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Another "where to do it" thread

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LaRott started this discussion 16 years 8 months ago

We've been evaluating some potential places to set up shop and were wondering if anyone has input on the following:

United States

New Orleans
Chicago
Denver
Portland, OR
Burlington, VT

France

Lyon
Montpellier
Marseille

Our plan is to open by 2010. New Orleans seems to be the most attractive domestic option right now. We've both lived in Chicago, which seems to have a couple good hostels (though not enough), and it has a decent shot at getting the Olympics. It is not, however, our first choice. Portland has a few decent hostels, but a troubled economy, and it's not clear how many tourists it would get. Burlington would be great if it were a little bigger and more of a destination.

In France, Lyon seems to be a good option, as it's on the TGV (before it splits in the south), close to the Alps, close to Beaujolais, and has good transit, great food, and lots of nice stuff to look at. One of us lived in Montpellier, which has no hostels and is en route to Barcelona and near some beautiful nature, but gets more beached whales than backpackers. And we just don't know much about Marseille.

We'd love to hear your input.

Comments

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Josh Hostels

16 years

I think that hostelling is so underdeveloped in the US that you could build a new hostel in just about any major city and be successful. (If you do it well.)

New Orleans has 4 hostels at the moment, but there is probably room for more.

Chicago is a major hub city, yet appears to only have 4 or 5 hostels.

Denver looks like it has 3 hostels - the highest rated is at 71%.

Portland, OR has two HI hostels. Probably no alcohol allowed, so you could offer an alternative atmosphere.

Burlington, Vermont doesn't seem to have any hostels. Nice place, but maybe hard to get to.

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Tim

16 years

In the US, both New Orleans and Chicago are the best options and any of the three locations in France would work well.

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Josh Hostels

16 years

In the US, both New Orleans and Chicago are the best options...

It's amazing that Chicago only has a small handful of hostels. It's the 3rd busiest airport in the world (even if many/most of the flights are connecting).

I've driven through Chicago a couple of times also and I'm sure many people do the same...

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LaRott

16 years

Thanks for the input. We've decided to focus on New Orleans, although Chicago desperately needs some good hostels. We'll add to the wiki once we get our plans together a little more.

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smurfy88

16 years

have never been to new orleans, though it seems like a good place, portland could definitely use a more alternative option.
i hear pittsburgh is very much in need of a good hostel too.
if there's no hostel in montpellier, it would be a good option, france is almost never short of backpackers, and montpellier is on-route to barcelona, spain and italy (train-wise) plus the weather is not bad, so higher occupancy predicted for the wintertime. however, property may be expensive in south france...

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Green Mango

16 years

it's interesting to read that USA doesn't have many hostels

has the current USA subprime and real estate recession made realty rentals cheaper? are long-term leases more possible in this environment?

thanks

Green Mango Inn, Manila, Philippines:D

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