Average Sq foot of medium sized hostel

Howdy!

I'm investigating the possibility of opening a hostel in an urban, US city that could definitely use another hostel, but rent prices in the part of the city where I want to operate are making me cringe!

I want to have a small to medium sized hostel with about 30 to 50 beds. About how much square footage will I need for a few dorm style rooms for 30 beds? 50 beds? How big are smaller dorms usually?

Depending on what spaces I can find, I'll probably NOT have a kitchen or very much social space.

Ideas? Thoughts? Remarks?

Thanks in advance for you help!

I would guess that if you consider enough space for each bunk bed (22 square feet) and enough aisle space for each bed (also 22 square feet), with lockers placed under each bunk bed (instead of as stand-alone furniture), you could make do with 44 square feet per bunk bed, without considering the area for the bathroom, and considering that access to each bed is provided. That's about 4 square meters (I prefer to use meters instead of feet) per bunk bed.

But, opinions I have read from more-experienced members in this forum consider this number (44 square feet / bed) too small.

Nevertheless, I have seen photos of bed arrangements in hostels which use even less space.

In the end, I think it all comes down to how confortable you want your guests to be in the dorm versus how efficiently you want to use your space.