9 years
They offered me to stay free and write sthng about the hostel why?
I am not paying anything if I decide to run a hostel?
Thanks.
Travel writers as guests in hostels
Travel Bloggers and Media Connections
Do travel writers make good guests when they stay in hostels? This article from a Let’s Go travel writer says NO.
Why Hostels Hate Travel Writers (Or What Not to Do in a Hostel)
Writers are a hostel's worst client—a claim I am personally living, deeply and pungently, as I milk my temporary home for all the patience and possibilities it has to offer. Here's how not to make friends at a hostel.
According to the author, travel writers will:
- Eat up all the nutella at the complementary breakfast buffet. I mean all of it.
- Complain about the Wi-Fi all the f-ing time
- Never go out at night with those chummy bands of "hostel friends," like you're supposed to at a friendly, community-building hostel.
- Pester the barely bilingual staff to do things like translate websites into English, call local businesses for more information, and pretty-please write down, "What hours are you open on what days during the winter and summer seasons?" in the native language, for future reference on the road.
- Furtively take notes in their little black notebooks all the time. Sometimes after sneakily ducking into the far corners of the shower stalls for inspection.
- Leave ink marks and mulberry stains (or juice from whatever their particular "writing fuel" happens to be) on the sheets.
- Ruin the hostel's sexy, prime-real-estate front entrance on the hottest, most hopping "bar street" in town by trundling in and out the door at 1am on a Saturday night in their huge green fleece jacket, pajama pants, sunglasses, and hostel slippers to buy a liter of water and Gummyvites from the pharmacy across the street.
- Do weird things in front of the other guests, like talk to the seagulls and imitate their croaky craw-craw-caw-caw-caw-caaaw!-bird laughs when they're bored of writing.
- Take up to four cold showers a day on "writing days" for "inspiration."
10. And last, after all that, they'll pack up, say a sentimental goodbye, and write a mediocre review of the hostel in their book, snarking at how there's a Spartan breakfast spread, spotty Wi-Fi, noisy nightlife, receptionists who don't speak English, moldy showers, and a line for the showers every morning, but eh, it's still a nice place to stay regardless.
Does this sound like the travel writers who have stayed in your hostel?
[edit: updated broken link to original article]
- Comments
9 years
We have had some travel writers who promised to write about us and then simply failed to do so. Or they wrote about the city and then mentioned our hostel so casually that even WE missed it when we were looking for it.
We have also hosted travel writers who raved about us and gave us some great publicity.
I never felt like any of them damaged our atmosphere or asked more of our staff than any other traveler though.
8 years
Wow! As a travel writer and a huge fan of staying in hostels, I'm disappointed to see the negative buzz from management's side of things.
When I book hostels I never mention I'm a travel writer - I'm not looking for special treatment!
Now as my site presence has grown a lot I'm tempted to start reaching out to hostels and offering promotion in exchange for a free stay, but I really don't want to - specifically because I don't want to be seen as a freeloader judging everyone around me to write something bad.
Hostels are my favourite part of travel. I hope that these problems can be resolved and better relationships can be built between hostels and travel bloggers / writers.
8 years
Wow I'm really sorry for all hostel managers for such bad experineces. It really works against us others who are not like that. I was lucky to have opporunity to stay with hostels and had a great time. I only make clear that the review will be totally honest and pure truth. I also work in a hostel so I maybe also overlook certain things and I do not expect every country or city to have the same standard. I'm not american also to expcet everyone to speak english etc. I m also well aware of situations in different locations so I think I'm a good judgment. MY small experince up till now showed in hostel management is in their best interested for us to have a good tiem for a good reveiew. I never ask smth crazy. I might be just modest and I hope this will work well in the future.
8 years
@Dan The negativity was actually on the part of the travel writer, not the management. I just summarized the points from the article. He did seem pretty negative, but I think it was supposed to be a bit tongue-in-cheek :)
I could definitely understand the frustration from management, and especially from hostel owners. Since our businesses live and die based on guest reviews, any negative public feedback has a huge impact on our lives and livelihood that many travel writers may not understand or care about. If that negative feedback comes from someone who stayed for free in exchange for publicity, then the management has extra reasons to be irritated.
On the other hand, as skinnychicktravelling mentioned, it's in a hostel operator's best interest to make sure that ALL of their guests have a great time. And not just because they're travel writers. Every guest can leave a review after all.
Back in the day when Lonely Planet was the backpacker's bible, those travel writers had a huge impact because there were so few alternative sources of information. They would book their bed like anyone else, stay in the hostel like anyone else, pay their bill like anyone else, and then write their review after having the same experience as everyone else. The hostels weren't even supposed to know that they were travel writers to ensure an authentic experience.
Now thousands of kids with a blog for their friends go around calling themselves travel writers and asking for handouts. THOSE are the ones who usually frustrate hostel managers, and the ones who give real travel writers a bad reputation. Hostels get flooded with requests from that kind of "travel writer" to stay for free. Ultimately it's our responsibility to decide if we want to offer them accommodation or not. We can read their blog to see what kind of things they have said about other hostels. We can see how engaged their followers are on social media to see if they actually have any influence. We can evaluate whether or not they seem like our kind of target guest. If we like what we see, then we can make them an offer. If we don't, then better to not get involved with them.
For the REAL travel writers our there, as long as you're a fan of hostels in general, then chances are you'll get along just fine with the hostel operators.
8 years
Brian, what you say makes total sense.
The low barrier-of-entry to travel blogging is an issue for those trying to run serious blogs as well.
I wish I could be employed by a Lonely Planet who could sponsor trips for hostel reviews. If we're being honest with ourselves, I think anyone would prefer that scenario to being sponsored by the hostel. Though I think with the wealth of blogging-created content and review sites these days, that era has passed.
Free accomodation in exchange for a review though is a delicate deal to say the least. I don't think it works well for either side.
Last year I wrote a sponsored review for a hotel after connecting with the marketing manager. He was a great guy, but his efforts to make sure everything was okay, and to know what I planned on writing, took away from the experience. I don't want to see your hotel as a blogger - I just want to see it!
I think anyone who likes that sort of scenario is more interested in being pampered than being a writer.
The other dimension bloggers need to consider though is the respect of their audience.
As a hostel, you live or die on your reputation. But as a writer, you do too.
Who wants to isolate a fan-base that took years to build by promoting bad products, services, or accomodation? If, for example, I wrote nice things about a hotel that wasn't enjoyable, and someone went their on my recommendation, they would feel understandably let down.
I think there are better ways for bloggers and hostel managers to connect and to work together. They are truly two very different worlds, but still one that is united by a passion for travel.
8 years
I wish I could be employed by a Lonely Planet who could sponsor trips for hostel reviews. If we're being honest with ourselves, I think anyone would prefer that scenario to being sponsored by the hostel. Though I think with the wealth of blogging-created content and review sites these days, that era has passed.
Maybe not completely. If a travel writer is influential and writes with a positive tone, then there may be more parties interested in their publicity than just the hostel. Local Tourism Boards may be willing to sponsor some or all of the living expenses during the trip in order to promote the city itself and showcase what a great destination it is for travelers. That might give some more freedom to the writers to go incognito and get a real feel for things. Of course, that involves a lot of organization with government officials you don’t know without prior introductions, and communication in languages you can’t necessarily understand. That makes things a lot more difficult. But it is one possible alternative to being sponsored by the hostels.
As a hostel, you live or die on your reputation. But as a writer, you do too.
Who wants to isolate a fan-base that took years to build by promoting bad products, services, or accomodation? If, for example, I wrote nice things about a hotel that wasn't enjoyable, and someone went their on my recommendation, they would feel understandably let down.
Very true. It’s important not to rave about a place you don’t like or you’ll lose your integrity and the trust of your readers. But that doesn’t mean you have to trash it just to fill out a blog post. You can still write about the things you did like, and focus more on the region or the activities that you really did enjoy. If you normally gush about the hostels you love, but on some occasions the only things you mention are the location next to a nice 24-hour convenience store and the pretty color of the blanket, then your regular readers are going to realize that this wasn’t one of your favorites even if you don’t say anything negative. And the hostel would certainly appreciate your restraint.
I think there are better ways for bloggers and hostel managers to connect and to work together. They are truly two very different worlds, but still one that is united by a passion for travel.
As long as both are driven by that passion for travel, I don’t think there would be many problems working together. The challenges come when the writer and the hostel are mismatched. Perhaps if both sides were more selective, or communicated to each other why they specifically want to work with each other and what their respective goals or expectations would be, then both sides would be happier with the arrangement.
In any case, I do think that hostels and serious travel writers can work together well and for mutual benefit.
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