Low-cost luxe: bedding down in affordable designer accommodation
Dream Hotel, Tampere, Finland
Dream Hostel owner, hospitality enrepreneur Ville Virkki, has now extended the premises of the industrial building with an additional floor, to create a boutique hotel.
Åkerlundinkatu 2, 33100 Tampere, Finland; Tel: 358.45 236 0517; www.dreamhostel.fi; Rates: from €59
Photography: Patrik Rastenberger and Marc Goodwin
Dream Hotel, Tampere, Finland
Helsinki-based Studio Puisto have created 20 en-suite double and twin rooms.
Åkerlundinkatu 2, 33100 Tampere, Finland; Tel: 358.45 236 0517; www.dreamhostel.fi; Rates: from €59
Photography: Patrik Rastenberger and Marc Goodwin
Dream Hotel, Tampere, Finland
The rooms are designed as individual units, slotting compactly around an intelligently-placed series of communal spaces and corridors including a kitchen and meeting rooms, intended for socialising.
Åkerlundinkatu 2, 33100 Tampere, Finland; Tel: 358.45 236 0517; www.dreamhostel.fi; Rates: from €59
Photography: Patrik Rastenberger and Marc Goodwin
Dream Hotel, Tampere, Finland
There are hanging basket seats and potted plants, while neutral tones and natural materials reference the abundant waterways and pristine forests surrounding the city.
Åkerlundinkatu 2, 33100 Tampere, Finland; Tel: 358.45 236 0517; www.dreamhostel.fi; Rates: from €59
Photography: Patrik Rastenberger and Marc Goodwin
Backstay, Ghent, Belgium
Best known for its high-quality student accommodation, property development company Upgrade Estate has now launched Backstay, a new hostel with 15 double rooms and a series of pod-style beds.
Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 128, 9000 Ghent; Tel: 32.9 395 9660; www.backstayhostels.com; Rates: from €18.50
Backstay, Ghent, Belgium
Located a mere 15-minute stroll from Ghent’s city centre and housed in the former Art Deco offices of socialist newspaper Vooruit, the property’s buzzing ground floor restaurant and bar, summer terrace and ‘chill-out’ zone- complete with a library, sofas and the essential table football – has ensured its standing as a hip hangout for visitors and locals alike.
Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 128, 9000 Ghent; Tel: 32.9 395 9660; www.backstayhostels.com; Rates: from €18.50
Backstay, Ghent, Belgium
For culture junkies, a small cinema hosts intimate screenings, while a top floor writer’s room (where guests can pen their tales on vintage typewriters) and dormitories named after famous newspapers nod to the building’s storied past.
Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 128, 9000 Ghent; Tel: 32.9 395 9660; www.backstayhostels.com; Rates: from €18.50
Hostel St James, Logrono, Spain
Named for the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, architect Sergio Rojo has revived a dilapidated nineteenth-century cultural centre in the city of Logrono, a stop off point for travellers.
Ruavieja, 42, 26001 Logrono, Spain; Tel: 34.941 256 976; Rates from: 14 USD
Hostel St James, Logrono, Spain
Located in the city’s old town, the restored façade belies an airy and bright interior with suitably ascetic facilities for would-be pilgrims to rest, before continuing their journey.
Ruavieja, 42, 26001 Logrono, Spain; Tel: 34.941 256 976; Rates from: 14 USD
Hostel St James, Logrono, Spain
There is a restaurant and bar for guests, but the real draw is the surrounding La Rioja countryside; the Unesco-designated monasteries of Suso and Yuso are minutes away, while gourmands can be kept occupied, exploring the region’s vineyards and world-class cuisine.
Ruavieja, 42, 26001 Logrono, Spain; Tel: 34.941 256 976; Rates from: 14 USD
Generator Paris, France
The latest offering from boutique hostel brand, Generator is this time located in Paris’ gentrified 10th arrondissement, moments away from the vibrant Canal St. Martin.
11 Place du Colonel Fabien, 75010 Paris; Tel: 33.1 7098 8400; www.generatorhostels.com; Rates: from €25
Generator Paris, France
Given the group’s success in other European cities, it’s unsurprising that its French edition – its largest to date – is a triumph.
11 Place du Colonel Fabien, 75010 Paris; Tel: 33.1 7098 8400; www.generatorhostels.com; Rates: from €25
Generator Paris, France
Interiors, by Anwar Mekhayech of Toronto-based Design Agency, pay special emphasis to the social spaces, in particular the bar – outfitted with vintage metro fabrics and curved subway tiles – and a North African inspired lounge, swathed in colourful Moroccan prints.
11 Place du Colonel Fabien, 75010 Paris; Tel: 33.1 7098 8400; www.generatorhostels.com; Rates: from €25
Generator Paris, France
Accommodating up to 970 guests, sleeping options range from en-suite shared rooms all the way to penthouse suites with private terraces overlooking the treetops of leafy Place du Colonel Fabien.
11 Place du Colonel Fabien, 75010 Paris; Tel: 33.1 7098 8400; www.generatorhostels.com; Rates: from €25
Gstaad Saanenland Youth Hostel, Saanen
Gstadd Saanenland Youth Hostel's gently asymmetrical design references the local chalet vernacular.
Spitzhornweg 25, 3792 Saanen (BE), Switzerland; Tel: 41.33 744 1343; www.youthhostel.ch; Rates from: 40 CHF
Gstaad Saanenland Youth Hostel, Saanen
And with an elemental palette of stone, brushed metal and pine, it is as easy on the eye as it is on the environment, having been built to the highest local ecological standards.
Spitzhornweg 25, 3792 Saanen (BE), Switzerland; Tel: 41.33 744 1343; www.youthhostel.ch; Rates from: 40 CHF
Gstaad Saanenland Youth Hostel, Saanen
Almost all of its 160 beds (arranged as double and multi-bed rooms) enjoy views of the region’s trademark Alpine vistas.
Spitzhornweg 25, 3792 Saanen (BE), Switzerland; Tel: 41.33 744 1343; www.youthhostel.ch; Rates from: 40 CHF
Gstaad Saanenland Youth Hostel, Saanen
Meanwhile, beyond the lodge’s facilities– including a games room and spacious dining hall – lies kilometres of luscious hiking trails and winding slopes.
Spitzhornweg 25, 3792 Saanen (BE), Switzerland; Tel: 41.33 744 1343; www.youthhostel.ch; Rates from: 40 CHF
Hlemmur Square, Reykjavik, Iceland
The brainchild of hotelier and designer Klaus Ortlieb (behind New York’s Hotel Gotham), Hlemmur Square is a chic hybrid property housed in a distinctive Art Deco building built in the 1920s.
Laugavegur 105, 105 Reykjavik; Tel: 35.4 415 1600; www.hlemmursquare.com; Rates from: 2,700 ISK
Hlemmur Square, Reykjavik, Iceland
Combining the informality of a hostel with the amenities of a boutique hotel, it packages contemporary design with an enviably central location in Reykjavik’s ascendant downtown district. Already offering a thrumming bar with a wide range of craft cocktails and ales, a library and restaurant are in the works for later this year.
Laugavegur 105, 105 Reykjavik; Tel: 35.4 415 1600; www.hlemmursquare.com; Rates from: 2,700 ISK
Koyasan Guest House, Koyasan
Simplicity and modernity meet in Koyasan guesthouse, a new hostel in the eponymous village in Japan’s Kansai region.
Yubinbango 648-0211, 49-43 Itogun Koyacho Koyasan; Tel: 81. 0736 26 7216; koyasanguesthouse.com; Rates from: 3,500 JPY
Photography: Toshiyuki Yano
Koyasan Guest House, Koyasan
Designed by architects Kentaro Takeguchi and Asako Yamamoto of Kyoto-based firm Alphaville, the property features a central corridor flanked by two wooden colonnades, behind which are private dormitory spaces.
Yubinbango 648-0211, 49-43 Itogun Koyacho Koyasan; Tel: 81. 0736 26 7216; koyasanguesthouse.com; Rates from: 3,500 JPY
Photography: Toshiyuki Yano
Koyasan Guest House, Koyasan
The dormitories offer capsule-style pods and compact double rooms.
Yubinbango 648-0211, 49-43 Itogun Koyacho Koyasan; Tel: 81. 0736 26 7216; koyasanguesthouse.com; Rates from: 3,500 JPY
Photography: Toshiyuki Yano
Koyasan Guest House, Koyasan
A public lounge area and a café and bar serves refreshments and simple home-cooked meals. Sited in close proximity to the Okunoin mausoleum, the spiritual town’s holiest site, would-be pilgrims are well equipped to explore the area’s ancient monasteries and idyllic woodland trails on foot.
Yubinbango 648-0211, 49-43 Itogun Koyacho Koyasan; Tel: 81. 0736 26 7216; koyasanguesthouse.com; Rates from: 3,500 JPY
Photography: Toshiyuki Yano