10 Must-Have's in a Hostel: Hostel Owners Read This

Hostel Owners Read This

Having stayed in enough hostels in my day, I know a good one when I see one. If you are a hostel owner and really wanting to impress your guests, then please take a few short minutes and read these 10 must-have’s in a hostel.

1. Common Room – Every hostel needs a good common room. A couple of couches, some music, and a TV are all great additions that lead to travelers chatting with other travelers, further increasing the fun factor of any hostel. I recently stayed at a hostel with no common room which ended up being one of my most recent boring hostels visited. There was no easy way to meet other travelers so it felt more like a hotel. Booorrring.

2. Breakfast later than 10am – I know this is a way to increase the list of amenities for a hostel, but if you stop serving your grub at 10am, a lot of travelers are not even going to be out of bed yet! Sure, this saves the hostels money, but for once it would be nice to actually enjoy this breakfast at around 11:30am.

3. Lockers for your bags – Lockers are important since they keep our valuable stuff safe from thieving hands. Don’t just give those dinky little lockers big enough for a book and not much else. What about our expensive hiking books, tents, laptops, etc.? Provide your customers with backpack-sized lockers and watch your security ratings improve!

4. Night lights on every hostel bed – This amenity is rarely offered, but I always find myself thankful when it is. By providing a night light on every bed, people can stay up and read long after others have gone to sleep without needing the entire room light on. Also, when some people decide to come back late at night, these little lights provide just enough light for them to get ready for bed without totally disrupting the sleep of the rest of the room.

5. Multi-lit rooms – I also like the idea of have multi-lit rooms. This, of course, would take a lot more planning to set up, but after recently staying in a hostel that provided this feature, I decided to add this to the list of hostel owner must-do’s. If there is a huge dorm room, provide multiple lights on opposite ends of the room. Just like the night lights, this can help lesson the disruption of every guest in the room at night.

6. Clean bathrooms – Good bathrooms are important and your guests will notice if you have clean ones. There’s nothing worse than disgusting toilets and clogged showers when you have exhausted yourself with sightseeing all day.

7. Washer – A lot of travelers cut costs by hand-washing their clothes, but sometimes a proper wash is in order. Your guests will not want to carry everything to a local laundromat, so having one in the hostel (preferably working!) is a bonus.

8. WiFi – It is so simple and practical. An exceeding number of travelers are now flash packers looking for a good wireless hotspot. It just makes life better.

9. Owners/workers wanting to take people out - It doesn’t matter to me how old the owners/workers are at a hostel. What does matter is their interest in helping the guests have an amazing time. I have found the most fun hostels are those where the workers are in touch with the guests and actively involved in showing them a local good time.

10. Checkout at noon or later - What is up with checkout times being at 10am?! I understand that the rooms have to be cleaned and such, but just like breakfast not being served past 10, it is just too early. Make it noon and you will make the customer happy!

So Mr. or Mrs. Hostel Owner, what do you think of my list? Maybe it is asking a bit too much, but I like to think that shooting high is the only way to achieve your best!