more people travelling, some fo them has money and a lot of time now... :)

This is just my opinion. Soon I will have the same question about the pricing here... :D:D:D

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Josh Hostels

15 years

would it be a good idea to lower my price to 10 USD for first two months or so?

Some backpackers will sort hostels on sites like Hostelworld and tfthostels.com by price, so having a low price in the beginning might get you some initial bookings and your first online ratings/reviews. Once you have great ratings you could raise the price to a normal level.

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Rucksack Brian

15 years

Some backpackers will sort hostels on sites like Hostelworld and tfthostels.com by price

You said that your lowest priced competitor is selling beds at $12 and that your property is worth more than theirs. I don't see any reason to drop all the way down to $10 just to drive business. If you start at $12, then anyone sorting their search results by price will see that you are tied for the cheapest option. If you really want to lock in the lowest-price-or-bust bookers, drop to $11.50 to clearly indicate that you are the cheapest hostel in town. In my opinion, anything below that would be throwing money away.

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