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Guys I need your feedback

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maelinva started this discussion 16 years 8 months ago

I have a building on sight for my hostel...I like it a lot but of course it's not perfect and I think I'm too excited about it as to give the right importance to its downfalls.

Location is really good, the house is old (needs a lot of renovations) but it has a lot of charm, it's quite weird inside...narrow, deep and tall (built on a slope), so commom areas would be located in an annex on the fourth level that is right now connected to the main building through a small exterior corridor that leads to the annex and to a square terrace (with great views but not too big, I would say around 6-8 sq meters).

Then there is yet another "mini level" up reachable from a different staircase than the main one, that leads to what would be a couple of rooms+1 or 2 bathrooms...this staircase is not as comfortable as the main one.

Mainly that building would do for a nice small hostel with a LOT of stairs (and no money for an elevator)...I realize the main disadvantage is for myself and the staff...but up to what point it could affect the guests negatively?

Also since staff will be mostly minimum and the reception will be so far from the common areas I realize that can mean a problem in order to promote the social athmosfere when the hostel is not so full and to keep an eye on what's going on up there...I guess best solution is having guests who stay for free in exchange for work and make their only work be hanging out with the rest of guests?

I'd appreciate your input and all the ideas and opinions you can give me,

Thank you :)

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aboriginalhostel

16 years

Which city would your hostel be located at? :) And for how many people?

I think the common room should be at the ground floor or basement, so the traffic won't bother those who want to have a rest...

In general people don't mind walking stairs as long as there is one/two flights...
Of course it all depends: backpackers don't complain as much as the rollie-pollies do... :rolleyes:
In our zoning law says there has to be an elevator if a hostel is more than four flights... Might be good idea to check your paragraphs regarding this feature. ;)
The most steps I walked in hostels was in Amsterdam and Bruges, as old style hostels were built with narrow and high staircase... It was really an experience! :cool:

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maelinva

16 years

Hey, thanks for your reply.

The hostel would be in Porto, this building is in the World Heritage declared part of town, about 100 meters or less from the riverside, since that whole area is protected regulations regarding accesibility and such are much more relaxed (also due to the small size of the hostel), the building is weirdly shaped and doesn't have many windows except at the upper level, so number of beds won't probably be higher than 26.

I agree with you that ideally the common areas should be at ground or first level maximum....but in this building the fact that the terrace is up there and joined to that independent part of the building makes it yelling to be the common areas...I guess noise from the stairs to the rooms could be minimized with an intermediate glass door for instance...but with such a small hostel that might not even be necessary.

Ground floor is out of the question because since the building is built on a slope the ground level is much smaller than the other levels, leaving just the needed space for a comfortable reception area, stair access to first floor and a storage-office-night turn room-whatever space behind the reception desk.

I'm also quite limited by the number of windows, with ground, first and second floor having only natural light coming from the narrow facade, so upper floors are the ones that give me more usage posibilities.

I'm thinking...maybe installing one of those mini elevators for things, not for people, similar to the ones they have sometimes at restaurants could be a good mid way solution, people would still have to walk up and down, but lugagge, trash, sheets, etc could be moved easier...gotta look into that.

I have seen other suitable buildings, but none of the is as well located as this one, and I loved also the terrace and the whole look of the building...that's why I'm somewhat blinded by my own enthusiasm hehe.

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Josh Hostels

16 years

The hostel would be in Porto, this building is in the World Heritage declared part of town, about 100 meters or less from the riverside...

I haven't been to Portugal, but I just looked at some photos of Porto online. Looks like a great city.

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maelinva

16 years

It is, I really like it and would love to live there...if I had started working on this project just 2 years ago I could have been the only hostel there, right now there are 4 small hostels, all of them opened in the last year and a half, I think all of them except one belong to small chains that own another one in Lisbon and they all look really good...but being all of them around the 35-50 bed range or so and Porto being a city that is waking up and atracting more people I think it's a good place for me :)

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santa klaus

16 years

Weird, the pictures on that Wikipedia site give a very different impression of Porto from that I memorize.

I was in Portugal a few years ago, for three weeks altogether. Porto was my favorite city. In contrast to Lisbon, which seems a bit too sexed up and gentrified, Porto still has that earthy seaport/oldtown feel, pretty much like Naples. The historic center is huge and actually inhabitated, not the sort of open-air-museum you find in many other cities. It has lots of places with fantastic views, the bridge is quite spectacular and it´s a good spot to explore a magnificent yet little-travelled hinterland.

I wouldn´t worry that much about the common space being somewhere you can´t have a look at from the reception - with only 20 or 30 guests there is usually enough "social control" to keep guests from doing inconsiderate things. Don´t bother about an elevator - they are REALLY expensive - not just to build, but also the maintenance.

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Plakian

16 years

Just a thought - can you locate the reception with the common areas - a lot more fun for the staff.

If necessary, have a security system to stop strangers and new arrivals accessing the lower floors.

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maelinva

16 years

Porto still has that earthy seaport/oldtown feel, pretty much like Naples

Exactly! both cities share that feeling, some kind of run down charm that gives you a feeling of reality rather than something too "trimmed" like happens in Bruges for instance.

Porto authorities are making a huge effort to get the oldest part of town back to life, so things are changing, but even areas that have been completely restored (like some streets from the cathedral down to the Ribeira) still keep their taste.

Those pictures in Wikipedia don't make it justice, seems like the authors tried to make it look nice, clean and perfect missing the fact that the old buildings in narrow steep streets with the laundry hanging here and there mean much more (to me anyways) than the big main square at Aliados.

To go back to my question, do you think 3 flights of stairs to get from the main door and reception to the common areas plus another flight to get to the most upper rooms is too much and could be seen as a big inconvenience for travellers?

Thanks all for your comments :)

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Josh Hostels

16 years

To go back to my question, do you think 3 flights of stairs to get from the main door and reception to the common areas plus another flight to get to the most upper rooms is too much and could be seen as a big inconvenience for travellers?

I used to work at a 4-story hostel without elevators. We would offer to help with the bags (or get someone from housekeeping or maintenance to do it), but people occasionally complained anyway.

(I don't know why people complain -- it's healthy...)

If the hostel has character, and the guests have a good time I think they will generally ignore things like that. If they have a bad time then they will complain about little things.

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aboriginalhostel

16 years

The luggage lift is a very good idea, good luck for that! :)

If you have the chance to plan the ideal hostel, you may consider the following:

According to the noise level, the most noisiest rooms would be:
1. Bar/Common room
2. Smoking areas
3. Main entrance/Front of the building
4. Reception
5. Corridors
6. Kitchen
7. Internet rooms
8. Dorms
9. Showers/toilets
10. Private rooms

It is mainly based on the traffic of guests and the interaction level.
Therefore I'd recommend (unless you have the chance to make a strong noise separation) to try setting your hostel in this order. It is not obligated, but strongly recommended. ;)

Don't worry, there are lots of hostels fighting the problems with dimensions! :rolleyes:

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maelinva

16 years

Thank you all for your opinions and suggestions, I have to admit I'm in complete excited and overwhelmed stage right now haha, so I need objective opinions, next week I'm meeting the owner again (and take a look at other potential buildings)...will keep you updated :)

This website is helping me a lot! thank you Hostels and all the members!

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