After traveling partially through Europe so far, hitting day 7 of my 4 week trip, I realize there are a few easy ways to make money.  Since my time on intenet is running out, I’ll only talk about my idea for a hostel.

Hostel

I could open a Hostel in Europe and make a fortune.  The keys to a good hostel by the usual standards are: (1) clean bathroom (2) as few beds as possible in each dorm and (3) convenient location in a decent part of town.  Majority of higest rated hostels get 2 of the 3 right, and the ‘best’ ones get 3 of 3.  The tragic part is that all these hostels are missing the bigger picture and not progressive enough.  They haven’t fully realized that the 3 before mentioned categories should be considered the most basic things a hostel needs to do to even get a steady stream of satisfied customers.  Think of them as the the ‘physiological’ category of Maslow’s Hostel hierarchy of needs.

If I were to setup a hostel in Europe, here is what I woudl do:

1. clean bathrooms with hot water  – many ostels can’t even get the clean part right.  Being clean isn’t just about cleanign it everyday, but it’s also about how many people share that bathroom. Keep the numbers low — so far, it seems like 10 people or less is the sweet spot. More than that and thre is a mob mentality where people start to ignore basic hygiene and courtesy because they feel no accountability since there are so many people sharing the single facility. Bathrooms don’t need to be ensuites, but instead, just have enough shared bathrooms to keep the ratio 10:1, preferably 8:1.  Hot water is an absolute must.  I know it might not be the cheapest thing to always provide, but ntravelers really value a hot shower so to simply provide consistent hot water would earn you mucho points on Hosteler reviews on places like Hostelworld.com and hostels.com.

2.  8 beds or less per dorm - Definitely have 8 beds or less per dorm to solve not only the shared use bathroom problem I mentioned above, but also to minimize any chance of problems in the room.  I heard this hilarious stat while traveling that says °4 out of every 3 hosteler snores°.  Less people, less chance of a single snorer disurbing more people.  I highly recommend ear plugs!

3.  Free internet access - internet access is king when you are backpacking through europe.  You always want to keep in touch with people back home, check email and even blog like I am.  Internet access is snot slow in most hostels we’re at, but at least these hostels are giving internet access.  The opportunity they are missing out on is up to date computers with value added features like USB connection points to download pictures and CDR drives to burn pictures off your digital camera.   would even sell CDR discs for $4 a piece and I know I would make a fortune. For $10, I would burn the pictures to CD for them off their media.  Lastly, all my computers would have Windows XP installed with Office and all the ‘usual’ suite of apps like Adobe acrobat reader Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messengr, etc.  I would also ensure to set the computers in true kiosk mode to eliminate chance of tampering.  It’s shocking to see computers on Windows 95 with no security patches and logged in as full admin.   I neer in my life felt so scared for the compromise of my Windows Live ID credentials

4. Power charge points — every room would have extra extension cords and power strips to allow people to charge digital camera batteries, cell phones and ipod. I would even carry extra cables at the front desk for $2 a day rental with $10 deposit.  As soon as we enter a hostel, it’s funny to see everyone’s eyes scan the room for power outlets then you realize that there is only 1 and its already being used by the fat, half naked irish guy.

5.Hostelworld.com - I donàt think these hostel owners actually realize how important Hostel booking websites ae to their business.  The way hostelers book their acomodations is they go to their booking site of choice (we used hostelworld.com), enter their dates and city and sort by rating.  After looking at only the highest rated hostels, they look at the customer reviews.  If there are bad reviews about location, safety or bathroom, that hostel is eliminiated in almost every case except if you’re desperate.  Mention a fun atmosphere or free internet gets you onus points.  I would spend a significant amount of time not only getting listed on every major hostel booking website, but also ensure that my satisfied customers were leaving reviews.  Even provide a discount on their fare if they leave a review before they leave the hostel. 

6. A common area — hostelers generally suck at socializing, so its essential to have a good common area to force initial interaction.  After the initial awkwardness is overcome, the comraderie the common area creates will add to the fun factor of a hostel. Don’t underestimate the importance of this.

I have a ton more things to say about a well-run hostel, but I’ll spare you the details of my complete business plan.  Anyone up for investing in a hostel abroad?