Post: #1

I'm in need of a new a new and enjoyable challenge to sink my teeth into. Something that mixes the intoxicating ideas of women,travel and money. One of the ideas I'm musing is to open a hostel somewhere in EE or the FSU. It seems like the easiest of jobs: you choose a location you like, rent a suitable property,make money from renting beds,make money from organising tourist side trips like bar crawls,kayaking whatever,open a bar in it and you get a steady stream of backpacking females coming to you who you are free to game. What's not to love?? I doubt I'm the first person to consider this lifestyle as being an enjoyable one.

Anyway there are a lot of guys on here with all kinds of experience and insight so let's hear your views and ideas on the idea as a business model. What are the best hostels you have stayed in and what made them so good? What location you've been is crying out for a hostel? What are the pitfalls.

Would be good to bash this idea about in here and get some opinions.

Post: #2

Check out this link for a small bit of insight as to how one guy did it: http://www.blacksheepmedellin.com/mycolombianstory.html

Good idea and best of luck. Like a lot of real estate investments, I imagine you just look at the numbers, i.e., calculate the mortgage or other fixed costs and expenses, and then compare to a conservate estimate of rent. If the return is acceptable, go for it.

Post: #3

anyone know if their is a worldwide chain of hostels?

develop one, establish a standard operating procedure, develop others using same name in several other countries. Offer some sort of membership to entice travelers to seek out of one your hostels whenever possible.

Post: #4

You seem to think that it would be really easy? Like any business it would be tough and many problems would arise. Whilst possibly fun at times it'd be stressful too. I know a guy who runs one and he barely sleeps as there's always a problem to deal with or a guest being a dick that he has to sort out, he has an apartment away from the hostel but very rarely is able to go back there as there's so much going on he needs to stay late most nights and ends up just crashing out at the hostel for a few hours. He has many staff working for him too but hostel staff tend to be very laid back and not all that efficient, it's the nature of the job and the type of people it attracts.

Post: #5

^ Sounds right on, although I must admitt owning and running a succesful hostel sounds pretty neat.

Post: #6

A boutique hotel always has sparked my interest. It's a smaller operation which you can charge a premium on plus you can open a bar in the building or license/lease space out for a restaurant.

I feel men spend more cash on travel since they do it more often?

The Drake in Toronto took over a building in an up and coming area that was still hood. Now its trendy and full of shops and bars. The same tactic could be used elsewhere.

Post: #7

(05-09-2012 06:40 PM)kosko Wrote:  A boutique hotel always has sparked my interest. It's a smaller operation which you can charge a premium on plus you can open a bar in the building or license/lease space out for a restaurant.

I feel men spend more cash on travel since they do it more often?

The Drake in Toronto took over a building in an up and coming area that was still hood. Now its trendy and full of shops and bars. The same tactic could be used elsewhere.

Yes, this seems to be the new trend over the last few years. Hostels will attract the sort of people I don't want to socialize with, cheap drunkard backpackers.

It amazes me what they charge for Hotels around the world, in Europe the prices are crazy. I think you would still need deep pockets to get even a hostel going.

Post: #8

I have friends who used to run a hostel. Their day went similarly to what AlphaTravel described, and they ended up closing after a year.
With all the hostel sites people can compare prices and will go elsewhere for a $1 cheaper price. There were 7-8 hostels in their town and they ended up undercutting each other for that measly buck until my friends closed down, it was just not profitable anymore.

Post: #9

Thanks for the replies and links gents,appreciate the input.

I'm not naive to the fact that running a business requires hard work and effort. But certainly some are easier then others,and hostels must be at the lower end of ease. What I never mentioned because it's not relevant to the hostel idea is that I spent four years in India running a guest house in my early twenties so I have some knowledge of the industry and had an absolute blast doing it. I know people are saying but what about the drunks,the dickwads etc. but in 4 years I never once had a problem like that,never had to evict someone,never had to warn someone for their behaviour. I never made much money but what I did do was bang a lot of backpackers from around the world ( Israeli chicks were the hottest ). I think that part of avoiding the dickheads is not opening in a city over run with stag doers,hence places like Kiev,Lvov would be a good choice. I think K-Man made a good point about hostels undercutting each other and it being cut throat now. When I ran my place nobody had heard of the internet so the business was much less cut throat.

What about a Yurt camp? They are becoming massively popular in the UK in places like Cornwall where yuppies go down for the weekend and spend a huge amount to stay in plush ones. Buy a few in Mongolia for not very much,rent some land and open up a Yurt camp in the summer in somewhere like the Altai republic of Russia or Tuva. Tourists love that kind of thing and overheads are very low.

Post: #10

Sounds like a lot of hassle with very little upside

If you like that kind of atmosphere you can get it just by staying in hostels

I know an american dude who opened a hostel in medellin. He was losing $2,000 per month

Post: #11

The money would not be ideal but if you are happy and it does not feel like work then your strait. Personally the money issue would get to me after a while. I can tolerate a lot if I am being compensated for it of course.

What are some good spots people would think Hostels or boutique hotels could work?

Post: #12

(05-10-2012 05:51 AM)Lumiere Wrote:  Sounds like a lot of hassle with very little upside

If you like that kind of atmosphere you can get it just by staying in hostels

I know an american dude who opened a hostel in medellin. He was losing $2,000 per month

Darn, is the hostel still running? I wonder which one is doing so badly.

Post: #13

Quote:anyone know if their is a worldwide chain of hostels?

Hosteling International

I talk to hostel owners when I travel. I love asking them about how they built their business. Generally it seems to take about two to four years to get initial traction. You need to build up your Hostel World rankings, to get the word of mouth out and to really get your shit together. It's not quick money or something you can start up on a whim by any means, even if you have experience running a guest house.

Also, be very aware of the social and power relationships in the space you're considering. In many places, it's virtually impossible for an outsider to open up shop. For example, I don't know what kind of gangs run Bangkok's Khao San Road, but try to open up a hostel there as a foreigner and you'd be crushed pretty quickly. I met a foreign hostel owner in southern Thailand, who told me that in order to open the hostel he had to partner up with a local and spend a lot of time building up goodwill with the powerful people on that island.

So, if you're in EE or FSU, be careful about that kind of stuff. The unofficial power structures. In places where there's actually law and order, like Poland, you're probably safe. If you're starting up a hostel somewhere where the law isn't quite as reliable, be careful.

Post: #14

In Thailand a foreigner cannot own a business unless he has a local business partner, so usually his thai girlfriend / wife. Often ends in disaster when the women decides she's had enough of the guy and takes his business from him. I imagine there are similar laws that fuck over foreigners in many countries.

Post: #15

(05-11-2012 03:37 PM)AlphaTravel Wrote:  In Thailand a foreigner cannot own a business unless he has a local business partner, so usually his thai girlfriend / wife. Often ends in disaster when the women decides she's had enough of the guy and takes his business from him. I imagine there are similar laws that fuck over foreigners in many countries.

Americans can own 100% of a business in Thailand due to the Treaty of Amity. We still can not own land though. Personally, I would not start a business in Thailand unless I didn't 100% depend upon it. Too much shady shit goes down in this country in regards to farang.

Post: #16

Just check out this movie man. You'll be running a hostel in no time!

Post: #17

(05-12-2012 05:30 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  Americans can own 100% of a business in Thailand due to the Treaty of Amity. We still can not own land though. Personally, I would not start a business in Thailand unless I didn't 100% depend upon it. Too much shady shit goes down in this country in regards to farang.

Ah ok, can't say I'm an expert on any of it but I agree with you would not be keen on opening a business here because it seems likely you'd get screwed by someone, business partner, cops, mafia, whatever.

Post: #18

Hostels can indeed be profitable still. Depends where you want to open up. In Eastern Europe or FSU yoy had better own the property, landlords in this part of the world won't take kindly to their tenants being so successful under their roof.

Imperative to find a good landlord.

Post: #19

Guys check out this hostel: http://rockingjs.com/

Its the hostel I stayed at Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica when I went a month ago.

I saw the owner (he's pretty popular around apparently) around the hostel many times. It seems he likes to party alot with the backpackers and get blasted.

He also has a recording studio on the hostel that its called The Ark apparently. I never saw it but my friend that was travelling with me had the opportunity to go in and record some dumb songs with other drunk backpackers.

Post: #20

I'm not sure if the posts are still there, but an American guy who is partial owner of Piratas De Ipanema hostel in Rio De Janeiro blogged about his time while he was attempting to open/buy in to a hostel. He ended up buying into a hostel and it was a super interesting read. Made me think about starting/buying a hostel someday. The posts may have gotten lost though, I can't remember. Go to the very end of the blog pages and see. If not, maybe email him. He might have them saved somewhere.

http://piratasdeipanema.com/

Post: #21

Might tough - sure an adventure to start a hostel abroad - not sure, if this can work without any experience - but the idea sounds great, somehow :-)

Post: #22

Has anyone on the forum done this yet?

Post: #23

(05-09-2012 02:34 PM)AntiTrace Wrote:  anyone know if their is a worldwide chain of hostels?

develop one, establish a standard operating procedure, develop others using same name in several other countries. Offer some sort of membership to entice travelers to seek out of one your hostels whenever possible.

I don't think there's a worldwide chain. I know Loki (lokihostel.com) operates in Peru and Bolivia. I stayed at their hostel in Mancora which was very legit.

I've stayed at the Black Sheep in Medellin in a private room. Nice area in the Poblado hood.

Post: #24

(05-12-2012 03:27 PM)FretDancer Wrote:  Guys check out this hostel: http://rockingjs.com/

Its the hostel I stayed at Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica when I went a month ago.

I saw the owner (he's pretty popular around apparently) around the hostel many times. It seems he likes to party alot with the backpackers and get blasted.

He also has a recording studio on the hostel that its called The Ark apparently. I never saw it but my friend that was travelling with me had the opportunity to go in and record some dumb songs with other drunk backpackers.

Haha I know about RockingJs. It's kinda filthy, isn't it? A lot of people I met in PV were staying there. I opted for a small lodge a little ways down the main road after the point where it curves and is parallel to the coast. Man, I miss PV!

Post: #25

I know some guys who are hostel/ex hostel owners. It seems to me that, especially in corrupt ass countries, that it's best to own the property as you can be fucked by the landlord at any given moment.