Where would you open a hostel??

[leighd]

Hey guys so it has been on my mind for a while to open a hostel/overlander point/moto rentals

Ive traveled a lot of the world on and off a motorcycle but still never found an exact place i think i would settle in.

Any ideas guys? somewhere that is still emerging and not overly touristy yet. and where the bureaucracy wont be too much trouble

[eurasiaoverland]

Georgia

[Tony LEE]

Too many of those who use hostels are so broke that I couldn't see how anyone would make any money running one.

[Tim Cullis]

About a decade ago I spent a couple of years including an extended period of six weeks in the Azrou area of Morocco looking for land to buy to build a biking/4x4 base. Azrou is an area of outstanding natural beauty and one day ride from the entry ports into Morocco. In addition to accommodation of varying quality/costs from bunkhouse to suites I envisaged an outstanding route planning research facility, the chance to drop unwanted gear and pick up on the way back, on-site workshop facility, the offer of locally guided track rides, and even the offer to meet guests off the ferries to escort them to Azrou.

In the end I decided not to proceed. I realised I didn’t really want to oversee a two year building project. And I wasn’t sure whether I could hack being a friendly ‘mine host’ to some of the twerps I was sure to meet.

Azrou whilst nice is fecking cold in the winter which would also have hit my enjoyment.

Ideally you want as close to an all-year round riding area as possible, somewhere with safe property laws, a few expats for company. And inexpensive for buying land, building and taxes.

[*Touring Ted*]

You and everyone else mate :)

I've got a few places in mind. But there are MASSIVE gambles involved.

If you want to make a living then you HAVE TO follow the tourists. And then is that somewhere you want to be ??

And then expect a lot of hard work, stress and never having a day off. Owning any type of accomodation is a huge commitment.

One thing that has stopped me from opening a biker/traveller hostel is that travellers who I would like to accomodate are usually cheap arses !

They don't want to buy your food, beer or rent an expensive room. They want a cheap place for their tent and they will buy their own beer in town and cook their own food on stoves while making a mess of your kitchen..

Those who are not on a budget will just stay in a nice hotel. And that's not something i'd be interested in.


But to answer your original question. Find the popular routes and stick somewhere on it. But you will have to offer something special/different to stick out and make a good living from it.

[AnTyx]

Best place like that I've encountered was QT's in Northern Vietnam. They have one of the biggest rental operations in Ha Giang, and a good hostel there in town that caters to not just bike tourists. They also have affiliated hostels all over the Northern Loop, so it's very easy to get essentially a full package from one place. But what they don't do, is cater particularly to people on their own bikes. (You can't bring in a foreign-plated bike into Vietnam for all intents and purposes, but there are plenty of people who buy local bikes to ride around the country.)

I think you have to make a business case for it as a hostel first, and add the biker bits as kind of a hobby. Having a dry garage with a lift and a set of cheap tools and/or a relationship with a local mechanic is not that difficult or expensive to set up. But making the business case of, specifically, a biker stop - that is extremely dependent on a combination of circumstances.