Where staying in a hostel comes with a touch of class

Accommodation pops up in non-descript buildings — usually filled with row upon row of bunk beds — and with good reason. Keeping costs down means lower nightly rates, and for the most part, guests are so busy sightseeing and socializing that no one minds the bland surroundings. Then there are hostels that are so historic, they rate a guidebook mention. The Maverick Hostel & Ensuites in Budapest, housed in a royal mansion built during the Habsburg dynasty, offers “the gilded lifestyle of the noble aristocrat at a peasant’s price”. Boasting “no bunk beds” (although the mixed dorms do have cots), the Maverick offers everything from new double-bed ensuite accommodation with private bathroom, to “The Blues Brothers” loft with six beds and its own fireplace. Sample prices for a Saturday night in late November ranged from 13 to 22 euros (about $18 to $31). In Catania, Italy, on the east coast of Sicily, the 19th-century Agora Hostel offers more traditional digs (bunk beds abound) offset by vaulted ceilings, antique tiled floors and lava block columns. The hostel’s bar is housed in a cave formed 300 years ago by an eruption of Sicily’s most famous landmark, Mt. Etna. North America has its share of historic hostels too, like HI Ottawa, known in its former life as the Carleton County Gaol and now dubbed “a great place to hang”. And yes, you can sleep in former jail cells. See www.hostelworld.com.

DOING THE DEW IN COLORADO

Colorado is famous as a winter sports mecca, particularly among the well-heeled, and some might assume that the snow-rich state is priced out of their budget. Not so. Aspen and Vail may attract a high-end crowd, and often famous faces. Then there’s Breckenridge. Once a mining town, laid-back Breckenridge offers a down-to-earth local vibe that attracts more than its share of young people, many of them snowboarders, who were welcomed by the city years ago when other mountain resorts were still hesitant about the new sport. Playing host to the 2010 Winter Dew Tour, now in its third year, Breckenridge will have a chance to show off its new, 6.7-metre Olympic-size half pipe when the entire town “turns into a ski party” on Dec. 16 to 20 with events including snowboarding and free skiing, both superpipe and slopestyle. Leading up to the Dew Tour, the Village Hotel and Great Divide Lodge has special rates from $99 (U.S.) per night, valid Nov. 12 through Dec. 16, with an increase for stays during the event itself. See www.breckenridge.com for event information or www.breckresorts.com for accommodation details.

NEW YEAR’S IN BERLIN

Berlin’s open-air New Year’s Eve party attracts more than one million visitors to the city’s “party mile”, which stretches from Brandenburg Gate all the way to the Victory Column. Stages with DJs and dance floors line the route, along with light shows and food tents, and a spectacular fireworks display becomes just a blip in time as the party continues right into the morning hours. The truly energetic will be back at Brandenburg Gate at noon on New Year’s Day for the city’s annual four-kilometre New Year’s Run. And for those who might want a bed at some point, Berlin Tourism has some suggestions, all centrally located and offering great value for young travellers: Michelbergerhotel, Hotel Amano, the Circus Hotel, Motel One and any of the city’s Meininger Hotels. See individual hotel websites or www.visitberlin.de.

ACTIVE MOROCCO WITH INTREPID

In its tours, Intrepid Travel avoids the “big air-conditioned buses” whenever possible, favouring more independent (and cheaper) modes of transport like hiking, biking and kayaking. The nine-day Active Morocco tour, starting from $1,170 with a maximum of 12 travellers, is rated four out of five for physical challenge and includes hiking through mountain passes to remote villages, and climbing sheer rock faces at the Todra Gorge. Another option, the 28-day Middle East Adventure (from $3,265), features transport by camel, sleeper train and 4x4 vehicles with some overnight stays in a beach hut and a desert camp. Airfare is not included. See www.intrepidtravel.com.

Kathryn Folliott is a Toronto-based freelance writer. Prices quoted are subject to change and availability.
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Skyscanner brings entrepreneur Ray Nolan on board, considers options

Skyscanner, the flight comparison website, has made tech entrepreneur Ray Nolan its chairman as it considers future options, including a stock market flotation.
By Amanda Andrews
Published: 6:30AM BST 25 Oct 2010
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Mr Nolan, the Irish entrepreneur behind accommodation booking site HostelWorld.com, said Skyscanner was "well-positioned as a growth company" and that a float, part sale or major acquisition could all be possibilities.
In the near term, Mr Nolan will play an advisory role as the company prepares to expand into new markets. Its website currently hosts over 10m users a month.
Mr Nolan led Hostelworld.com-owner Web Reservations International to a $340m (£218m) sale. Both Mr Nolan and U2 manager Paul McGuinness, an investor in the company, are understood to have profited considerably.
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Ray Nolan may end up with €100 million

Ray Nolan, co-founder of WRI (Hostelworld) possibly to end up with over €100m in shares — an Internet success story:
He's the Irish software millionaire most of us had never heard of. Just nine years after he and his partner Tom Kennedy founded WRI, Ray Nolan will end up with shares worth up to €100m when the online accommodation booking company floats on the stock exchange.
computer programmer by profession, Nolan, who will be 43 this year, was already a grizzled IT veteran when he and Kennedy founded WRI in 1999. Twelve years earlier he founded his first IT company, Raven Computing (whose name was later changed to Coretime), when he was just 22. Coretime produced bespoke software systems for the legal and hospitality sectors. It was while he was trying to sell Kennedy a software package for the Avalon hostel, which Kennedy then owned, that Nolan first met his future business partner.
Nolan eventually sold Coretime to Sage in 2004.
Despite the success of Coretime, Nolan had to adopt some innovative fund-raising techniques when he and Kennedy were seeking capital to set up WRI in 1999. They approached five hostel owners and in return for the promise of £20,000 in free online advertising they each stumped up £10,000.
Once WRI was up and running it attracted a number of other investors, including U2 manager Paul McGuinness and his business associate Trevor Bowen, former Baltimore Technologies executive Michael Butler and insolvency practitioner Michael Buckley.
This combination of the hostel owners' seed capital and the money provided by the early investors was enough to keep WRI growing rapidly up to the time of the hostelworld.com acquisition. Nolan agreed to purchase the website for $3.5m (€2.4m) just before Christmas 2002. The problem was that WRI didn't have $3.5m. However, Nolan was able to persuade the vendors to wait a few weeks while he raised the cash.
In May 2004, US venture capital company Summit Partners invested an estimated €30m for an undisclosed stake in WRI. The Summit investment gave WRI the firepower to maintain the rapid pace of expansion which has seen the company grow at a compound annual rate of 30pc for the past several years.
In 2006, the last year for which accounts are available, WRI recorded profits of €16.6m on a turnover of €27.3m. The pace of growth was maintained in 2007.

Hostelworld.com founder joins Skyscanner as chairman

26 October 2010

The founder of Irish travel online giant Hostelworld.com has joined flight comparison site Skyscanner as chairman.
Ray Nolan, founder of Hostelworld parent Web Reservations International, last year led the company through a $340 million sale, claimed as the largest in the decade in Ireland.
Skyscanner has just reported a record £3.5 million quarter and Nolan joins the company as it prepares for a major push for growth in existing and new markets.
Nolan said: “I am delighted to be joining such an outstanding company in the travel technology sector and look forward to helping them realise their significant ambitions right across the online travel search space.
“With the company’s direct relationships with airlines and OTAs and its exceptionally strong multi-national model, Skyscanner is uniquely placed in the flight search market.
“The last two years have been extremely successful but Skyscanner is now set for yet another exponential growth spurt.”
Skyscanner CEO Gareth Williams said: “We’ve had a very steep growth trajectory in the last two years and are now set to leverage that as we aim for the number one position worldwide.
“Ray Nolan has hugely relevant industry and entrepreneurial experience and a proven track record of creating great companies with high growth.
“As one of the fastest growing technology companies in the UK, Skyscanner has many of the characteristics that made HostelWorld successful and we look forward to drawing on Ray’s experience and working with him to explore the potential for strategic partnerships and ventures.”
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Euro Hostel reveals plans for expansion

Mark Smith 23 Oct 2010
Euro Hostel, the Glasgow-based hospitality business chaired by a member of the venerable Salvesen family, has revealed plans to open at least five new hostels in five years across the UK, the first of which next spring will mark its expansion into England.

The company, which is chaired by Andrew Salvesen, who is also a major shareholder in Euro Hostel, said it is investing £6 million to open in Newcastle city centre, and that over the next five years it plans to open hostels in Aberdeen, Manchester and London.

William McClelland, managing director of Euro Hostel, said the company had been holding back on the expansion because the banks had tightened their purse strings during the credit crunch, but that the situation was now beginning to loosen – although “not completely”.
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Hostel developer aims for ‘something different’ in SF

By: Andrea Koskey Examiner Staff Writer October 18, 2010
A $16 million plan to turn a century-old building into a hostel could bring more backpackers to downtown San Francisco and increase choices for travelers. With 22 hostels in The City, project sponsor Simon Johnson said he hopes to introduce “something different” to the mix by converting the historic Grant Building at 1095 Market St...
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Adventure of a lifetime

Travel is at the top of most people's bucket lists, but most of us just talk dreamily of the day we'll drop everything to embark on an adventure. When we win the lottery. After kids grow up. If only we had more vacation days. Sara and Marc Hopkins wouldn't wait that long. Here's how the couple (Sara's from Des Moines' east side and Marc's from Coventry, England), took their three-month dream trip. They sold everything. The Hopkins were living in a 500-square-foot apartment in England when they decided to make their travel plans possible. Since most of their kitchen and living room was from IKEA, Sara said they literally sold off the rooms box by box on eBay. Ultimately, they cobbled together about 5,000 British pounds (about $7,500) for the trip, working out a day-by-day budget. They wanted to spend a year traveling, but decided they had enough for three months in Asia and Australia.
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Web Reservations International (WRI) generated revenues of €39.3 million

ONLINE BUDGET accommodation group Web Reservations International (WRI) generated revenues of €39.3 million last year, during which it was acquired by US private equity firm Hellman Friedman for over €200 million. Subsequent to the acquisition the Irish companies in the group, including Hostelworld.com, have been acquired by a Luxembourg-based entity HF Wings Lux 1. Accounts just filed at the Companies Registration Office show the Luxembourg company acquired all shares in WRI Holdings for €202.5 million in shares and cash.
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