The Hostel Project

Hot heads will confront a snorer at 3am. Phone addicts ditch social obligations to doomscroll on the top bunk. Frugal guests will bemoan an overpriced vending machine. Creepy guests linger. Traits stack, guests react to each other, and something is always happening. That’s hostel life.

Digital nomads want a place to work and fast wifi. Party people want the vibes HIGH and the drinks flowing. Budget backpackers, adventurers and luxe travellers all arrive with their own expectations, and each one rates you against them. A luxe traveller in a 30-bed dorm is a bad review waiting to happen.

Sift through booking requests, take the ones you want, then assign each guest to a bed. Upgrade their room. Split a stag do across three dorms. Put the hot head next to the snorer, and watch your ratings for the fall out.

Clone rooms, paint walls, stain floors, bulldoze it all. No construction queues, so you can build around guests who are already in bed. Or pause, delete every toilet, and unpause. Chaos!

Hire staff and put them on shifts so the place runs seamlessly around you. Leave reception empty and backpackers queue for hours, then tank your ratings. And don’t forget to remake the beds, or you’ll have guests pitching tents outside just to get a quick snooze in.

Board game nights. Networking sessions for the start up hopefuls Pick a space, pick a time, send a staff member out to promote it. A pub crawl leaves your toilets in a questionable state by 2am. A speed dating night occasionally ends in romance. Watch parties fill the lounge for a sports final or a reality TV reunion.

A beachy town fills with digital nomads on three month stays. Edinburgh gives you the festival crowd and Scottish weather. Other locations send you travellers who booked a hostel and expected a hotel. Perhaps there’s a lake? Or a mountain? There’s so many places to discover and build a humble hostel. Each location brings its own guests, events, activities and challenges.