BUG’s hostel reviews now feature photo slideshows
May 6th, 2010 by Tim Uden
BUG has added another feature to its hostel reviews.
Most hostel booking sites don’t give you any contact details because they want you to book with them and not directly with the hostel. BUG has always listed the address, telephone number and website address for each hostel and more recently we have continued to expand on this by showing you other contact methods like Skype, Facebook and Twitter. We’ve been doing this since 1997, when there were no other hostel booking sites, and we’re not going to drop our standards just because there are a bunch of new sites on the scene that refuse to give you the information you need.
In a quest to give you more information about each hostel; we have just added another new feature to BUG’s hostel reviews, which has already been implemented for selected hostels in Los Angeles, Melbourne, Phillip Island, San Diego and San Francisco. BUG now has slideshows with real photos taken by BUG’s own team of hostel inspectors (not some glossed up promotional shots supplied by the hostel).
A picture tells a thousand words so we figure that by showing you photos of the hostel, you get a better idea of what to expect when you stay there. So now you can see pictures of the hostel as well as read our review, reviews from other travellers, see independently assessed star ratings and watch videos produced by BUG. That’s more information to help you choose a great place to stay.
Our policy is to keep all the information independent without any bias from the hostel. That means that we have never published a hostel description written by a hostel. Virtually every other hostel site has a blurb written by the hostel, and this even includes other so-called independent guides like Lonely Planet, but BUG remains totally independent with a professional review written by a travel writer who has visited the hostel plus genuine reviews from real travellers. What you get from us is a real opinion telling you what the hostel is really like and not what the hostel would like you to think.
At the moment we have only added a few slideshows, but many more will be coming as BUG visits and reviews more hostels. Some of the first hostel reviews to feature slideshows include: Habitat HQ in Melbourne (Australia), Melbourne Central YHA in Melbourne (Australia), Gramercy Place in Los Angeles (USA), the Island Accommodation in Phillip Island (Australia), Banana Bungalow in San Diego (USA), Lucky Ds in San Diego (USA), Adelaide Hostel in San Francisco (USA), Elements Hostel in San Francisco (USA) and Pacific Tradewinds Hostel in San Francisco (USA).
YHA considering mixed dormitories
April 22nd, 2010 by Tim Uden
A recent article in the Guardian says that the Youth Hostel Association in England and Wales is considering changing their out-dated policy of single-sex dorms.
Most YHA hostels in England and Wales have got rid of most of their old-fashioned rules such as curfews, chores and bans on alcohol, but they continue to stick to the idea of single-sex dormitories. However later this year some YHA hostels in London will start offering mixed-gender dorms as a response to competition from independent hostels.
While some more conservative elements of the YHA are probably not too happy with the idea, it has generally been well-received by most travellers.
There are a few good arguments for single-sex dorms and most hostels with mixed dorms also have single sex dorms for those that prefer them.
I would expect that the YHA would still stick with single-sex dorms for individual travellers and small groups of the same gender and reserve their mixed dorms for couples and mixed groups of people travelling together. A lot of independent hostels do this and it generally works very well.
I accept that it is nice to have some privacy when getting changed in a mixed dorm and being the only girl (or guy) in a room full of the opposite sex can be a little uncomfortable at first. But once you’ve met your roommates it usually isn’t a big issue. In many cases it is a bonus as you’re likely to meet a more interesting group of travellers in a mixed dorm.
There is the issue of guys snoring, but chicks snore too and when you travel long enough you’ll come to appreciate how relaxing the sound of snoring can be (a bit like the sound of the ocean). The issue with loud snorers could be a bigger problem at YHA hostels where the average guest is quite a bit older than at most independent backpackers’ hostels. If it bothers you, wear ear plugs.
The other issue with mixed dorms is the rudey-nudey hanky-panky that some think is rampant in independent hostels. Sure many long-term travellers will have experienced a couple going for it in a mixed dorm at some point in their travels, but again this isn’t a big deal and it very rarely happens.
Sensible hostel staff can sense what people mix well together and they generally won’t put you in a room full of inappropriate roommates and wherever possible they will try to put you in a room with similar travellers.
Not having any mixed dorms at all raises a different set of problems. It makes it difficult for a couple or a mixed group of friends travelling together as they would get split into separate rooms when staying at a YHA hostel. You shouldn’t be forced to pay extra for a private family room just so you can share a room with friends that you’re travelling with. Mixed dorms let you stay with your friends.
Furthermore it is quite common for a hostel to have vacant beds, but turn away travellers simply because they are the wrong gender.
More simply, segregating your guests according to their gender is sexual apartheid!
There are problems with hostels that only have mixed-dorms, but segregated dorms have their own set of issues. The ideal hostel has a mix of both. The YHA may be behind the times, but at least they are starting to slowly move in the right direction.
Phillip Island gets a new hostel
April 1st, 2010 by Tim Uden
Backpackers in Australia are spoilt for choice. For instance Sydney has almost 100 hostels, Melbourne has over 50 hostels, Cairns has over 30 hostels, and even Mildura (population 60,000) has 15 hostels. Sure some backpackers visit Mildura to find work, but honestly there’s nothing to see in the town. Compare this with big cities like Chicago that only has five hostels and San Francisco, which only has 12 (14 if you include hostels in Berkeley and Marin Headlands). The hostel market in Australia is saturated and I can only think of a handful of places that could do with another hostel; Port Arthur and Strahan in Tasmania plus Phillip Island in Victoria are the only places that come to mind.
Phillip Island is a great spot to see wildlife like koalas, kangaroos, seals and penguins and it is one of the most visited spots in Australia. While it is a popular destination, it is only 1½ hours from Melbourne so most people visit for a day trip and up till a couple of days ago there were only a couple of hostels in Cowes, the island’s main town.
The problem is that Cowes is a family-oriented town with a sheltered beach. Not really the sort of place that appeals to most backpackers. Although Cowes is the main town on the island, the Cape Woolamai-Newhaven-San Remo area at the eastern end of the island has more appeal to many budget travellers. There are bars and restaurants in San Remo and an excellent surf beach at Cape Woolamai.
I live just a 10-minute drive from the island and have long wondered when someone would realise the potential of opening a hostel at this end of the island. Well a new hostel opened in Newhaven a couple of days ago and I visited it to video and review it for BUG yesterday. I must say, I’m impressed with what I have seen.
The Island Accommodation in Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia
As you can expect from brand new purpose-built hostel, everything is spanking new and the hostel is tastefully decorated with polished concrete and contemporary decor. It is comprised of two levels of accommodation comprising double rooms (with en suite bathrooms) plus four- and six-bed dorms and a couple of bigger 12-bed dormitories. Each level has a small TV lounge, a larger lounge with a fireplace plus a spacious kitchen and balcony. There is also a laundry and a rooftop sundeck.
The spacious kitchen at the Island Accommodation on Phillip Island
One of the lounges at the Island Accommodation on Phillip Island
It is really a nice place and I think it deserves a spot among Australia’s top hostels. It is certainly on a par with the YHA Eco Hostels in Apollo Bay and Halls Gap with a similar design to some of the nicer Base and Nomads flashpackers’ hostels.
The only thing missing is people. I visited the day after it opened so that explains a lot, but it is a shame to see such great facilities empty and I can imagine that the hostel will have a good atmosphere when full.
If you’re visiting Melbourne and planning a trip down to Phillip Island to see the koalas and penguins, make it more than a day trip. You’ve now got a choice of two great hostels – The Island Accommodation in Newhaven and the YHA in Cowes – plus a third, not-so-great, hostel in Cowes.
Here’s the video I shot yesterday:
Read the BUG review of The Island Accommodation here
Qualmark skews its star ratings too high
September 17th, 2009 by Tim Uden
Qualmark is New Zealand’s main star rating agency which is the ‘official’ star rating used by Tourism New Zealand. It was established in partnership with Tourism New Zealand and as such it has an interest in promoting tourism rather than providing travellers with impartial advice.
Furthermore, like many other – so called, official – ratings agencies, they are paid by the accommodation establishments for the rating. This cosy partnership between accommodation providers and the organisation that is supposed to be rating them just leads to higher ratings than the hotels and hostels deserve.
As an independent travel guide BUG never accepts payment for a rating. Having any sort of direct business relationship with a hostel that we rate would jeopardise our independence. Our aim is to provide independent consumer advice, which means that we review and rate a hostel for the benefit of the traveller – not the hostel.
Clearly when an organisation like Qualmark is being paid by the accommodation it is supposed to be rating and is partnered with an organisation involved in promoting tourism, then the ratings are likely to be skewed towards a higher star rating. After all, they look after their customers – the hotels and hostels they rate – rather than travellers like yourself. Looking after their customers means giving them a star rating that hotels and hostels will be proud to display.
I am not saying that they are corrupt in any way. Qualmark (and other ratings agencies such as AAA Tourism in Australia) follow a strict set of guidelines to come to their rating and I am sure that Qualmark’s assessors take their job seriously. However the algorithm used to calculate those ratings produce higher ratings than a truly independent ratings assessor such as BUG (or Michelin if you’re talking about fancy restaurants). After all they look after their customer, the hotels and hostels that pay for the ratings; while BUG looks after our customers, the travellers who buy our guidebooks and use our website.
You would expect that the ratings would be spread between a ½ star and five stars with the majority of ratings near the middle (2, 2½ and 3 stars). That is the case with BUG’s ratings, but Qualmark’s ratings are through the roof. Their backpackers’ hostel ratings do not rate a single hostel less than three stars and even awful hostels like Wedgwood House YHA in Picton and Barnacles Seaside Inn YHA in Paraparaumu get at least three stars while those same hostels barely manage to score two stars with their BUG ratings.
New Zealand also has BBH‘s backpacker perception ratings. This is a more subjective rating system than Qualmark’s system, but it is generally more trusted than Qualmark for giving an indication of a hostel’s quality. However it is isn’t a complete rating system as it only rates hostels that are part of the BBH hostel network, thereby eliminating all YHA hostels from their ratings.
Refer to the following table for an idea of the disparity between Qualmark, BUG and BBH ratings:
| Hostel | Qualmark rating | BBH rating | BUG rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accents on the Park (Nelson) | 5 stars | 80% | 4 stars |
| Anndion Lodge (Wanganui) | 5 stars | 4 stars | |
| Base Backpackers (Wellington) | 4 stars plus | 3½ stars | |
| Criterion Art Deco Backpackers (Napier) | 4 stars plus | 3 stars | |
| Downtown Backpackers (Wellington) | 4 stars | 66% | 2 stars |
| Kiwipaka Rotorua (Rotorua) | 4 stars plus | 2½ stars | |
| Moana Lodge (Plimmerton, Wellington) | 5 stars | 89% | 4 stars |
| YHA Auckland International (Auckland) | 5 stars | 3½ stars | |
| YHA Franz Josef (Franz Josef Glacier) | 5 stars | 3½ stars | |
| YHA Mount Cook (Mount Cook) | 5 stars | 4 stars |
While the hostels may love having a high Qualmark star rating, it is a disservice to travellers having all the ratings bunched up at the top end of the scale. For instance, in Wellington there is only one star separating Downtown Backpackers (Qualmark awards them 4 stars, BUG awards then 2 stars) and Moana Lodge (Qualmark awards them 5 stars and BUG awards them 4 stars). Qualmark’s rating of these two hostels would have you believe that they both offer a similar standard of accommodation but in reality these two hostels couldn’t be more different. Moana Lodge is a lovely place that has worked hard to earn its high rating, on the other hand Downtown Backpackers is a big old place in a run-down building that most travellers tolerate for its central location. Qualmark’s rating only separates these two hostels by one star.
Compare this with other star rating agencies such as the English and Welsh Tourist Boards, which assess star ratings but are more accurate with lower ratings awarded to simpler or poorer quality hotels and hostels. This is better for the traveller as it gives a better indication of what a place is really like as opposed to Qualmark’s system, which basically involves saying that all the hostels are excellent when they all clearly are not.
Fortunately travellers have the alternative of BBH and BUG’s own independently assessed star ratings.
Some hostel managers need to grow up and treat their guests with respect?
June 12th, 2009 by Tim Uden
We recently had a review submitted to BUG complaining of petty and childish treatment by a hostel manager.
A guest booked the Lyons House Hostel in Niagara Falls (Ontario, Canada) through Hostelworld and after an enjoyable stay she posted this positive review on Hostelworld.
Afterwards, she recieved a rude email from Patrick, the manager of Lyons House, saying she wasn’t welcome at the hostel in the future because her rating wasn’t positive enough. Patrick’s rude and childish email said:
“Megan I am very disappointed by the scores you gave our hostel. The comments are nice and appreciated but the score is horrible. You’ve rated is a full 20 points lower than our average for the month of May. The ranking that you gave us is lower than the foulest puke smelling bed bug ridden hostels in Toronto and New York. Our guests have consistently rated us very highly and your score is completely off the mark in comparison. I would never suggest that a guest stay in a hostel rated as low as you have rated us. The character of a hostel has nothing to do with the outside of the hostel and everything to do with the quality of the experience inside it. We are consistently rated very high for character. What was wrong with security? You had your own apartment with a deadbolt as well as your locked room We live on site and have 24hour security staff, the front door is protected by a security system as well. I can only assume that you are comparing us to motels and hotels.
If you have an suggestions on how to improve our hostel I would be happy to hear them. But, please do not book with us again as your score has hurt our business and I cannot allow that. I suggest you try the other hostel in town or perhaps a cheap motel.
Regards Patrick”
What sort of wacky thoughts could posibly have been running through Patrick’s mind to conjure up such as rude and childish response to someone who wrote a positive review of his hostel? Could you possibly imagine what a fit of rage he may erupt into if he actually got a negative review?
Megan gave his hostel a score in the mid 70s. I don’t see anything wrong with that is the sort of score; translated into a star rating, anything in the 70s would be regarded as four stars. Working as a professional reviewer, I reserve a rating of four stars or higher for the truly outstanding. When I researched BUG’s travel guidebook to Britain & Ireland several years ago, I visited virtually every hostel in the land and assessed an objective star rating for each place. In total only three hostels in England acheived a score this high.
Hostelworld’s rating is on a scale of 0 to 100 and anything above 50% should be regarded as above average. Well it would be if so many people weren’t so free in giving out abnormally high scores (above 90%). When people give such high scores without objectively assessing the standard of the hostel, then it creates a sense of entitlement among hostels who think that they deserve a rating that is way beyond the standards of their establishment. Earlier this year I wrote a blog post commenting about how percentage ratings on review sites seem to be skewed much higher than five-star ratings. A professional reviewer for a print publication would reserve the four and five star ratings for the truly exceptional, yet on some review sites anything below this is considered abnormal. So, come on guys; be fair and objective when you write reviews and don’t worry about giving out one or two star (or 10-20%) ratings. This helps your fellow travellers as they can see what a place is really like, and those truly outstanding hostels that earn a high rating get the credit that they deserve by standing head and shoulders above the rest.
Patrick doesn’t seem to realise that a high rating is something to be earned and some travellers have higher standards than others. His response was rash and came across as petty and childish and a guest who left the hostel with good memories, now has sour memories of his hostel.
In the past 12 years that I have been writing about hostels I have only come across this sort of behaviour a couple of times and each time I was shocked and disgusted that a hostel manager could act in such a petty and childish manner with such little regard for his guests.
According to most reports, Lyons House Hostel is a great hostel and it consistently gets good reports from travellers. Why would a hostel manager want to spoil his hostel’s good reputation by writing rude and petty emails to his guests after they have stayed at his hostel? Doesn’t he realise that upsetting one of his guests will result not only in losing her repeat business, but the business of her friends. And with the internet, one can have a lot of friends.
Grow up Patrick, show your guests some respect.
New Zealand’s top 10 small hostels
June 4th, 2009 by Tim Uden
The latest BUG New Zealand guidebook reviews of around 500 hostels throughout New Zealand.
New Zealand’s hostels range from small intimate places to large modern multi-storey hostels with hundreds of beds although compared with Australia the emphasis is mostly on smaller hostels.
When I asked the authors working on the travel guide, their favourites were invariably these smaller hostels where the managers remember your name and provide a warmer welcome and a more personal service, all while keeping the hostel clean.
New Zealand’s smaller hostels also have the advantage of catering more to true independent travellers as they are generally too small to cater to backpacker buses like Kiwi Experience, Magic or Stray.
Based on the guidebook author’s recommendations I have compiled a list of New Zealand’s top 10 small hostels.
Most of New Zealand’s top 10 small hostels – all with less than 60 beds – are unique hostels with lots of charm, but some are known for the top-quality fittings and others for the friendly hospitable staff.
New Zealand’s top 10 small hostels are:
- Bay Adventurer (Paihia, Northland)
- Beaconstone (Charleston, West Coast)
- Billy Brown’s (Port Chalmers, Otago)
- The Bug (Nelson)
- Hopewell (Marlborough Sounds, Marlborough)
- Juggler’s Rest (Picton, Marlborough)
- Moana Lodge (Plimmerton, Wellington)
- Mt Cook YHA (Mount Cook, Canterbury)
- Old Slaughterhouse (Hector, West Coast)
- Tree House Backpackers Lodge (Kohukohu, Northland)
All these hostels are reviewed on the BUG website and also in the third edition of BUG New Zealand, which is now available in bookshops in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
You can also buy the book online from amazon.co.uk, Waterstones (with free delivery in the UK) or the Book Depository (which has free worldwide shipping).
Australia’s top 10 small hostels
April 22nd, 2009 by Tim Uden
The latest BUG Australia guidebook reviews over 600 hostels throughout Australia.
Australia’s hostels range from small intimate places to large modern multi-storey hostels with hundreds of beds. The large hostels like Beaches of Broome, Gilligan’s Backpackers in Cairns plus Sydney Central YHA and Wake Up! in Sydney are world class with hundreds of beds plus top notch facilities that include resort-style swimming pools.
When I asked the authors working on the travel guide, their favourites were invariably the smaller hostels where the managers remember your name and provide a warmer welcome and a more personal service, all while keeping the hostel clean.
Based on the guidebook author’s recommendations I have compiled a list of Australia’s top 10 small hostels.
Most of Australia’s top 10 small hostels – all with less than 60 beds – are unique hostels with lots of charm, but some are known for the top-quality fittings and others for the friendly hospitable staff.
Australia’s top 10 small hostels are:
- Bellingen YHA (Bellingen, NSW)
- Black Cockatoo (Nannup, WA)
- Eco-Beach YHA (Apollo Bay, VIC)
- Eumeralla Backpackers (Yambuk, VIC)
- Grampians Eco YHA (Halls Gap, VIC)
- Lakeside Manor YHA (Robe, SA)
- Number 14 (Katoomba, NSW)
- Olembia (Melbourne, VIC)
- On the Wallaby (Yungaburra, QLD)
- Tim’s Place (Halls Gap, VIC)
All these hostels are reviewed on the BUG website and also in the fourth edition of BUG Australia, which is now available in bookshops in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
You can also buy the book online from amazon.co.uk, Waterstones (with free delivery in the UK) or the Book Depository (which has free worldwide shipping).
Why star ratings are more accurate than percentage ratings
February 19th, 2009 by Tim Uden
A few years ago when we were restructuring the way BUG’s hostel reviews were displayed we considered changing the travellers’ hostel rating to a percentage out of 100 rather than a score from one to five.
This seemed like a good idea at first as we would be able to more accurately differentiate between two closely rated hostels. However after consideration we decided against it as we found that it gives inaccurate ratings compared with the rating out of five that we have continued to use.
In theory this would mean that star ratings would break down to percentage ratings as follows:
Well that was the idea, but in practice the average person tends to give an abnormally high score when rating on a scale of one to 100 compared with a star rating from one to five, which would mean that the majority of scores would be between 70% and 100%.
If a traveller is to give a true objective rating they should use the mid-point as an average and score above or below that point if they think the hostel they are rating is above or below average. In other words when working with a rating from one to five, they would start at 2½ stars and score higher or lower depending on the standard of the hostel and working with a percentage score you should start at 50%.
With a rating from one to five it works more or less like this (although the ratings are skewed slightly higher than I would like because of a limitation in the software that prevents you from giving a zero score).
However with a percentage score the ratings are through the roof – just look at the ratings on hostel booking sites like Hostelworld. On these sites the average isn’t 50% (as it should be), but instead it is somewhere in the high 70s or low 80s. If you are not familiar with these ratings you would expect all the hostels to be brilliant, but clearly there are many hostels there that deserve a much lower rating.
I think the problem stems from a lot of travellers wanting to be nice. They stayed at the hostel and found it dirty with limited facilities, but the staff were friendly so they want to be nice in return and give them a good score.
This trend toward giving nice (rather than accurate) ratings stems partly from websites like eBay where users rate each other. On these sites well over 95% of ratings are extremely positive, mainly because users are scared of a negative rating in return. This trend should not carry over into instances where the assessor can’t be assessed but it does.
I think the trend towards unfeasibly high percentage ratings also comes down to perception and the lack of established precedent.
Percentage-based rating systems are a relatively recent phenomenon and have only come into play in the past few years as hostel booking sites like Hostelworld have become more popular. The ratings on these websites are implausibly high because there is no historic precedent set by professional reviewers for what percentage rating should be applied to different quality standards. With no precedent to follow, travellers writing the reviews just give a high rating because they want to be nice as a favour to the friendly staff at the hostel or they follow the lead set by other travellers who have rated the same hostel.
In contrast, star ratings have been around for years. They were around long before anyone had heard of the internet. The five-star rating system has been used for hotels and for reviews in newspapers and magazines for everything from music, electrical equipment, restaurants and wine to the latest blockbuster film.
Professional reviewers in the traditional media have high standards and don’t just randomly give out four or five star ratings. A high rating is something to be earned. A positive review doesn’t have the same impact when all the reviews are glowing with praise, but it has real meaning when put into context with other less favourable reviews. Ratings are a great way to compare products or services, but only when all the ratings are given objective consideration based on their merit with five stars awarded only to the truly exceptional and half a star to the really dreadful, with honest and objective ratings for everything that falls in between.
In addition to the ratings and reviews that you, the traveller, can write on the BUG website; BUG has our own star rating system. BUG’s own staff are trained to follow an objective set of standards that they apply when giving our own star rating. We have rated over 1500 hostels in over 15 countries and have yet to award an overall score of five stars. We realise that hostels are constantly improving and 20 years from now we may have several five star hostels, and when we do give a five-star rating the hostel will have well and truly earned it.
Many hotels proudly advertise as one or two stars and many chefs consider being awarded a single Michelin star as a highlight of their career, so giving one or two stars is certainly not mean; it is just honest, accurate and truthful. And honestly is something that should be reflected in all reviews and ratings.
Most travellers write hostel reviews because they want to help other travellers. So don’t be afraid to give one star if the place is crap – you’ll be doing other travellers a favour. By giving poor hostels the rating they warrant, the really good hostels with four stars or higher will stand on their own and get the recognition that they have earned.
The Secret Life of Us
September 17th, 2008 by Tim Uden
I recently finished reading The Secret Life of Backpackers by Barry Divola. It’s a great read if you’re planning a trip to Australia and an interesting insight into backpacking culture.
Barry is an Australian journalist who had previously written an article about backpackers after spending a week in a hostel at Bondi Beach. This time Barry opts for a longer month-long trip up Australia’s east coast and the book follows his travels along the heavily beaten backpacker trail between Sydney and Cairns and includes Byron Bay, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island, Airlie Beach and Whitsunday Islands.
Although the book does profile these destinations, the real focus is on the backpacking sub-culture. However there are some interesting destination profiles and Barry’s sceptical view of the flaky new age side of Byron Bay is a great read.
A lot of the book focuses on party hostels and there is a good overview of backpackers’ hostels including Noah’s and Surfside in Bondi Beach, Cape Byron Hostel in Byron Bay, Koala’s in Hervey Bay, Magnum’s in Airlie Beach and Gilligan’s in Cairns. If you do stick to this style of hostel on Australia’s east coast there is a good chance that your trip will be similar to Barry’s and you will spend a lot of your time drinking in backpackers’ bars like Cheeky Monkey’s in Bryon Bay, Magnums in Airlie Beach and PJ O’Briens or the Woolshed in Cairns or just drinking cask wine at your hostel but I can’t guarantee that you’ll make a bong from an apple or have as much sex as the book portrays.
It is important, however, not to pigeonhole all backpackers. We are all unique and backpacking culture is different in destinations off the beaten backpackers’ trail and smaller hostels have a different atmosphere to the party hostels profiled in the book. Your travel experience will probably be a lot different if you stay in smaller hostels and travel away from the beaten Sydney-Cairns route.
Stockholm to get a unique new hostel
September 4th, 2008 by Tim Uden
Last Thursday, the world’s first hostel housed inside a Boeing 747 jumbo jet progressed a step closer as the unused aeroplane was towed to a spot near Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. The Swedish news website, The Local, reports that the plane, which had been resting on Arlanda’s third runway since 2002, has been purchased by Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Diös.
There had been rumours about the Jumbo Hostel for a few years now, although approval from the airports authority and the Swedish National Roads Administration mean the hostel looks set to open for business in December.
The interior of the jumbo jet will be completely overhauled with construction of 25 three-bed dormitories plus a luxury suite in the converted cockpit.
The Jumbo Hostel will also feature a café and a walkway onto the plane’s left wing.
The location at Arlanda Airport isn’t the most convenient to Stockholm city centre, but I am sure it will prove popular with plane-spotters and travellers arriving on a late flight as it is only a 10-minute walk from the airport terminal building.
If this hostel is sucessful; Oscar, who had previously run Uppsala Vandrarhem, plans to open more Jumbo Hostels elsewhere in the world.