dishwasher or no dishwasher!?

[Alexski]

I've been to hostels in many different countries and I don't ever remember seeing a hostel with a dishwashing machine.

The hostel that I'm about to open has a pretty large kitchen. The kitchen is quite an important part of my hostel and will become an important marketting point.

I was wondering if any of you have thought of having dishwashing machines in your hostels. I had never considered having a machine because of the potential utility costs I would save by not having one! not to mention dishwashers always seem to break down and are not always easy to repair. having one could be a good idea if you guests never wash their stuff or worse, throw away forks, knives, plates, etc. (i've seen it happen).
Still, I'm skeptical about getting one. I mean the cons clearly out-weigh the pros - what do you think?

[patrick]

For the hostel i'm planning (opening 2010), i think about having a dishwasher in the kitchen but locked and only accessible by staff (for washing the dishes left dirty by some customers). I talked to a hostel manager who had one for guests, but who stopped it because he had too many problems with people not using properly the dishwasher, even if it was a professionnal one. So i will have a standard one, but being used only by staff.

[santa klaus]

We have a dishwasher and I have seen one in a hostel kitchen in Dublin. In both cases, the guests don´t use it (even though it´s accessible, has instroctions how to use it on the door and there´s dishwasher detergent in abundance), they handwash their müsli bowl and coffee cups. However, there are always guests who leave their dirty stuff behind. You don´t want to waste money on staff handwashing plates when a dishwasher can be loaded and turned on in a matter of minutes.

[Bocciardi]

Hey,

Actually we have one dishwasher here in Aveiro Rossio Hostel. We are not a big Hostel - more a less 35 beds - so is quite easy to keep my eyes on it and normally guests just put the dishes, cups, etc in and when it is full, the staff just turn it on...

Mainly, there are 2 big reasons why I puted a dishwasher:
1 - Water expenses and hot water waste (we have solar panels...);
2 - Some guests clean the dishes quite badly and they stayed very dirty. If the next guest come and see it, I think it creates some bad reputation for us as "they have their dishes not clean..." and actually, directly is not our fault...

I already saw in some Lisbon Hostels, during breakfast time, they have the cleaner women doing it for you... It is also a good option, if you have a lot of guests and money to spent... ;-)

But my opinion is that you should have a dishwasher, it helps a lot...

[Alexski]

Hey,

Actually we have one dishwasher here in Aveiro Rossio Hostel. We are not a big Hostel - more a less 35 beds - so is quite easy to keep my eyes on it and normally guests just put the dishes, cups, etc in and when it is full, the staff just turn it on...

Mainly, there are 2 big reasons why I puted a dishwasher:
1 - Water expenses and hot water waste (we have solar panels...);
2 - Some guests clean the dishes quite badly and they stayed very dirty. If the next guest come and see it, I think it creates some bad reputation for us as "they have their dishes not clean..." and actually, directly is not our fault...

My hostel will not be very big - about 45 guests. I don't see having a dishwasher as a "must have", but as it will be easy for me to integrate one in my hostel without much effort, I think I will go for it. The people i am working with on this project think the utility cost for the dishwasher will be extremely minimal but I'm still skeptical about that . Anyway, thank you so much for the advice!

[santa klaus]

Utility costs for a dishwasher are actually LOWER than handwashing the stuff. By all means, buy one, I´m sure you won´t regret it.

[squamishoasis]

It's a good idea as long as you control it.

If you get two, you dont have to pack it away, it becomes storage

Squamish Oasis Hostel