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YHA to invest £10m in their image

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Rucksack Brian started this discussion 11 years 11 months ago

£10m investment in hostels to help YHA shed its 'rickety beds' image

The charity that runs 150 youth hostels in England and Wales is to spend £10m in a modernisation programme to shed its public perception of rickety beds and compulsory chores.
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YHA said it has worked hard to shed outdated public perception of its accommodation involving sleeping bags, compulsory membership and 1960s dormitories by investing more than £19.5m in recent years.

The charity, born as a provider of Spartan accommodation catering for the needs of young people visiting the countryside, has increasingly moved into budget hostels aimed at young families and visitors seeking more modern facilities.
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All six hostels are currently undergoing extensive refurbishment and will open from February 2013 onwards. They will have en suite accommodation, private family rooms and restaurant and education facilities.

There have been plenty of discussions on HM about changes within YHA/SYHA/HI.
Five YHA hostels up for sale in England
Hostelling International Selling Hotel Rooms
Scottish Hostel Might Close

As they move from “rickety beds” towards modern hotel facilities, it is still unclear to me how they can maintain their charity status.

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uktrail

11 years

As they move from “rickety beds” towards modern hotel facilities, it is still unclear to me how they can maintain their charity status.

I agree.

They seem to have morphed their charitable responsibilities into something specific: providing holidays for groups of disadvantaged young people. That's all very good, but it's a far cry from providing a network of simple accommodation for all.

Last I looked, YHA had a debt of 36 million £. They service this debt by selling hostels. Another 10 million? That's a drop in the ocean! :eek:

Read about Derwentwater Hostel: http://www.derwentwater.org/ YHA said: It will cost over 1 million £ to 'improve' it to modern standards. Therefore we must sell it, so that we can afford to maintain YHA. Thereby all the schools and youth groups who stayed there could no longer do so.

Fortunately, following a fascinating saga played out on Facebook, and the lucky chance of a local businessman being able and willing to buy it, it is now run by a (genuine) charity. Look at their education programme now! Look at the range of groups who visit! Has it been 'improved'? No, no need!!

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Rucksack Brian

11 years

£1.4m to allow hostel to compete with top hotels

The Youth Hostel Association’s Ambleside accommodation is set to receive £1.4m to transform it and enable it to compete with top hotels.

That pretty much says it all right there.

The changes will see the hostel, at Waterhead, reduce the number of beds on offer from 258 to 240.

It will be modernised to provide en suite accommodation, private family rooms, a licensed restaurant and education facilities.

Are they eliminating their dorm rooms?

Does anyone know what they mean by educational facilities? Are they talking about classrooms, conference rooms, or something else entirely?

[Manager of YHA Ambleside, Peter Brendling] said he was particularly excited about the opening of the restaurant which, he claimed, would be one of the best places to eat in the Lake District.

I'm not up to speed on UK tax laws for charitable organizations. Would a YHA restaurant still be considered part of the charity, or would this part of the hostel be subject to normal taxation? Are any other restaurants in the Lake District classified as charities?

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uktrail

11 years

I don't think they are eliminating dorm rooms, they've enough space to include all types of accommodation. But their publicity nowadays is always geared towards the higher end of the market.

The educational facilities are likely to be one or more conference rooms and one or two classrooms. They will no doubt cater for classes that study plants, animals, birds, and what they can find in the lake, or perhaps activity courses such as kayaking or rock climbing.

The charity situation is an interesting one which you, as an outsider, have noticed, but does not seem to have been discussed much here. It ought to be. I can't imagine that any restaurants are classed as charities, except ones run by, for example, the Salvation Army which employ volunteers only. And they would not be found in the Lake District. My experience of YHA meals is that they are at restaurant prices and the quality is OK to good. Put it like this: I usually prefer to self-cater!

PS: Businesses including charities with a turnover of over about £70,000 per year are subject to VAT (sales tax) of 20%. Most hostels are involved in this, and their restaurant takings will be added to their bookings, which will definitely be over that figure for a large hostel.

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Alnwick Andrew

11 years

YHA has operated many restaurants in its time - a large number of YHA properties have bars and dining facilities - This is always seen as ancilliary to its main activity, the provision of accommodation. In most cases they have seen the changes in the independant sector, with less regulation and structure, and where possible are trying to introduce some of that freedom within the existing network. True, YHA has a massive debt to service. A few years ago YHA was pleased to have covered its interest payments, but clearly it couldn't go on pushing the debt up and not investing in its properties. The recent closures and disposals will help YHA to reinvest. Are they still a charity? Well that discussion is one that has gone on for years. The charitable aim is and always has been to provide accommodation for people of limited means. YHA has taken steps to clarify this recently, and now monitors the number of Young People it accommodates. In many places they operate a flexible pricing model, revenue management in otherwords. This means they can claim quite honestly that they offer low priced accommodation (beds can be had for £8 or so in some locations at the min) though atr what cost to the bottom line of the YHA remains to be seen (and to the market in general - the danger is that hostellers become wise to the YHA way and will only choose to use hostels when the price is rock bottom)

One thing is for certain, YHA are definately out to gain more market share. They are looking at investing in their network, with I suspect further reductions in the network, expansion of the food and beverage offering, better management of their business. How this will sit with the traditional hosteller who is looking for a simple hostel / bothy / bunk barn remains to be seen, but these properties are the most likely to vanish (with the exception of Black Sail hut - possibly for PR reasons). To appease the detractors I would guess that YHA will invite more sites to become Enterprise locations - operating under their own rules and business plan, with YHA takeing an annual fee and exposing the site to their market base.

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