It was the year 1909 in Germany when a teacher called Richard Schirrmann had the idea of turning a school closed for summer vacation into a cheap dormitory for young travelers on a budget. A few years after that, the Youth Hostel was already a success all over Germany and Europe.
Schirrmann really believed that young people should travel, to form character, learn discipline but also open their mind and build a better world. To understand what a Youth Hostel is, we need to better understand the mind of its founder.
The main idea of the hostel wasn’t just providing cheap accomodation to students travelling on a low budget: Schirrmann thought even more about the core values of this experience.
Whilst serving during the Second World War he witnessed a Christmas Truce where suddenly enemies from different fronts where sharing a few treats and had forgotten that they were shooting at each other a few minutes before.
That’s what he wrote after that:
“Thoughtful young people of all countries could be provided with suitable meeting places where they could get to know each other”
This is the perfect definition of a hostel.
The Amazing Experience of a Hostel
To be officially named “youth hostel” a structure needs to be part of International Hostelling, a non-profit organization that originated from the first Youth Hostel Association founded by Schirrmann.
Fact is that nowadays, whether the hostel is officially “youth” or not, the experience doesn’t change.
Schirmann’s wishes are continuously fulfilled by millions of young men and women who decide to share their travel and adventure with like-minded strangers every year during their stay at a hostel.
The definition of hostel is not a “place for cheap accommodation”: you must understand the values behind it and fully embrace them in order to get the most amazing experience ever.
Plus Hostels: the 2.0 version of the Hostel
Many things changed since the time of the first youth hostels, as more backpackers started crowding the roads of every country and many hostels opened in the world.
Now there are hostels for any kind of traveler and the same youth hostels had to modernize their vision: until some year ago it was mandatory to do some chores in the hostel to be allowed to stay.
Plus Hostels, wanted to create the travel experience that could suit any person and any need whilst fully embracing the values of thoughtful and open minded youths traveling all over the world as a foundation for a better world.
Plus Hostel offers amazing and fun experience of the Hostels, with its cheap prices, in facilities that offer services and amenities like the best of the hotels. There is everything available for the traveler and they can decide whether to use certain services or not without having to buy any “pre-made” package.
Plus Hostel is loyal to the original definition of youth hostel but redefining the experience!
