nick25016677

when i was travelling many moons ago we always found the cheapest grottiest scariest hostels to stay in,with that in mind would any travellers today like the relative comfort of a nice hostel or would they rather slum it.i am moving to melbourne and would love to open a hostel but i would like to open a nice comfy homely one what do you all think

taylor25

Definately a nice hostel over slummin it!!!

I travelled oz for a year in 2004, we spent all of 2 nights in a hostel, 1 in perth that was like an actual prison, it was like a horror film, and although we had already paid, we actually did a runner as we refused to stay there (and thats alot coming from my brother, who at the time wasnt exactly fussy..lol)
that was enough to put me off and from then on it was nice hotels and then we rented a huge apartment in Sydney for 6 months (which was in vaucluse which at the time was one of the most expensive suburbs, and we was right on a gorgeous bay, with the water a stones throw from our apt)

My family used to joke that i was an 'executive backpacker', i ate out at great resturants and stayed in very nice places..lol

Hostels just were not for me, it was just too many dirty boys and skank and mess, if there had been a nice hostel with home comforts then i would of stayed in them, but they must be very few and far between, 'most backpackers' just want cheap even if that means filth..lol

Sounds like a gap in the market!!! go for it

kelly

sparkley23

I spent 6 months staying in various hostels while backpacking in Australia back in 2003. There are really really nice ones and some bad ones. If you do your research, you can mainly avoid the bad ones. And the nice ones were generally not any more expensive than the bad ones either. Word of mouth is the best way to find out the good and bad ones as you go on your travels

sr71

There is quite a few in Melbourne now, some pretty good ones. Would be a hard market to break into IMO.

taylor25

beleive me we looked at allllloooooot of hostels, but none of which i would of stayed in..lol, and did our research but still didnt find anywhere nice, especially not in sydney.

Luckily mum and dad funded me and my brothers year in oz in 04, so we didnt have the usual backpackers budget! thank god!!!

Our huge apartment in vaucluse also worked out alot cheaper than staying in hostels, (we paid $340 a week and that was between 3 of us)

kelly

Rosscarbery

I think most kids' expectations are pretty high these days so I can't imagine many people choosing to stay in a grotty hostel if there was something nice on offer.

the troubadour

Thought along similar lines in 2000/01 but buying an already established one.GST(Vat) and further Health & Safety requirements would have added to costs.
Anyhow checked out a few on the market(along with others) in Cairns,Darwin and rural North WA stayed in some but came away unconvinced.
As stated some good some very poor.Some very poor value for what they wanted for a night as well as some being unfriendly to the extreme..often wondered why they went into the industry hating people so much.

Centurion

I think thats an excellent idea. Huge market for it here, in the right place of course. It just seems that most hostel type accommodation doesn't get it right too often, so a nice one would do very well in my opinion.

sigourner

My girlfriend and I have stayed in a few hostels of late and I although I think cleanliness is something we look at when we start looking for a room it isn't what makes us remember a place. For us to remember a place and recommend it to others we have to have enjoyed our stay, little things make the difference:

• I know it sounds stupid but one thing that we both really like is the opportunity for book swaps (and one for one rather than trying to horde them) it also means there is a little library for anyone staying for a little bit longer
• The staff to actually have an idea about the area you are in and what there is to do (for all sorts of budgets)
• Handy maps and a rough idea of good places to eat
• A reasonable breakfast included in the cost of the room (it doesn't cost too much to do and not having to worry about it in the morning really makes a change)
• Not too many rules, we stayed at a place in Darwin and it had little sheets of paper hanging up all over the place quoting another rule and the size of the fine if you broke it
• The place having a little leeway, for example if the place has a kitchen (another plus) and it is supposed to shut at 21:00 don't sit in there from 20:55 waiting for everyone to finish warning them that the kitchen shuts in five (basically I think that means get people in that really want to do the job not just folk that are there just to collect their pay packet at the end of the week!)
• A good selection of rooms, various dorms, private rooms, good showers
• Ahhh and one last one, in one of the hostels we were staying at they had a really nice film room where you could watch videos, I'm not sure you have to go that far but a nice common area where you can mix with the other folk from the hostel is always a plus point

WOW, didn't think I had that much to write, not sure if it is any help, probably just a dream list for all backpackers but that's what we would like, any chance you could have it up and running by next month along with free lodgings for BE members!!?

balkanghost

I have just returned to Budapest from Melbourne recently (my hometown along with Yarrawonga), saw that one of the major newer/modern hostels in St. Kilda (favourite Backpacker haunt) was up for sale, though as an operating business. It suggests business maybe tough..especially if employment situation is deterring WHV backpackers from travelling in Oz, then again maybe good time to get into market?

nick25016677

i do think if you dont stay in hostels you dont meet the colourful characters backpacking seems to attract!when i was in phillidelphia i met an ozzi who was about forty when i asked him how long he had been travelling he replied "i got married at 18 divorced at 20 lost my job at 21 so about 20 years and around the world 4 times!!"

the troubadour

True enough.Good news that there are still a few colourful characters still on the road in a world that can appear at times as an ocean of conformity.

nick25016677

nice one centurion!!

jimbo_d

There's loads of good hostels, just look on www.bugaustralia.com for all the reviews, I travelled the whole country and used this as my resource to pick places to stay and from that never had one bad experience as a backpacker.

pompeyblonde

I was an older backpacker back in 2002/3 and found lots of nice places to stay. Some places in Asia were about 2 pounds a night with cold running water etc...but who cares when its 30 and humid?

Australia and NZ have some f the best in the world, loads in Sydney, if in doubt Central YHA is excellent, has a restaurant, bar kitchens everything!

I think it would be hard work running one, but good fun, some esp in NewZealand offered thing slike free brekkie, daily soup to attract people.



(sigh) wish I was back on the road......