Llama House Hosting Regional Micro-conference May 12
From May 12-14, 2026, hostels in the Northeast are meeting for a regional micro-conference at Llama House in the Adirondacks region of New York. The regional micro-conference, which is informally referred to as the Northeast Gathering, dates back to 2017. Dave Skibinski, founder and owner of Llama House, spoke with me about the benefits of hosting a regional conference for hostel owners, especially coming off the heels of the 2026 North American Hostel Association (NAHA) Conference, which was held in Montreal, Canada, at the end of April. Hostels like Barn Door Hostel, CoHo: Conway Hostel, Hostel Tevere, and The Wicked Waystation are expected to attend this year's Northeast Gathering.
Whereas the NAHA Conference hosted more than 130 hostel industry members from North America and around the globe, this year's Northeast Gathering will host a handful of independent hostel owners to discuss business and share industry information. The model is one that hostel owners around the United States and across the globe can use, given how many hostels often cater to similar types of travelers.
“The thing that puts the biggest smile on my face is that we get to get into the nitty-gritty topics at these conferences,” said Skibinski. “It’s so applicable to people in our room. We can zoom out and talk about things on an industry level, but then we can zoom in and get really micro, talking about things that pertain specifically to hostels in our region.”
Specifically, hostels in the Northeast host hikers and backpackers who come for more outdoor adventures. Skibinski acknowledged that as an example of how one hostel in the region can identify that type of traveler and better equip themselves for the sort of needs that traveler has, and also prepare for things they might not expect.
“We talk about things that would make no sense to other hostels in different regions, things that really apply to just us, like our power backup strategies, or how people on the trail might be stealing toilet paper, or even what items sell well in our gift shops,” said Skibinski.
Coming off the 2026 NAHA Conference, Skibinski emphasized how valuable it is to hold a smaller conference like this one, as it allows those hostel owners to dive into certain topics that might not have been as heavily covered at the NAHA Conference. As well as holding discussions and sharing information about the hostel industry in their region, Skibinski said that the members of the Northeast Gathering will recap the NAHA Conference, allowing members to share notes and expand on certain topics from the NAHA Conference. It also allows hostel owners who may not have attended the NAHA Conference to discuss conference topics and still learn valuable information about trends and the latest intel on the hostel industry.
It’s that sort of communal effort towards their business that reflects how the attendees of the Northeast Gathering view their place in the industry. “We share notes, we send business back and forth to each other. We’re all into growing the pie instead of cannibalizing each other’s slice,” said Skibinski.
While much of the word about other hostels in their region of the country spreads through word of mouth, Skibinski said that hostels in the Northeast are working on building out a more formal system for incentivizing backpackers to stay in neighboring hostels, such as creating a bingo card or travel passport of some sort that would help connect the hostels in the Northeast.
As the host of this year’s Northeast Gathering, Skibinski shared his excitement to build on the momentum from the 2026 NAHA Conference and to use the opportunity to show other hostel owners around his terrain, even taking them white-water rafting.
“I genuinely look forward to our conference every year,” said Skibinski. “It reminds me of how special a world we live in. Owning a hostel is fun. It’s not easy. But we have so much fun day in and day out, and it helps me remember that.”
