Interview: Generator Hostels on Creating the New Hostel Experience
Skift Take
Knowing exactly who a hotel brand's customer is gives it the freedom to build events and an an ambiance just for them, without fear of turning off smaller demographic groups.
Editor’s Note: This interview is part of Skift's CEO interview series. This particular series is with hospitality CEOs talking about the Future of the Guest Experience and the evolving expectations and demands of hotel guests. Check out all the interviews as they come out here. Also, enjoy the previous series on the Future of Travel Booking, with online travel CEOs.
Generator Hostels has become the poster child of a new breed of design-aware and budget-friendly hostels that offer an upgraded experience by pairing locally inspired design and style with large common areas, free Wi-Fi, and a range of shared and privates bedrooms.
The group recently announced $75 million in capital investment, which will be used to further fuel its global growth. Generator currently has properties across six European cities with three new spaces slated to open in 2015 and plans to open in the U.S. in the near future.
Generator executive chairman Carl Michel recently spoke to Skift about catering the guest experience to a primarily millennial audience, what role content plays in building brand awareness, and surprising shifts in guest behavior. An edited version of the interview is below:
Skift: What are some of the biggest challenges that you're facing to improve the guest experience today?
Carl Michel: Our design-hostel formula is very much targeted toward millennial travelers between 18 years old and 35 years so one of the biggest challenges is simply understanding the mindset of the millennial traveler, which is much more about the overall social experience of traveling and hospitality than simply hard product features. It's about how the brand interacts with the person, how the events drive the experience, how the whole atmosphere has to be curated to create an optimal experience. It's learning about a very different sort of consumer in comparison to somebody who wants to know that there's a 28-inch TV and a pair of floppy slippers in the cupboard.
Skift: In catering to that millennial traveler, is there a certain element of the guest experience that takes priority over others or one that you're particularly focused on?
Michel: I woul
