What makes a 5 Star Hostel?

[jumpmac]

So the question is, is there such a thing as a 5 Star Hostel? Taking into account that the purpose of a Hostel is to have a Basic Accommodation for young and budget travellers, looking to save money.
Before you say there are none, I know of one Youth Hostel in Edinburgh, Scotland, that is described as a 5 Star Hostel

[gordo]

i know that hostel too, smart city - got offered a job there but it seemed a little sterile. anyway, the manager said that scottish tourism board (or whoever awards the 'stars') had their own set of standards for hostels.

a HUGE amount of money went into it and at opening time they hadnt actually been awarded the 5 star status... and the whole 10 million pound project was essentially riding on it, investors and all.

[jumpmac]

I really think Hostels should be internationally rated like hotels, Hostels have become a big business and many people are staying in them, more than ever. That doesn't mean that a Hostel without a rating shouldn't operate, it will just give all hostels something to aim for.

[santa klaus]

I´m totally against that. A hostel is not a hotel. When you are a business traveller, all you expect from your hotel are standards like the size of your room, if it has an own shower, if there´s a restaurant or a sauna or a bar in the hotel. The hotel stars are based on things like that. Fair enough.

If you decide to stay in a hostel though, you want different things, like a mellow kitchen scene to socialize with other travellers. How would you measure that?

The hostels we run (Wombat´s) could be described as "5 star hostels", but we don´t "ride" on that: we have 24/7 reception, no curfew, no lockout, all rooms ensuite, smartcard locks, guest kitchen, a hostel bar... all facilities you can possibly ask for. Still, we sometimes hear that our hostels are too big or don´t feel homey enough. Every guest has different preferences.

The "stars" you are asking for are already there: the average ratings on the various booking sites. They can tell you a lot more than any "star categories". I have been in a small hostel in Berlin a few weeks ago. Measured by "hard facts" purely about facility standards it is not as good as ours - but their ratings are better. By all standards (except the ones you can easily measure in "stars") the East Seven Berlin is a magnificent place to stay.
The travellers are smart enough to know that.

[uktrail]

Originally Posted by santa klaus

If you decide to stay in a hostel though, you want different things, like a mellow kitchen scene to socialize with other travellers. How would you measure that?

My Sociability index?

Most hostel index systems have several categories: Cleanliness, location, 'fun factor', etc. This is the only fair way to do it. For example, in Tim's BUG guides, the only category I look at is "atmosphere and character". If a star system was used, a hostel would score highest if it had a pool table, a gym, a meeting room, a restaurant, TVs in every room, lots of dainty little dining tables etc. These things to me are at best neutral advantages, at worst are positive discouragements.

[gordo]

i dont see how the star system is incompatible with hostels - hotels use the star system, but not all 5 star hotels are the same and some are better than others.

you could very easily have hostels given a star system based on their facilities - but the rating system still gives an idea how good the hostel is.

[Tim]

Star ratings are a good idea as they give travellers a quick and easy way to categorise a hostel. However they need to be a rating system that is built specificially for hostels rather than an adaptation of a hotel rating system.

Around 4½ years ago I started assessing star ratings for the hostels in BUG's guidebooks and the BUG websites. I created a rating system from the ground up as a hostel rating (as opposed to other organisations that just adapt their existing hotel rating system). We are now the world's largest assessor of hostel star ratings with over 1600 hostels rated in over 15 countries.

I have seen forms used by hotel assessors and they seem to have facilities comprising around 90% of the overall rating so a dirty place with mouldy carpet can score higher than a clean hotel just because it has a swimming pool and tennis court.

With BUG's star rating the facilities are important - a poorly equipped hostel with no kitchen should never score as highly as a place with a sauna, swimming pool and tennis court - but your hostel also has to be secure, clean and well maintained and be a fun place to stay. As far as I am aware, none of the other star rating organisations even look at atmosphere when they assess a hostel.

We have rated over 1600 hostels in over 15 countries and we are yet to award five stars to any hostel. A high rating with BUG is something to be earned and if we made it too easy then when we find a real five-star hostel we won't be able to give it the recognition it deserves. Five stars should mean that the hostel excels in all categories (including atmosphere) making it among the best in the world.

Originally Posted by uktrail

If a star system was used, a hostel would score highest if it had a pool table, a gym, a meeting room, a restaurant, TVs in every room, lots of dainty little dining tables etc.

We deduct points when there are TVs in the rooms because they kill the atmosphere. That's the advantage of a star rating that is devised from the ground up as a hostel star rating and not an adaptation of a hotel rating.

That's one (of many) reason why BUG's star ratings are more relevant than ratings by AAA Tourism, Qualmark or the Scottish Tourist Board, which would award extra points for things like this.

These (old) press releases have more information about BUG's star ratings:
http://www.bug.co.uk/pr/050120-bug-star-ratings.pdf
http://www.bug.co.uk/pr/040401-new-star-ratings.pdf

[Hostels]

Originally Posted by Tim

We deduct points when there are TVs in the rooms because they kill the atmosphere.

I like that idea. I think TVs in the rooms, or too much focus on a TV can make a hostel less friendly.

TVs in dorm rooms often means that weird guests are going to be in the dorm room watching TV all day, or playing video games (with the volume turned up) at 3 in the morning.