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Question: hostel staff??

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clixX123 started this discussion 16 years 9 months ago

Hi,

I'm doing an assignment about 'how to run a youth hostel'. I'm not familiar at all with this business concept so i went to look for some helpful information about starting one and i was fortunate enough to come across this site here. I hope my following question would be answered :)

Well, here goes...

---Could anyone be so kind to give me a list of all the staff (fulltime/parttime) that an owner of a 500m2 hostel (who will not take part in managing it and whose purpose is to just provide capital) would need to hire to run such a business??

It would also be nice if you could tell me the requirements (personal/educational) that each of the staff member need to have. =]

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aboriginalhostel

16 years

Hi,

I'm doing an assignment about 'how to run a youth hostel'. I'm not familiar at all with this business concept so i went to look for some helpful information about starting one and i was fortunate enough to come across this site here. I hope my following question would be answered :)

Well, here goes...

---Could anyone be so kind to give me a list of all the staff (fulltime/parttime) that an owner of a 500m2 hostel (who will not take part in managing it and whose purpose is to just provide capital) would need to hire to run such a business??

It would also be nice if you could tell me the requirements (personal/educational) that each of the staff member need to have. =]

Let's count a lil bit first... ;)

If you have a property of 500m2, depending on the setup of the building there could be about 300-350m2 of usable rooms for accommodation (regarding the corridors, reception, common room, bathrooms, etc.). Let's take 350 ;) This could be about 15-20 rooms, depending on the room size. An ideal bunk dorm size is 4 (15m2),6 (20m2), maybe 8 (25m2) beds. Private rooms without bathroom could be about 15m2, ensuites at least 20m2 - Talking about twin or double rooms... if you have bigger private rooms, you can take extra 5m2 per bed (Of course bunks hold 2 people, single beds just one ;) ).

Depending on your orientation of travelers, you can have more dorms or doubles, also if you would prefer to be a budget minded (more dorms) or an upmarket hostel (more privates, especially ensuites).
Let's say you are somewhere in between, so take an odd number as 70% dorms, 30% privates. so 10 rooms of 6 bed dorms and 5 twin privates.

That makes up maximum 70 beds, but it is only theoretical, the property setup will decide everything...

Now think about how many workers do you need...

Part time or full time workers? It is always good to have one or two experienced full timers, then the rest part timers, students or people you let stay for free in exchange for work (IMHO, this maybe not the best option, there are advantages and disadvantages on both sides... calculating how much is a bed's worth, also people who stay 24/7 in the hostel can get crazy easily. Also you only need more workers during the season, when you are full, then you may need every bed you can sell...) Anyway... Tis all depending on your budget as well but we are talking about theoretical situation.

If you want to have 24hr reception, that's 168 hours a week.
Part time reception is also an option, although it is always good to have someone in the building 24hrs for security reasons. I'd take 24hr reception in your case, so let's do that. ;)

According to the law, a full time worker should work no more than 40 hrs a week. It may be different in some countries (in France it is 35 hrs...) but I guess 40 is general everywhere. That would be 4.2 full time workers to cover a week but as I said before, it is easier to have only 1-2 full timers, then some students for 4-6 hours shifts. You may also want some extra staff during the morning hours (8-14, 6h), also in the evenings (18-22, 4h) when most of the guests are in the hostel. It is smart if you work on reception, only few days, so you can work on the back office as well. Also you need to cover up the weekends.

It is also wise to have some cleaners to have improved cleanliness.
If you have a 30% turnover of guests (which means by average every guests stay 3 nights, so cca. 21 people checks out and in every day), you need to get cleaned 5 rooms plus the common areas (bathrooms, etc.). This could be done by 1 full time cleaner, but thinking about the day offs, you need a part time cleaner as well, whom you can call in even if your full timer is off-sick.

For a 70 beds hostel, ideally I'd say you need about 3 full timers(2 receptionists, 1 cleaner) and 5 part timers (4 rec., 1 cleaner).

Of course there is the big question of how much does it cost, also if it is worth it? But then you have to work it out at the financial part... :cool:

I also added an Excel sheet where you can see the setup for the shifts...

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gordo

16 years

i see you're not the only one with reservations about Work For Accommodation. WFA seems to be a great system when it works well and friggin awful when it doesnt.

i agree with the couple of full time and the rest part time system - the last few places ive worked have had only full time staff, and the staff costs seem way too high. here in banff we're busy enough to warrant 20 odd full time staff (and 220 beds) but we'd bleed money if we didnt have two busy seasons.

and dont forget, on top of all the reception and cleaning staff, many hostels have a bar (still feasable in a 70-80 bed hostel) and/or activities staff too.

i was working at a hostel in melbourne that had 260 beds and only 5 full time staff. THE manager, the bar manager, houskeeping manager and 2 of us as assistant managers working alternate hours. we then had 2 unpaid interns and the rest were WFA. yeah, it was a gong show from time to time.

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clixX123

16 years

Wow, thanks a lot aboriginalhostel !!!

You're very informative. =]

From what you explained to me, i now realized that there's not a lot of personnel involved in such a business, which makes it seem a lot easier to run compared to a hotel. at first i thought a hostel would also need security guards, sales manager, housekeeping manager, assistant managers, and so forth. Frankly, i was thinking it would run like how a small, cheap hotel would. I guess i was wrong to think that way?? =/

One thing though - You didn't mention about hiring managers. Then well, say if the owner of the hostel is inexperienced and does not know how to run a hostel, wouldn't it be necessary that he hires one or two (or more)?

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gordo

16 years

if you own a small hostel - 70 beds is reasonably small - nad you're hiring managers to run the place, youre not going to be taking much cash home at the end of the day.

large hostels, and of course, chains have sales managers. but since hostels dont deal with travel agents anywhere near as much as your average hotel, it doesnt really require a full time position.

as far as security goes - if you have a 24hr reception that should probably cover it. we have a night cleaner/security and our receptionist/auditor on at nights, but we have 2 large buildings and a few cabins, so having someone mobile is important. in a smaller place just having a serious employee present does the job 99% of the time. just have a connection with a local securty firm, or failing that a good relationship with the police.

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aboriginalhostel

16 years

Wow, thanks a lot aboriginalhostel !!!

:D

Your welcome!

Hope it helps you to get some more ideas! :)

One thing though - You didn't mention about hiring managers. Then well, say if the owner of the hostel is inexperienced and does not know how to run a hostel, wouldn't it be necessary that he hires one or two (or more)?

If you have such size, you may want to learn it by yourself before... Get some practice working in a hostel first! ;)
Otherwise as Gordo said, not much money you can cash in at the end of the year! You can afford to pay for the experience only if you think bigger!!!

I absolutely agree for the bar and the activities... I guess part timers can do that as well...

Also you can outsource some of your activities and services, if you don't have a license for sightseeing, etc. We have transfers offered to and from the airport which is done by a taxi driver, so we don't have to do that and bother ourselves getting a license for it! :cool:

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StevieM79

15 years

Hey All,

i just wanted to keep this thread going, as opposed to constantly just posting something new, so i hope i can take off where this left off!!

So i am currently doing well,... guesstimates.. on
Size of hostel,
Useable rooms/accomm
Approx rooms
Approx beds
% breadown
all based ROUGHLY on information on this thread, however i would like to have three case scenarios for when i do look at the feasibility of the project and what $$$ injection it would require.

So far i have come up with the following

Size Useable rooms/ Approx Approx %Breakdown
accom Rooms Beds
Case 1 500m2 300-350m2 15-20 70 70D/30% Privates
Case 2 700m2 550-500m2 30-35 120 70D/30% Privates
Case 3 900m2 750-600m2 40-45 160 70D/30% Privates

Like i mentioned, is this an accurate estimate?,i.e ratios of size to useable rooms? and % breakdown to maximise profit.?? My understanding is that you make more money on dorm beds than doubles and ensuites from a size m2 to money ratio.

I am waiting this week to meet with a council rep to gain some better knowledge on the m2 allocation to bunk rooms, and general minimum standards, however i do need a better understanding of how much would be wasted on Halls, stairs, etc etc.

If you could help me out it would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks

Steve

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thegator

15 years

I am also wondering about the necessity of having 24hr reception. I plan on starting a small hostel (less than 30 beds, maybe even 20) in Central Florida. I would not live on site, nor did I plan on having someone else live on site. Cutting out 24hr reception would really help reduce the amount of fixed employment costs in running the hostel (at least 8 hrs / night X 7 days / week = 56 hours per week). Employment wages can really cut into the bottom line for a small hostel.

What do the hostel hours and policies become without 24hr reception? Is it a "lockdown" at 2 am (when the local bars close), and re-open again at 10 am to start cleaning? It seems like leaving that many people (backpackers allbeit) to fend for themselves in a building they are not familiar with, in a city they are not familiar with, could get dangerous.

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santa klaus

15 years

large hostels, and of course, chains have sales managers.

Yeah, right. That´s the person who sells your rooms for silly rates to silly travel agents during times you would be full anyway.

We got rid of that problem! :D

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nyrie

15 years

Thegator - i myself do not live onsite and at the moment, my live in manager is away, so i have to be on call 24/7. its so much easier having someone there when you are not to deal with any situations. it also gives you better security and safety for your guests. i guess its a question of wether you would rather be there yourself 24/7 or if its worth paying someone a bit extra to help share the load.

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thegator

15 years

Nyrie - thanks for the reply. The reason this is so important is based on my cash flow projections, it would cost too much to have someone on call. It may be a fundamental flaw in my management plan.

So if a hostel manager is on call, how does that work? Is a public phone located at the reception and if anyone calls, does the manager have to be on-site within 15 minutes? Are front door keys given to guests when they check in and told "there is no one on-site from midnight until 8 am"?

I realize that if you own your own hostel, you make your own rules about these situations. However, I want to know if there is a "norm" out there because I've always stayed in larger hostels that had someone on site (or at least I thought they were on site because I would typically go to bed before midnight and never needed a manager at 3 in the morning).

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