Set up a Hostel
Hostels are inexpensive hotels or inns that generally cater to budget travelers. Often located in major cities or around tourist sites, they feature basic accommodations and cheap rates. As a site for people from around the world to gather and save money, a backpacking hostel tends to feature less in the way of formal hospitality and more with regards to organized activities and building a communal spirit. This guide will teach you how to set up a hostel, with tips for good hostel management.
Steps
- Choose a location for your hostel.
- You should open a hostel in a place with a high volume of budget travelers passing through. Make sure it is easily accessible--travelers may not know their way around the area--and able to compete with others, if any, hostels in the region.
- Consider the cost of purchasing a building, paying for permits, buying beds, linens, and kitchenware, and any marketing expenses.
- Establish an initial investment for your hostel that will allow you to operate for at least a year.
- Consult municipal authorities for any permits needed to operate a hostel (as well as a bar, if your hostel will have one). Purchase the permits.
- Divide your hostel into areas: lodging, dining, kitchen, bathroom, reception, common area, bar, etc.
- Equip your lodging areas with beds and linens.
- Most hostels feature a mixture of dorm rooms--5-20 beds (often bunk beds), sometimes separated by gender--and private rooms with 1-4 beds.
- Equip your dining area and common area (and bar, if applicable) with tables, chairs, couches, and other items. Use durable furniture that is easy to replace.
- Set up your kitchen. If you will be feeding guests, make sure you have the industrial - size equipment.
- Equip your reception area with a computer for bookings, literature about tourist attractions in the area, a first aid kit, and publicity material.
- Set aside security lockers, safes, or a locked closet for travelers to keep their items safe.
- Hire staff.
- It is best to hire a combination of locals and foreigners. If you are running a simple hostel, hire workers that can do everything. If your business is larger or more complicated, divide your staff between hostel management, reception, security, cleaning, cooking, etc.
- Register your hostel with international hostel organizations and booking websites. Publicize your hostel at tourist sites around the area.
- Begin accepting guests just before the busiest season of the year. It is best to open a hostel while traffic is still slow so as to fix any lingering problems, then quickly recoup costs as the amount of travelers increase.
Tips
- To get a feel for hotel management, work in another hostel (ideally in a different city) for a few months before opening your own. Also, spend time traveling in several different countries to gauge what works and what doesn't in a backpacking hostel.
- To avoid getting caught up in bureaucracy or opening a hostel from scratch you may also consider buying a licensed hostel.
Warnings
- Do not spend more than half of your initial investment before hiring staff. Because a backpacking hostel tends to suffer significant wear and tear, you will need extra cash on hand to fix problems even as you begin to bring in revenue.
Things You'll Need
- Hostel location
- Zoning permits
- Initial investment
- Hostel staff
