Hostels, once seen as just a place to sleep for backpackers or bare-bones basic accommodation, are changing. Today, a new luxury niche in hostels is attracting well-travelled guests—some, like te Gasthof Schoneck in Austria, are even considered to be better than traditional ho-tels. We asked David Meany, director of partner marketing for The Travel Corporation, and Toni Ambler, brand strategy director for Contiki, how this property and other "poshtels" are chang-ing the hostel landscape for good. —Noa Nichol
We remember travelling in our early 20s and staying in hostels—good bang for our buck, but not the most comfortable experience. How are hostels evolving, and shedding their "last-resort accommodation" reputation?
The idea of "poshtels" really began to take notice in 2014-15. At the time, hostels were seen as the "you get what you pay for" type of accommodation among travellers. But more and more millennial travellers were looking for a middle ground between hotels and hostels and thus, "poshtels" were born. There are three key aspects that make a poshtel a poshtel. Firstly, the design aspect. What was once seen as just a place to sleep, poshtels often occupy intriguing buildings and place an emphasis on cool, funky and laid-back designs that attract younger clien-tele. Whereas a hotel is often seen as more of an upscale, professional look and feel for older guests. In fact, more and more ‘traditional’ hotels are mimicking the poshtel esthetic. Second-ly, the social spaces on offer. Poshtels feature game rooms, bars, restaurants, clubs, and roof-top bars. While many hotels offer similar amenities, the difference is in the cost—with posht-els coming in at an affordable price. Thirdly, poshtels are now considered hot spots to hang out, drink, chill, eat and network with other young travellers. As opposed to traditional hotels, poshtels are not simply places to sleep.
What type of traveller is now booking stays at these so-called "poshtels"?
Definitely millennials—from Gen Z to Gen Y. This is the demographic that’s looking for a mid-dle ground between a traditional hotel and hostels, with all the comforts and laid-back designs but at an affordable price. Our new Gasthof Shoneck has always been and will continue to be exclusively used by guests travelling with us on any of Contiki’s Iconic Essentials adventures. This Special Stay, along with our legendary 16th-century French château complete with its own swimming pool and vineyard, is a travel experience in itself. They are both exclusive Contiki owned properties featuring team members who live on-site to take care of everything our guests need and boast MasterChef trained kitchen staff who whip up deliciously authentic and local meals with locally sourced ingredients. For millennials, accommodation is a huge part of the travel experience and they don’t want that experience to end when they walk through the door. Traditional international hotel chains are not appealing to them as they all tend to look alike no matter where you are in the world. Millennials want local, unique and real experienc-es. Poshtels have become popular because they connect guests to the local destination and al-low for social interaction with fellow travel-lers. Millennials simply want to meet new friends and explore together.
Tell us about the Gasthof Schoneck, before and after its facelift?
The project began with site visits in July 2017, and in February 2018 the site turned into a build-ing site just around the same time that the heavy snowfall and winter chills set in. Within four months, we had our newly renovated guesthouse. The update was important for Contiki to re-main relevant with the millennial audience. This beloved chalet has been around since the 1970s and although we kept it in good shape over the years, we realized that we needed to significantly overhaul it to ensure we meet the expectations of future travellers. Our inspiration came from trendy hotels—hotels and members only clubs that we ourselves hang out in across Europe. These are places where you come for a drink and end up staying all night. We wanted the space to feel like a home away from home where our guests can kick back and feel like a local.
Who will love staying at the Gasthof Schoneck?
Our Contiki guests are all looking for that unique experience they can share with friends back home and staying at the Gasthof Shoneck always checks that box. The Gasthof is perfect for anyone looking for personality, design that makes a statement, social spaces and above all, good and strong Wi-Fi!
Top amenities at the Gasthof Schoneck?
The common room was completely non-descript, uninviting and lacking in any personality. With the renovations, it’s now a home deco dream come true with plush sofas, a screen that’s just perfect for Netflix binges and quiet corners for Monopoly playing and card games for our guests. In the bedrooms, our custom-made beds are designed in a way that allows the staff to easily alter the configuration of the room from double to twin or quad share. There is also am-ple storage space for suitcases and ski gear and importantly for millennials, we have USB Power-Points throughout the building so our travellers can keep posting their shots on the ‘gram. For the dining room. we worked with local suppliers to source materials and used a lot of wood to keep the cozy Austrian Gasthof feel with a particular favourite is our handmade Austrian wood tables for communal group dining that’s just perfect for our authentic and deli-cious Munch dining experiences. Think having traditional pork rosti and turkey schnitzel sur-rounded by other like-minded travellers from around the world in your Contiki group. Oh, did we mention that we installed a light-up moose head in the reception area along with our beau-tiful wooden outdoor dining where our summer barbecues are served and with a ping pong ta-ble!?!
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