1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,600 Late one night in my Ford Edge, after the first day of the gathering, we just sat there 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,440 and just chatted at each other and tried to figure out a way to best support the group. 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:17,920 Because that's been our goal from the beginning is to elevate US hostels to offer them more 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:22,840 ways to put more money in their pocket, better guests in their beds. 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:29,600 And so Hosteling.US was born out of a conversation with US hostel owners and teams. 6 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:30,600 Hello friends and travelers. 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:31,600 Thanks for listening. 8 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:32,600 You are riding along on the Hostel Road Trip podcast. 9 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:33,600 Our mission is to spread awareness of the true hostel experience in the Americas and 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:34,600 share stories from the fascinating hosts who create those unique facilities. 11 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:35,600 I'm your host, Jimmy Black, joined alongside co-founder of International Travelers House 12 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:36,600 Bobby Dyer. 13 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:37,600 Each session, we sit down with hostel operators or travel influencers to hear about their 14 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:38,600 real success, discuss trending hostel topics, and close with tips on how to make your host 15 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:39,600 a better host. 16 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:40,600 And so, we're going to be sharing our stories with you. 17 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:41,600 So, let's get started. 18 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:42,600 So, we're going to be sharing our stories with you. 19 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:43,600 So, we're going to be sharing our stories with you. 20 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:44,600 So, we're going to be sharing our stories with you. 21 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:45,600 So, we're going to be sharing our stories with you. 22 00:00:45,600 --> 00:01:04,600 So, we're going to be sharing our stories with you. 23 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:18,200 Alright, let's rock and roll. 24 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:23,880 We are with Thea from the Ember Hostel, from HostelingUS, from The Gathering. 25 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:28,840 We are on an epic hostel road trip podcast episode. 26 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:34,200 I'm here with Bob Dyer, co-founder, business partner. 27 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:41,640 newly minted Naha board member Robert Dyer. Thank you for joining us. Great to be here with you guys. 28 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,040 Yeah and Thea thank you so much for taking the time in your busy schedule 29 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,120 and being an awesome mother as well as well as all these other projects. 30 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:57,320 Thank you for being with us. I'm so excited. I'm going to give a little shout out to my boy Yogi 31 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:03,960 here who has decided to join us. He's decided to join us. He's a superstar and Instagram influencer. 32 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:12,920 All right so let's dive into it with Thea. For those of you who don't know and have not been 33 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:20,360 blessed to meet her she is a hostile legend, an OG and a tour de force. Just a really awesome person. 34 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:27,400 And I just want to know before we dive into your various different tentacles within the industry, 35 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:33,560 how did you get into hostels? Like what was it that young Thea found herself like bit by the 36 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:40,040 bug? How did that happen? Well I wasn't quite young but I- You still are our girlfriend! 37 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:48,600 I actually answered a Chrysler ad. I was living in Austin, Texas. I was looking to pivot out of 38 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:55,800 the career I'd been in for the last 10-15 years and I wanted my weekends back so I thought hey 39 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:02,680 this sounds like a really interesting opportunity. So I really just had never been hostiling until I 40 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:10,200 took that job. Fuck yeah. So your first no guest experience just went in right in as a worker? 41 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:19,880 I have probably 20 years of experience like as a community organizer working with volunteers 42 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:25,560 and my previous career was event and wedding management so a ton of understanding. 43 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:33,160 Yes all right. Now but now that's an interesting thing because you didn't get the exposure as a 44 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:38,440 guest which usually is what kind of breaks down the classic American stigma which we're trying 45 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:43,000 to overcome with things like this podcast where it's like oh my god that's a horror film you're 46 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:48,520 gonna get murdered if you go in there you know how did you you look at the hostile industry 47 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:54,040 as a whole when you went into that experience did you have separations or were you like oh 48 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,040 I've heard about this but these places are like did you have any of that that's a bad mojo? 49 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:04,680 I really knew nothing of hostels not even the bad reputation that it might have had. It was all 50 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:10,200 brand new to me when I first walked into the building for the interviews. I soaked it all up 51 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:15,400 and I saw all the activity in the relationship building that was happening in the common room 52 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:20,760 and the kitchen and it really felt like it was where I wanted to be but I had no preconceived 53 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:25,800 notions. That's absolutely so you were like tabula rosa going in that's actually the best you can 54 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,440 ask for in our country because usually it's like you know I always laugh about it when I get like 55 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:34,120 the back of a cab when I'm going to one of our different locations from the airport like oh what 56 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,760 are you doing I'll maintain up business what do you do oh I run a hostel and then like you know 57 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,920 you see him look in the rear view mirror like I'm gonna like come from behind and strangle him yes 58 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,720 so it is sometimes better just to have that clean slate because as we know 59 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,520 the stigma is just so bad and now they're coming out with another horror 60 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:59,880 hostile series with Paul Giamatti as the lead actor who I loved and now I'm gonna have to 61 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:05,480 just fucking kick him right out of my closet so yeah so we're trying here we're trying to figure 62 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:11,320 out new things but you're doing many of those things with hostels are more fun which I want 63 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:18,120 to dive into but before we do that so you're in Austin you get your exposure and now how do you 64 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:27,720 find yourself up at Embers Hospital in Denver which also just to drop a little uh a tune on your horn 65 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:38,440 here won the best hostel in North America in 2018 2020 2020 for a hostel or like huge award huge 66 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:44,680 accomplishment and just really an awesome hostel we stayed there during the gathering which we'll 67 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:53,800 also talk about in this call uh here but amazing hostel run out of a historical home and if I were 68 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:59,480 to say because we run out of historical homes as well a few of our locations and we started at USA 69 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:07,080 hostels which is now Gaslamp Hostel which is a 1880s brothel historical building so that's been 70 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:12,600 a big part of our journey so I greatly appreciate how difficult that is to run and operate out of 71 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:18,280 those older facilities and if I were to take a textbook example of how to like knock it out of 72 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:24,440 the park I would say Ember Hostel would be the case study because that place is just awesome like 73 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:29,960 you kept all of the original awesome historical features which I hate to see when people try to 74 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:36,360 change or chop up or metal with but at the same time you made it feel modern and comfortable you 75 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:43,240 know and it flows super smooth so just kudos to you on that but tell us how you found yourself 76 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:49,480 over at Ember Hostel. So uh the hostel I worked for in Austin was called Director Jack's Hostel 77 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:55,080 it was like a real traditional backpackers hostel we had no fluff there were no frills you slept on a 78 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:03,720 crinkety old bunk bed and you use a locker that I built but the vibes were immaculate um the events 79 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:09,000 were top tier we knocked it out of the park my first year there and became number one hostel 80 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:15,640 in Austin and we carried a 9.6 in the house world until I left it was an excellent experience and a 81 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,440 great way to be introduced into the hostel industry and I'm glad I had that experience 82 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:26,600 before I moved to Ember the same owner of Drifter Jack's his name is Andy Ward he's also the one who 83 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:32,280 opened Ember Hostel so when he was like hey we're gonna open a second one I said I'm gonna go I love 84 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:40,280 the mountains I love uh Colorado so that felt like kind of serendipitous for me um and so that was 85 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:46,760 just kind of the journey that I had with the hostel owner Andy. Oh I didn't know that no you 86 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:52,600 learned something new is Drifter Jack's still open Drifter Jack's closed during COVID unfortunately 87 00:07:53,400 --> 00:08:01,080 oh and not to reopen it's done it's done okay but same owner still owns the Ember Hostel and 88 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:08,200 how's that one rocking correct okay and now what about how big is the Ember Hostel give us a little 89 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:13,720 bit of detail on it so that yeah like you mentioned it's a historical mansion in this beautiful 90 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:19,560 neighborhood called Capitol Hill in Denver it's 9,000 square feet uh it includes an old carriage 91 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:28,520 house which we uh remodeled into a dormitory it has a big property um in downtown Denver big property 92 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:35,080 uh it's really really gorgeous and like you said a ton of the historical details were left untouched 93 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:41,480 we have an arts and crafts stands you know glass window we have a beautiful curved woodwork 94 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:48,200 staircase the original fireplaces are in there we have the original floors there's just a ton of 95 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:54,360 history in the walls and so it was really great that we kept it the way we did and then with an 96 00:08:54,360 --> 00:09:01,080 interior designer they amped it up with all the beautiful custom bespoken furnishing that we 97 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:07,480 brought into the space um and that's what really I think elevated it um and made it feel very boutique 98 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:15,240 yeah that's amazing I had a question going from events coordinator and then getting into 99 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,880 hostel management it's you know obviously aligned very well and having a great vibe is so important 100 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:26,200 but what did you what did you after becoming a hostel manager for say six months or a year what 101 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:31,320 did you enjoy the most about it as you kind of newly found yourself in this position 102 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:38,920 I don't think I understood the volunteer model or the work exchange model in when I took on the job 103 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:47,880 and that was something that I found to be just perfectly set for my skill sets and I really 104 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:54,680 enjoyed it and so I've always loved building a team but I love working with volunteers and so I 105 00:09:54,680 --> 00:10:00,840 really got to kind of capitalize on that in in the hostel industry and that's probably been my 106 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:07,480 most like most unexpected favorite part of the job interesting yeah it is so unique that it's 107 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:12,120 really like everybody's living together and you're creating this energy and this vibe right you're 108 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:17,640 chasing this vibe and even when even when your hostel is doing great you know that sometimes that 109 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,000 lightning in a bottle isn't there but all of a sudden you'll feel it and you're like wow the 110 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:26,200 hostel's really you know firing on all cylinders the vibes are great the activities just don't stop 111 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,880 and it's a magical feeling and so much of it is all the staff right everybody living there just 112 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:39,400 bringing their cultures to the table I agree that is such a cool part so yeah I I think that's such 113 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:47,160 a great uh for me a key indicator of like with hostel managers in general if they are on the 114 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:53,480 thought process of oh my goodness these work exchange members or volunteers whatever you 115 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:58,200 might call them they're such a pain in the ass and why well let's just get paid people from the 116 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:03,720 outside and I instantly know that they're not seeing the lightning in the bottle I'm like you're 117 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:09,800 you're listening to the music but you're not hearing you know it's so sad for me and I actually 118 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:15,720 I started to look at that differently of like I've failed that person somewhere along the line 119 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:20,680 if they're not able to see this as their greatest asset and not their greatest liability and how 120 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:26,520 beautiful it can be when it all goes off on all cylinders and it's running smoothly and I had the 121 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:34,280 same profound enjoyment of when managing at USA hostels you know and just having that singular 122 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,760 task of managing that one location that was my favorite part of the job was putting together the 123 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:44,600 crew and like watching watching it mold together and I thought to myself what other gig would you 124 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,920 be asked okay you're going to take 10 people you're going to throw them into the same room 125 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:54,200 they're from every race religion culture political background all these differences you got to put 126 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:59,240 them in one room you got to get them all to work together harmoniously as a family that's a 127 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:06,120 management challenge right there you know so if I think the effort that's put in is well worth it 128 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:10,840 and you see it and it's so beautiful when it does click and it does happen but I always get so sad 129 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,560 when I uh it's like the wind comes out of my sails when I hear someone say like oh we're going to get 130 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:19,960 rid of all these exchanges all these volumes we're going to get paid people to come in here 131 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:24,520 get it done so we can just come and check in and check out I'm like okay so if you heard of the 132 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:29,720 motel six they might be looking for you yeah who's in charge of the vibe then you know 133 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:38,120 we're not a hostel anymore we're just a hotel at that bar motel you know so you lose all of that 134 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:45,160 essence special sauce within that so I think that's a you know very noticeable that you like that 135 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:50,840 and we're drawn to that inspired by that and it shows the product that you created at the ember 136 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:55,720 hostel and I'm sure at drifter jacks before that which I never get to stay at but I heard great 137 00:12:55,720 --> 00:13:03,800 things um what did you uh surprise that staff there what did you uh what are things you like to do 138 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:09,240 to uh emphasize that and create those moments with the staff maybe advice you can give the other 139 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:14,760 hostel owners like you built the staff now how do you keep the staff motivated to make that 140 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:20,920 magic happen I think the really the key and maybe something that a lot of people miss is you really 141 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:25,640 have to create like a very collaborative environment for people to have a bit of a buy-in to have 142 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,400 you know feel like they have a voice I think that's really important to some of the younger 143 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:33,480 generations that we work with they want to have a say they want to have a little bit of a 144 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:41,480 opportunity to lead or direct and so I stay very collaborative although I have a million ideas 145 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:47,000 myself but when I have a team I'm saying hey what do you guys see like what are you experiencing in 146 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:53,240 this environment how would you like to elevate it how are what are the ways that you want to 147 00:13:54,280 --> 00:14:01,160 participate in this community and that's where you really get to learn from other people you 148 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:11,560 get to find how they best engage with the the job or the community so really just you know not being 149 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:17,960 single focused on what I want to do but encouraging the team to be a part of building a very special 150 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:23,880 community and then they get to take pride in that and that's that buy-in that you have to get from 151 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:29,240 those volunteers and so that that's what I always suggest people who are struggling it's like 152 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:35,240 you need to open up open up the meeting like let listen to what people are wanting to do and 153 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:39,880 some of the best things we've done over the last several years at Ember are because somebody really 154 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:45,800 wanted to do it and so we allowed them that space to do that and it was you know it ended up being 155 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:52,200 a great benefit for everybody I think yeah you hit the nail on the head so much there with that and 156 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:58,760 I had the same personal growth or learning curve if you will of you know you when you when you own 157 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:03,080 your house or you're managing it you can be very possessive and territorial and you care about it 158 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:09,960 and you're like this is my idea and my plan and get on board with it or you know get off the train 159 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:16,200 you know that will only get you so far but the the thing that we learned early on was within that 160 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:21,640 in that learning curve and that's what allowed us to expand so much and a lot of people in 161 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:28,040 in industry peers would wow you give these kids a lot of flexibility or a lot of creative 162 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:34,040 participation or you know they're involved a lot in some big decisions and yes they are and we wanted 163 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:38,440 it to be that way so that they were involved they were invested they felt like they were heard 164 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:43,400 you know they had that pride of ownership feeling because they were involved in that you know that 165 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:49,240 process and you've got to let you know let that grow and cultivate and run and that's how you create 166 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:55,160 that vibe of that culture because you can smother that with and not let it you know happen and it's 167 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,800 a beautiful thing when it does because you know i just had a perfect example i put up the big bear 168 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:07,400 lodge here wildfires were okay yogi and i are still safe but uh you know one of the work exchanges 169 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:13,080 are you know the housekeeping closet was just a it looked like a fucking bomb went off in it and 170 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:17,480 you know i could see the anxiety and she was like is that a label maker and i was like yeah it's an 171 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:22,120 awesome label maker i bought it you know for the place like can i go to town on this closet with 172 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:28,040 that label maker and i see there once was labels that are not being i was like go for it she's doing 173 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:32,520 that and then all of a sudden the manager comes in and sees her making this housekeeping closet 174 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:38,920 that the manager actually let slide get a little bit i see again who's in the kitchen reorganizing 175 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:43,800 all the dry food storage relabeling everything you know and now i'm like wow the kitchen's looking 176 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,560 great the manager's over there and the working student now i'm in the garage and i'm doing the 177 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:52,520 tools and you know you just get this way you know the momentum gets going and everyone's you know 178 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:57,160 feeding off of each other and that's that lightning in a bottle moment it's you know even the guests 179 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:01,800 can feel that and can taste and see like wow these are everyone's working together to make the place 180 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:10,920 better and it translates into the guest experience uh but enough about amber we need to shift over 181 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:15,560 some other things because you're a career woman with a lot going on 182 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:29,720 so let's jump on over now and talk a little bit about the gathering okay well actually let me 183 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:35,640 ask what came first the gathering or hustling hustling us the gathering all right so we're 184 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:42,040 gonna go gathering at so so you're in denver you meet sydney who's another tour de force just an 185 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:49,960 awesome woman and a pioneer trailblazer in our industry and you too i love your personalities 186 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:56,120 and i love that when you two met you you know clicked in that way and worked together as a 187 00:17:56,120 --> 00:18:01,480 lot of times in any business when you have that competing hostile you're like oh that's my 188 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:06,920 competition i don't like them and you never met him yet you know you've just already decided that 189 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:12,280 you know we're not going to get along uh so i love that you two went with that opposite way 190 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:17,880 tell us a bit about how you met sydney and how the gathering came about so um shortly after amber 191 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:23,400 hostel opened in 2018 sydney came by and asked hey can i speak to the manager and you know no one's 192 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:30,600 favorite question um but pleasantly uh when i met her she was like hey i you know operate this hostel 193 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:35,960 every year like maybe there's some ways we can work together and she came into my life at a time 194 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:43,160 where i was in desperate need for a community for a network because i hadn't found anybody yet or 195 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:48,440 having connected with anybody yet who could understand the industry because it's just so 196 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:55,240 unique in so many ways that i can't speak to other people who maybe work in hr about my hr experiences 197 00:18:55,240 --> 00:19:02,600 because they're not the same um and they always just stare at me like what is your job and so i 198 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:08,360 felt very isolated i had been speaking to andy about possibly heading to you know a conference 199 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:13,240 or something i just was really in desperate need of it so i was so happy to meet her and she's an 200 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:21,240 incredible person um and we just instantly connected i think she needed the community too 201 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:26,120 and as soon as we realized how beneficial it was for the two of us we were like we got to share the 202 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:32,200 love and we started the hostel or what was called the colorado hostel collective and we invited the 203 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:38,200 20 plus colorado hostels that exist to meet with us for a day in denver and when we did just you 204 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:44,600 know magic happened fireworks all of the good stuff um it was really clear to us that we weren't 205 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:53,000 the only ones in need of a community of like-minded professionals who could really you know have find 206 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:59,400 some solidarity in these situations that we were put in regularly and so it was a huge success we 207 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:06,040 tried to grow on that in a lot of different ways we held um two more conferences with colorado 208 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:11,480 hostel collective and then in 2023 we decided to open it up to usa hostels because we were getting 209 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:17,240 a lot of inquiries from people um and we were like hey you know we can learn more let's learn more 210 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:23,640 let's bring more people into the room let's find more people to share these stories and these um 211 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:30,360 you know concerns and challenges with and so that was a huge success we were so happy to have all 212 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:38,280 of those new faces um in the room with us and from that gathering in 2022-23 is where hosteling.us 213 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:45,960 was born from the conversations that we had as a group we identified the things that we needed in 214 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:53,080 order to survive to be successful to be our best um we needed to educate u.s travelers that we 215 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:59,320 existed and that we were cool um we needed to ensure that we had a standard for what hostling 216 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:09,560 in the u.s was um and we needed an opportunity to drive bookings as a group and so late one night 217 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:15,480 in my ford edge after the first day of the gathering we just sat there and just chatted 218 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,640 at each other and tried to figure out a way to best support the group because that's been our 219 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:27,880 goal from the beginning is to elevate u.s hostels to offer them more ways to put more money in their 220 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:34,920 pocket better guests in their beds um and so hosteling.us was born out of a conversation with 221 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:40,680 u.s hostel owners and teams love it and now that that connects the story for me 222 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:45,720 you got it bob you have something no i was just gonna say that's awesome how you created that in 223 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:51,320 that process i've never heard the full story yeah no i love the connection to it but for the 224 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:55,400 gathering now for listeners now it's november 5th for the seventh this year is that correct 225 00:21:55,400 --> 00:22:01,960 in denver at the 11th avenue hostel yes right you will you still be having will ember still be 226 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:07,000 included or like we'll offer housing for the yes so we have housing and we're going to be doing 227 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:13,800 our welcome dinner there as well as other events so yes i hope the hot tub night is still in play 228 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:19,560 i hope i didn't get that cancelled last year wait what did you do let me check the video 229 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:29,480 no but for those of you who haven't been heard the gathering is such a cool get together and 230 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:35,720 really i think you nailed it on the head with matching up the conference to the clientele 231 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:42,280 and a lot of times with hostels i feel like the corporate side of business or even the corporate 232 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:49,080 side of hospitality and the tourism uh they don't understand us they don't get us and when they do 233 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:54,840 their best even to try to cater to us they're so wildly off that it's difficult for us to get 234 00:22:54,840 --> 00:23:02,120 comfortable or to like let our hair down or really uh be in the element or in the zone and something 235 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:09,960 that i would definitely uh tip my cap to on you gals is that you nailed it by keeping it you know 236 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:15,880 professional in the elements of the material and the content is all very valuable worth it but you 237 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:21,960 did it in a way that we feel comfortable you know and within being there uh and having a great time 238 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:26,440 and then that's when you get the best of both worlds because not only do you get the productive 239 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:33,480 material but then you get the networking and i thought you did a great job on that and uh really 240 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:38,440 was it made us like put that on the calendar as far as like oh we're coming to this every year 241 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:46,760 you know and then within our group of hostels we'll take a select group of managers we actually 242 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:54,200 have a quarterly award um the manager of the quarter we get them a golden toilet it's actually 243 00:23:54,200 --> 00:24:00,120 a usually a uh a trophy that would be given to someone who has a joke for like a fantasy 244 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:04,520 football league but since we're hostile operators and we often clean toilets and if you had the 245 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:11,960 nicest toilets you probably won so we give them the golden toilet award and the winners of the 246 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:18,360 golden toilet award get to attend the conference the winners yes bring the winners yes so we've 247 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:24,520 made it kind of a fun healthy competition within our little enterprise of oh this person won and 248 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:31,400 now they get to go to the denver gathering so love it created a nice uh buzz and vibe in that but 249 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:38,280 really just a a great get together in a nice intimate setting and great for networking 250 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,920 and camaraderie in a very unique industry where it is hard to find someone to talk to 251 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:49,000 that understands what you mean or isn't freaked out by what you say unless if it's another hostile 252 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:58,600 owner or manager so that's the gathering and then hostile us which i love the hostels are more fun 253 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:03,640 campaign you know branding type of thing and i feel like we've just all going to do more to push 254 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:13,800 that and it all like that should be that sticker or that you know that's uh slogan um like a 255 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:20,600 tent frame or whatever i feel like that should be at every reception check-in and every hostile 256 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:27,560 in the country you know like it with a qr code and like that should just be a staple like almost 257 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:33,560 like you would walk into an hi back in the day and it would look like an hi right but it would 258 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:38,200 be great if like no matter what the hostile looked like it no matter where it was the country 259 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:44,280 when whether it was a poshtel or a real genuine backpack or hostile if you always saw that tin 260 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:49,320 sign i really feel like if we committed ourselves to all make that small effort 261 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:55,480 that would subconsciously grab some familiarity with people of like i keep seeing that every 262 00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:01,000 place i'm at you know no matter what the name of the place is no matter what city i'm in and if 263 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,480 they see that three four five six times they're going to eventually you know take that picture 264 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:12,760 or cure or try it out and then i i think everything after that is so useful for the industry you know 265 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:20,840 having this great collection of qualified and verified hostels that are safe that's a beautiful 266 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:26,520 thing because so many times and it breaks my heart i'll hear from people that aren't staying 267 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:31,480 at the hostel and i'm just in the conversation about what do you do or what about this and they'll 268 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:35,480 give you that look from the rear view mirror or like you know oh my god you're in the hostile 269 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:41,480 industry and a lot of times that is predicated by a horrible experience they had in a hostel that 270 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:48,600 was just an absolute dive or actually was a homeless flop house or the person who was running it maybe 271 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:54,840 was trying to kill you you know like that that happens to people and that they're done for life 272 00:26:55,400 --> 00:27:01,320 and not only are they done for life they tell their 10 friends you know and they're done for life 273 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:07,160 so i you know on the exact same flip side of that i'm always so fired up when we have someone staying 274 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:13,240 at an itch and they're checking out they're like this is the best experience of my life i've never 275 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:17,640 stayed at a hotel again oh my god you know this was so cool i'm telling all my friends 276 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:24,040 about hostels and you're like yes not another one at the same time every day there are hostels out 277 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:29,800 there in the u.s that are turning people the other way and are like oh my god i was going to give 278 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:34,520 this a try but holy shit i'm telling everyone about this and this was awful and what i really 279 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:39,560 like about your site or movement in the hostile us is that you're actually going to have valid 280 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:46,760 good hostels vetted hostels safe hostels secure hostels and that will keep the industry on the 281 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:52,920 industry on the uptick bob you have something out there yeah i was just excited to hear about what 282 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:59,800 upcoming what do you guys have planned dia for getting more exposure in a word out to 283 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:06,600 younger travelers for hustling us so you know we we've been fully active for a little bit more 284 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:13,800 than a year the first uh push is really to get buy-in from all the hostels in the u.s the best 285 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:19,800 site is going to be a comprehensive site of u.s hostels so we were really glad that we met there 286 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:27,080 our first metric of 50 hostels in our first year so that that was really exciting for us we're 287 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:32,360 still trying to build that membership because we really do want to have hostels available 288 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:39,800 in all the states in all the areas and we know that there's even more and even greater and better 289 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:47,320 hostels that are not part of the site and so the getting everyone to participate is really a big 290 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:53,640 focus of ours we we think that that's what's going to set us apart is will be this comprehensive site 291 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:59,400 where people can go and really plan a trip through the u.s and staying in hostels 292 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:05,080 that is our big goal of ours is to be able to offer hey are you going coast to coast are you going 293 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:11,720 to Washington to Mexico are you midwest like here's a road trip for you where you can stay in these 294 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:19,320 are really cool budget-friendly hostels so we're always mainly focused on building our membership 295 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:24,760 but of course we then have to make sure that we're getting the exposure with the travelers and so we 296 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:33,160 are putting a lot of effort into sourcing UGC and really sharing like POVs of actual travelers 297 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:39,400 that are staying in these really cool hostels so that has been excellent for us this last year we've 298 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:47,160 got a lot of great traction on our social media profiles we're doing a ton of community engagement 299 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:55,480 we're really focused on building awareness that U.S. hostels exist so maybe you've seen us tagging 300 00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:01,000 some of your hostels recently in comments where they're speaking of maybe an area like you know 301 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,680 somewhere in California where you have one of your awesome hostels and we're like hey we love 302 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:10,680 staying at ith when we're in San Francisco so it's a lot about building awareness with travelers 303 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:16,840 who are currently online that's another big focus of ours and then we do have a couple things up 304 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:21,400 our sleeves but we're not going to reveal those until the gathering so we hope you join us 305 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:30,520 oh that's exciting yeah yeah so we are really really dedicated to putting the best guests in 306 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:36,840 your beds and driving bookings to you and how we do that is building a comprehensive list that 307 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:41,800 people can trust and know hey I can go here and find somewhere in any of these states building 308 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:48,600 awareness with travelers so that they oh I heard once there was a hostel xyz that's that community 309 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:55,560 engagement piece and then you know we are working on finding other ways to drive more bookings to 310 00:30:55,560 --> 00:31:03,560 hostels that is so cool I love that I love that road trip idea you know that's such a cool feature 311 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:08,200 that you could have you know within your platform that would like you put it together for them and 312 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:13,960 give them the options because often again back to that uh you know pop of the cherry of a hostel 313 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,560 person and getting them on board and they're excited and now they don't want to stay at hotels 314 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:23,720 anymore a lot of times the question I will hear is are these are there more of these places can I 315 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:29,480 can I go to another one in this city or like where's the next one so that could just be such 316 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:36,040 a great way for you guys to uh identify yourselves as a great resource for that of like a lot go on 317 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:41,000 this site and you know pump in where you want to go and they'll create a whole like triptych for you 318 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:47,960 of where you can pop off on you know good quality safe secure hostels and I think again that's so 319 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:55,240 important because it really makes me sad about hostel world and I love how hostile world you know 320 00:31:55,240 --> 00:32:01,960 and how it brings us that community and represents hostels but it makes me so sad how they have very 321 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:09,640 poor lowly rated dangerous facilities and proprietors on the site and they don't kick them off 322 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:15,800 and I know from speaking with some OGs that they used to be really strict about that you know back 323 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:22,520 in the day if you got below like a seven or a six in your score for a couple of months in a row you 324 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:28,920 were gone and you know you and you were just kicked off the sites so then that allowed every 325 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:36,440 backpacker logging in back then to know like if I'm going to a hostile world listed facility I know 326 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:42,840 I'm going to a safe place a secure place a good genuine hostel and that was how they built themselves 327 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:50,440 so much and I it's so sad to see that they and I know Maria it does some great work from Gaslamp 328 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:54,120 Hostel because she has so many great connections there and she'll go to them and be like hey this 329 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:58,520 person doesn't even have a business license you know they they don't even have you know fire 330 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:05,240 inspections like this is a dangerous facility this facility over there has a 3.2 rating you know every 331 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:12,840 every review is horrifying and they're still on there and they won't take them off and now their 332 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:18,680 responses because if I think in my opinion because I'm so corporate is you know hey we're acting in 333 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:23,560 the best interest of the stockholders and you're like you just want to throw up on your face 334 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:30,200 well I mean Hostel World is definitely a great driver for getting you know the right demographic 335 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:39,640 into our hostels but they're not really you know prioritizing USA hostels there are many USA hostels 336 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:44,760 that you would have to scour and know exactly how to search in order to find them on that site 337 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:51,560 and that is that's unfortunate because people continue to think we don't have cool USA hostels 338 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:57,240 because Hostel World is not providing that information with them and yeah it's just so 339 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:04,040 corporate that there's it's it just doesn't feel like it has the same vibe as US hostels do so we're 340 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:10,680 really hoping that Hosteling.US can become a main source of bookings for hostels and that all the 341 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:16,680 really cool USA hostels see the advantage of being part of the community I think that's something that 342 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:21,800 we can all agree on it's always been really valuable to us in the industry to have a community 343 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:29,320 to be a part of a group to have this collective effort to further you know meet our guest 344 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:35,720 expectations and find more guests and so you know as I said before our big focus of ours is getting 345 00:34:35,720 --> 00:34:40,280 everyone involved in the site because we truly think a comprehensive fully collective site is 346 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:47,400 what's going to drive people to us and feel like they're you know it's a trustworthy site 347 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:55,720 and we will always prioritize well vetted listings and make sure that we're only offering the best to 348 00:34:55,720 --> 00:35:02,920 our travelers. Something to add to that? Yeah have you found obviously it's Hosteling.US and you guys 349 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:08,360 cover all US but it seems like more and more states are creating like individual associations 350 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:12,840 I think maybe just because they're closer and in their gathering which is what you guys call your 351 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:20,200 you know the gathering so do you guys try to like organize like the hostel experience 352 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:27,560 in each state and kind of like gather that community or build a hosteling like an itinerary 353 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:33,000 for each state across each state's different hostels and kind of have like a micro plan or 354 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:38,920 do you guys look at that at all? We are not currently looking at that no. 355 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:46,200 Okay you know but that it's an interesting question Bob brings up because we do these podcasts and 356 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:52,920 we're always pushing your gathering Hosteling.US pushing Naha and it is almost to a point of 357 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:57,720 frustration sometimes where we're talking with the hostels and now that these networks have been 358 00:35:57,720 --> 00:36:02,440 created in these groups which we know for people that have been in the industry while we were all 359 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:07,400 yearning for for so long and now that they're there to think that people wouldn't participate 360 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:12,200 it could be frustrating. So I'll often dig in a little bit on that and ask well what are you 361 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:19,480 doing? Well we created our own you know association for New England or we created our own association 362 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:24,440 for South Carolina. I'm like oh gosh you know it's so fragmented you know like let's put that 363 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:31,320 effort and energy into a collective movement which I feel like your platform is a movement 364 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:37,320 that could have so much benefit from everyone and I really would encourage you to stick to it 365 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:42,120 and highlight that differentiator of like hey where are the safe and secure hostels? Where are 366 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:47,240 the real genuine backpacker hostels? You know these places have been vetted you know this is 367 00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:53,800 for experience because that's the type of platform that can really enhance the industry by picking 368 00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:59,960 everyone up together. Where I do honestly think that Hostelworld by going with that like oh yes 369 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:04,680 I know that this place has a 2.9 and they don't have a business license but you know we make x 370 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:08,360 amount of money from them and their bookings each year so again we have to ask the best interest of 371 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:14,040 the shareholders. You know that type of reality is that they're hurting the industry in a lot of 372 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:20,680 ways by losing us guests by posting up that hostel not only on their site but because that hostel 373 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:26,440 paid them for a premium listing they're on top and you're like oh my god what are you doing? 374 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:30,360 You know you've got 10 beautiful hostels sitting below this one but because this 375 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:34,920 bozo is paying you $500 a month you're putting them right on top even though he's got a 2.9. 376 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:40,920 You know that's scary stuff and they can really have a bad effect on a very important part of 377 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:47,960 our industry's growth. A very sensitive and fragile time within our growth and I'm fearful that 378 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:54,440 if we don't overcome this stigma genuine real authentic backpacker hostels could disappear 379 00:37:54,440 --> 00:38:01,720 disappear and you could have just a stigma of like unless if it's a Marriott hostel or a Hilton hostel 380 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:08,360 then it must be one of those murder hostels or you know drug house hostels and like the actual 381 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,840 authentic backpacker hostel and the amazing lightning and ball experience will just 382 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:18,120 fade away you know and that would be the worst thing ever so I think that you know us doing 383 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:22,600 podcasts you're doing things like the gathering and hosteling us are just such great initiatives 384 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:28,280 and movements to stop that from happening but for all of you listeners for you know for god's sakes 385 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:32,840 join up get on board and you know join the mission and the movement for your own benefit 386 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:39,480 because you really have created a platform that it's silly not to get involved on that I have a 387 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:47,240 last question for the hosteling us what are some of the hesitations that you get from hostels that 388 00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:51,240 don't want to join or like what oh I don't want to do it because of this or I'm not interested 389 00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:54,840 because that like what are some feedbacks and tell me their names and I'll go visit 390 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:04,760 um I mean to be completely frank it always comes down to the membership fee um which I find I think 391 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:14,360 is fair for what we offer but we are working within an industry that is very budget conscious 392 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:19,720 um a majority of the hostels that I've worked with are uh communicate with they don't have a 393 00:39:19,720 --> 00:39:29,800 marketing budget they don't have they haven't um prioritized uh marketing or education um and they 394 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:35,960 maybe don't understand the value that comes with it but it really just comes down to our pretty 395 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:44,040 nominal membership fee um and I I mean I can't be mad at people of course they understand what is 396 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:50,280 you know what is best I do know that we have to do a little bit more educating on what how that 397 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:58,440 value you know can be how they can how they will best benefit from their listing so that's something 398 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:05,800 we are constantly talking about like how to engage more people um but the barrier has only ever been 399 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:14,040 shared to me as it's the listing fee and I'll give you their names later okay so what is the listing 400 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:21,880 fee so everyone knows 300 dollars per year 300 dollars per year is that you renew every year at 401 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:30,840 300 right locked in rates so again uh yeah that could just be one reservation you know and and 402 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:36,360 you're you've gotten your money back uh but collectively even if you didn't you know see 403 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:41,720 that right away I think for the uh back to the awareness we're always pushing that so much of 404 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:47,800 imagine what this industry could be if people actually knew what it was you know and knew 405 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:53,880 it knew the beautiful magic that happens inside of hostels and how awesome they really are when a 406 00:40:53,880 --> 00:41:03,480 hostel is run properly and with that old school you know bohemian vibe and place you know I think 407 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:10,600 that that's really what we've got to do as industry peers is bring that awareness to the forefront 408 00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:16,040 because that's really what can help us explode and if we don't do it again I think that could be the 409 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:21,560 death sentence for us if we don't uh if we let other people control the narrative and let other 410 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:27,160 let other people uh you know identify us and tell other people what we are you know that could be a 411 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:32,040 really dangerous game so I think we've got to get out there more yeah well when you speak to the 412 00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:36,680 group like we do at the gathering it's always the same things like people don't know we exist 413 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:44,280 people don't know what a hostel is um I don't know how to reach the right guests um I want to meet my 414 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:48,680 guest expectations and they ask like where else can I stay in hostels and I don't know where to 415 00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:55,880 send them and so hostling.us was born just to help with these four things that you know collectively 416 00:41:55,880 --> 00:42:03,720 if we are trying to um elevate hostling in the U.S. we need a place to send people to educate them on 417 00:42:03,720 --> 00:42:10,760 what a hostel is and where they can stay in hostels and so hostling.us isn't just a listing site 418 00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:16,600 it's very educational um we don't just have your room pictures up there and a book being lit we 419 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:22,920 talk about what your hostel is who you are what's your vibe like what do you offer it's very 420 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:29,160 educational and individualizing your listings but then we have a ton of blog posts that we're 421 00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:34,600 sharing on like what's a bag like what to expect if it's your first time like where to go if you 422 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:42,120 want xyz experience and there's just uh you know unlimited options for traveling in U.S. hostels 423 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:48,600 and having just such a variety of experiences and as a hostel manager someone who works day-to-day 424 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:53,640 operations you know you get that question all the time oh is there another hostel like are there more 425 00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:59,320 hostels hey I'm going to this state is there a hostel there and we don't all know but this site 426 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:05,560 is meant to be fully comprehensive you may pay for a listing and have your own dedicated page 427 00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:12,120 that directly links to your booking page or if you're a U.S. hostel you're also on the abc directory 428 00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:18,200 list so we do want to be comprehensive we want everyone to know about all the U.S. hostels that's 429 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:25,880 what hostling.us is meant for it again was born out of a discussion that comes from us as the 430 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:34,120 hostel owners and what we need and it really is checking a lot of those boxes um and we're really 431 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:39,240 excited about what we've done in the first year but you're right there's a lot more we need to do 432 00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:45,960 as a collective in order to reach our even our individual goals of success um and so that's why 433 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:52,120 we host the gathering is to bring people in a room together where they can realize their challenges 434 00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:59,800 are the same um and there are people working to help you know build those bridges and drive those 435 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:06,200 bookings um and so you know that's our our only hope is to fill all your beds with the best guests 436 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:13,240 that's our whole mission in life and we work really hard at that and um it's very much a passion 437 00:44:13,240 --> 00:44:21,400 project this is something that I do when I have the time to do it when I'm able to put the information 438 00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:29,240 out and I love what we do and I'm so excited about what we're doing and it would be amazing to have a 439 00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:35,400 full collective buy-in and just like you know take over like let's say goodbye to hostile world let's 440 00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:42,760 have hosteling.us like that could be ours a dedicated site for USA hostels we all want that 441 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:49,080 and this is what hosteling.us is yeah booking.com who yeah it'd just be nice to forget all those 442 00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:53,880 Bob you had something to add yeah I think uh obviously I'm very impressive with what you guys 443 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:58,920 have created and I think also with the uh coming off the pandemic the international travel still 444 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:05,000 hasn't returned uh what it was pre-pandemic so I feel like hosteling.us is really going to you 445 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:11,160 know thrive with the upcoming uh world cup coming up in 2026 and the olympics in 2028 so I think it's 446 00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:16,920 especially California I know is the state seems to be in a lull of travel but I think that's really 447 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:21,240 what is going to bring back that international travel to all these events and then people are 448 00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:26,120 going to hopefully get excited again about visiting the U.S. like they did before the pandemic 449 00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:31,080 um but having a place having a brand that people can go to and find this directory of these great 450 00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:37,640 hostels is going to be amazing so again very impressive what you guys created and excited to 451 00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:45,240 be a part of it well it's always um awesome to have ith on board um y'all are such you know 452 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:52,280 trailblazers in the industry um you know definitely our favorite chain of hostels and 453 00:45:52,280 --> 00:46:02,360 and uh down chain down chain movement oh group what's the right word movement movement 454 00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:07,240 they're our favorite movement of hostels in the U.S. you can just like edit that right 455 00:46:10,040 --> 00:46:14,520 yeah we like it because we are a collective of independent hostel owners we uh yeah as 456 00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:19,160 hostile backpackers we don't like the well we're not a chain as ith is owned by one 457 00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:23,720 group there's this independent hostile collective owners have come together and we're on the same 458 00:46:23,720 --> 00:46:31,080 mission love that yeah part of our core back in the day was to make sure that we never became 459 00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:36,680 like a chain or a franchise so we beat that out to ourselves every day and you may have noticed 460 00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:47,320 from my hairstyle and vicious chops that I haven't sold out yet never will but I get to the hostel 461 00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:52,120 you guys think such a cool opportunity for everyone to get involved and then have the 462 00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:58,200 strength in numbers and have the ability to as I often tell jim kennett I was like I feel like we 463 00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:03,960 need to get on top of the mountaintop and shout who we are because we're getting so much bad 464 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:10,120 press and stigma from all these you know movies and shows and different things and we've got to 465 00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:16,040 combat that and and speak the truth and try out different things like the podcast like what you're 466 00:47:16,040 --> 00:47:21,000 doing with hostile us we're currently working on trying to put together a hostile book that would 467 00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:25,320 bring more awareness to the industry you know so I think we've got to be bold with these projects 468 00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:31,400 but then we definitely need the support from the collective in the industry to to bring them to the 469 00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:37,960 potential that they could so just again thank you so much cia for being with us and 470 00:47:39,240 --> 00:47:44,920 what a rock star you are within the industry embers hostile again is really a case study 471 00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:51,160 and how you could run a hostel out of a historical building and uh that what you've done with the 472 00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:57,640 gathering is so exciting and we'll all be there in force with our golden toilet winners november 473 00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:03,800 fifth november seventh in denver and then hostiling us that might be the most exciting one 474 00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:09,800 I think you've got going on and it just needs to gain more momentum but that should be the mission 475 00:48:09,800 --> 00:48:19,080 at every unit united states hostile reception there is the hostels are more fun signed with the qr 476 00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:25,240 code at every reception no matter what hostile it is and you know you just might have to send me on 477 00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:29,960 my motorcycle around the country to drop off oh that would be perfect I love that well we're the 478 00:48:29,960 --> 00:48:36,680 only ones you are able to really drive the awareness about the u.s hostels it's on us to do that 479 00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:41,240 and individually each day at our own hostels we're doing that and then we have to do it 480 00:48:41,240 --> 00:48:47,560 collectively as well so it's great to have the people who have joined and it would be awesome to 481 00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:55,320 have even more awesome u.s hostels uh to join us our number our power will really be in our numbers 482 00:48:57,560 --> 00:49:04,680 yeah all right wow cia from ember the gathering host for us she's got a resume people 483 00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:08,680 thank you so much for joining us and we will see you in november