Get Inn Hostel, Parede, Portugal
With a symmetrical pastel-blue exterior, a la Wes Anderson, and block colour splashes throughout, this former Portuguese family home just outside Lisbon has been transformed into a vibrant new hostel. The partially dilapidated structure was restored in order to keep the original shape of the roof intact. Minimalist interiors include white walls and polished concrete floors with blocks of intense colour including a bright yellow central stairwell. This connects the dorms, which have curtained bunk beds, and box structures, in dark green, housing bathroom facilities on each floor. There’s also a lounge and a terrace for breakfast and summer barbecues.
• Dorms from £12 room only, getinnhostel.com
Kloem Hostel, Bangkok
Most of this new hostel – in a 1950s government building in the Ratchathewi district of central Bangkok – was constructed using refurbished sections of the old hardwood structure. Completed in 2018, the design was inspired by traditional Thai homes and modernist architecture, with dark panelled walls and white drapes. New elements include a large, netted seating area over the open-sided lobby, hammocks and a grassy central garden space with Malay rose apple trees. There are dorms with curtained bunk bed pods and private rooms, plus the option to “decorate your own private space” to feel at home, with a choice of pot plants, fish bowls, bamboo table lamps and more.
• Dorms from £15.50 B&B, doubles from £43 B&B, kloemhostel.com
Native Hostel, Austin, Texas
This two-storey, central hostel was built in the 1890s as a brewery, with the addition of a brick warehouse section in the 1940s. It later became shops and factories but was turned into a hostel with a large event space in mid-2017. The aim of the new design was to move away from “no-frills” hostels the developers had seen across the US. Plaster, carpets and panels were stripped away to expose the stone and steel structure, including historic etching and stencilling. The result is a stylish industrial-inspired interior with comfy leather and velvet furnishings and large gilded mirrors. Alongside dorms with curtained bunks and private rooms, there’s a restaurant, bar and large warehouse space for live music, film screenings, exhibitions and other events.
• Dorms from $40 B&B, nativehostels.com
Dock Inn, Rostock, Germany
On the edge of Warnemüende shipyard, stacked shipping containers have been used to form a large hostel with an urban maritime feel. It’s a short walk to a sandy beach and close to the town centre. Containers have been upcycled to create bright bedrooms and several have been welded together to form larger dorms. Open since mid-2017, the industrial space also has a sauna, climbing wall, cinema room, cafe and large open-plan communal spaces with furniture crafted from wooden pallets. It’s one of the latest in a series of shipping-container hostels to have opened in the past few years around the world, including Tetris Container Hostel in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, and Ccasa Hostel in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
• Dorms from £17 room only, hostelworld.com
Long Story Short, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Part of a 17th-century horseshoe-shaped fortress – a podkov as it’s also known – this hostel blends the history of the building with contemporary design features. Traces of stone emerge behind white plastered walls and, under arched ceilings, mezzanine-beds give a stylish twist to traditional bunks. The historic town of Olomouc in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic, was once protected by a fort known as Locatelli’s Bastion. It became a military bakery in the 19th century. There’s a mix of dorms and private rooms, a cafe, bar and lounge, and a garden with live events in the summer months. The ground floor also includes Vault 42, a co-working space open to digital nomad guests.
• Dorms from £8 room only, longstoryshort.cz
99 Surf Lodge, Tola, Nicaragua
This sleek, minimalist hostel is right on the beach in Playa Santana, between Colorado and Popoyo in north-west Nicaragua, regarded as one of the best surf spots in the country. It’s a modern, eco-friendly property, which opened in mid-2017, and was constructed using only local materials, with a shade system created to minimise the need for air-conditioning. Giving it the feel of a pricier beachside hotel, the large 600 sq m decked veranda has a four-sided infinity pool. There’s a cafe and gym on-site, too, and all rooms and dorms have a sea view, so it’s bed to board in seconds.
• Dorms from £20 room only, doubles £84 room only, 99surflodge.com
The Sands, Taos, New Mexico, US
The Sands is a new hostel at Hotel Luna Mystica, a vintage trailer hotel and campsite in the New Mexico desert. Its 1957 Spartan Imperial Mansion trailer was renovated in 2017, and being larger than most trailers has room inside for eight bunks and shared space with kitchenette, bathroom with a separate shower room next door. It’s a 20-minute drive to natural hot springs on the banks of the Rio Grande River, or 30 minutes from skiing or hiking in the valley. Beyond the customary beers and a singsong round the outdoor firepit at night, restaurant and live music venue Taos Mesa Brewing welcomes guests next door.
• Dorms from $25 room only, hostelworld.com
The Passenger, Porto
Porto’s São Bento railway station opened in 1896 and is now a Unesco world heritage site, known for its spectacular grand hall decorated with more than 20,000 azulejo tiles. The hostel, which opened in 2017, is between the first and third floors and retains original design features including the large arched windows, high ceilings and parquet floor. It has dorms and split-level private rooms, a kitchen on every floor, a library, a bar and lounge area with vintage furniture and grand piano. The third floor will soon have an indoor garden and the station’s original clock tower is being redeveloped into a gallery and event space set for opening later this year.
• Dorms from €18 B&B, hostelworld.com
Rodamon Riad, Marrakech
Now home to a city-centre hostel, this 100-year-old riad (a house with an interior garden or courtyard) has views of the Djemaa el-Fna market place, mosque Ben Youseff and the Atlas Mountains from the rooftop terrace. Unlike many of the pricier riad palace hotels in the area, the hostel has dorms with curtained bunks, private en suite doubles, as well as family rooms. Renovation of the historic property took about a year, and was completed in 2017, with many of the design features utilising local craftspeople. Interiors mix traditional Moroccan and modern, minimalist styles, with the main attraction being an emerald green and white-tiled courtyard with a restaurant, pool and fountain.
• Dorms from £12 B&B, hostelworld.com
Kex, Portland, Oregon
Named after the former biscuit factory it was built in, Reykjavík hostel Kex (Icelandic for biscuit) is opening a property in Portland, Oregon. The historic Vivian Apartments, built in 1911, near Burnside Bridge in Portland’s Central Eastside neighbourhood, are being developed into a large hostel with a Nordic-style gastropub and bar on the ground floor. Designers and chefs from Portland and Iceland are collaborating on the project, including Icelandic chef Ólafur Ágústsson, who worked on the original Kex, Dill restaurant in Reykjavík, and pop-up Pream in Portland. Final plans are still under wraps but the proposed design aims to preserve the historic integrity of the building. The original staircase will be restored and extended up onto the roof, plus a kitchen, live music space, sauna, dorms and private en suite rooms on other floors.
• Price TBC, kexportland.com
