This is the section of the site to ask questions and answer questions about opening a hostel.
Many people would like to open a hostel, but they don't know where to begin.
Many common questions are about topics like:
What makes a good hostel? How does one open a hostel?
Ask your questions and offer advice here.
18 years
i'd love to start up a backpackers' hostel, probably in LA or hollywood since that's where i live, and i know lots of people come to hollywood.
but the thing is, i don't have any idea where to start... hopefully someday an experienced hostel entrepeneur will join this forum and give me advice.
18 years
Have you worked in hostels before? That is probably the best place to start. I recommend working in a few hostels and trying to learn as much about the business as possible that way. I've also started a new section of the forum called Business Partners where you can look for other people who might be interested in working on the same hostel venture.
I've started advertising this site, and I think that traffic will also pick up once it is officially launched (soon).
17 years
Hi .. maybe my thoughts will help ...
on advertising
I have tried every thing about once. Hostels are real difficult to market to the general public. Most people in the US do not know about or have the wrong idea about hostels.
We were with American Youth Hostels for a time, partly because of the advertising thru the National and Intermational handbooks. This was part of our annual fees and contract. I would suggest that you might start with them, I think the exposure will be better, faster. There is a high up front start fee but the annual fees are about $10 per bed. Pretty good for the international exposure. A good place to start (even if you decide not to join with them) is to contact AYH and get all the info they have available on opperating a hostel. Free info is good from any source.
17 years
shady characters ... well here you have to rely on your initial impression and good judgement, their looks, how they act, if suspicious, have a conversation before they register, where have they been, how are they travelling, how long did they stay at the last hostel ... most places a business has the right to refuse service for no reason .. I have refused a guest to stay a second night because he was so disruptive to the other guests.
17 years
RULES
the rules at a hostel have to be what the owner/ manager are comfortable with. If you have a lot of young people and do not want wild parties, you might want to restrict alcohol. If your neighborhood is not a nice place to wander about at night you might want to have the doors locked at a certain hour. If you need to get some sleep yourself, you might need to set a curfew. You might wish to have a 3 night limit.
We want people to check in before 9pm on the first night. That way I am not up all night waiting for late arrivals. Also this limitwss disturbing other guests at night, checking people in and them getting settled while others are maybe trying to get to sleep. We are in a ski resort area and many guests retire early.
17 years
Hi,
I'm considering opening a hostel in ft. lauderdale, fl. All I need to know is how I find out about the local zoning requirements and regulations.
Any help would be great
17 years
I'm considering opening a hostel in ft. lauderdale, fl. All I need to know is how I find out about the local zoning requirements and regulations.
I would try contacting the city and seeing what kinds of permits are required for hostels and crew houses (because there are so many crew there, you could often fill it with crew and yacht dayworkers). The city's Web site is http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/
In Fort Lauderdale, good places to market your property's Web site online are through the crew agencies. The crew agencies often list crew houses and hostels on their Web sites.
Also, if your property becomes known as a place where captains visit to find dayworkers, your hostel will fill with working travelers. Floyd's Hostel & Crew House was a good example of that in the past, though I'm not sure what state the hostel is in at the moment. If you can build a reputation as being a good place for yacht captains to find dayworkers, you will get a reputation among travelers, dayworkers and crew that it's a good place to stay...
15 years
Hi,
All I need to know is how I find out about the local zoning requirements and regulations.
You can try calling the City as "Hostels" stated, ask for the first available Planner and tell them you want to do a hostel. If you want to find the zoning information, go to www.municode.com and find out in what zoning districts hostels (sometimes called rooming houses, boarding houses, youth hostels in the codes) are allowed in.
15 years
Hello. Let me start off by saying that I am not set on opening a hostel. It is just an idea I have toyed with so far. I have some basic questions though.
First, what is the average turnover for a hostel? Like how much can a hostel owner expect to make a year in a city like London. In the first few years? after a few years?
And as far as London, would that be a decent place to open a hostel? Or would the competition there crush any newcomers?
Also, do you generally need deep pockets already to start a hostel? Or can it all be done through loans etc?
Thanks for any answers!
Ryan
15 years
Hello. Let me start off by saying that I am not set on opening a hostel. It is just an idea I have toyed with so far. I have some basic questions though.
First, what is the average turnover for a hostel? Like how much can a hostel owner expect to make a year in a city like London. In the first few years? after a few years?
And as far as London, would that be a decent place to open a hostel? Or would the competition there crush any newcomers?
Also, do you generally need deep pockets already to start a hostel? Or can it all be done through loans etc?
Thanks for any answers!
Ryan
I wouldn't recommend you to try London as there are already a lot of hostels in the city.
I think you need to have some money put aside to be able to start a hostel as many banks aren't prepared to give loans to hostels.
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