11 years
Hi Liz,
This is a bit of a broad answer, but hopefully it helps a little. Taking over a hotel probably means that a lot of things have already been planned out for you. (ex. electricity to all rooms, plumbing infrastructure in place, housekeeping closet on each floor, etc.) That leaves you with the fun job of customization, right?
My advice is to use color to create atmosphere. Any color, really. In my opinion, white walls look institutional, especially in long hallways like hotels tend to have. I’m a fan of subtle warm colors because they fit my lifestyle, but there are plenty of people who would encourage you to use bright colors to energize your guests. It depends on the kind of atmosphere you want to create.
Do you have all of your common spaces on a separate floor from your rooms? If you can put any kind of sound insulation layer between those areas your guests will thank you.
Whether or not to open a bar depends largely on your building. Would the bar be your only common area, or would there be another place for guests to hang out without feeling pressure to buy something? With 80 beds you could have a bar just for your guests, but opening it to the public would bring in more revenue. In that case, it’s important to be able to restrict the access from the bar to your sleeping rooms so that outside bar patrons don’t decide to give themselves a tour of your dorms.
Regarding themes, I would pick something that you are personally interested in. If you’re going to run it yourself, then the hostel should be an extension of your personality. For example, if you like skydiving, you might incorporate airplanes and parachutes into your design and paint a blue sky with clouds on the walls or ceiling. What kind of hobbies do you have?
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