Generator Hostels' Leaders Explain the Rise of Hostels for Business Travelers

Generator Hostels is expanding with three new properties in Europe and its first in America, and it's moving more aggressively into the business events sector. The new Generators in Amsterdam, Stockholm and Rome will all open for summer business, while a 102-unit Miami property is scheduled to open in South Beach in 2017. Like recent openings in Venice and Paris, the newest accommodations combine both single hotel-style rooms and traditional multi-bed hostel rooms. The single rooms are evolving into an interesting hospitality sub-sector for business travelers seeking a non-corporate hotel stay. The single accommodations provide significantly more affordable booking options in high demand urban centers, along with the convivial ambience inherent in the hostel guest experience. Generator's tagline is: "Design Led Hostels." The high-concept interior design in the public spaces is stewarded by Anwar Mekhayech, principle at DesignAgency in Toronto. He and Generator are helping elevate the hostel environment into the type of theater typically associated with design hotels, by mixing motifs from different architectural styles and eras, and sourcing everything local. The multi-use public spaces are designed just as much to draw residents from the local neighborhood to create a vibrant social ambience unmatched in hospitality today. Especially at night, the hostels often morph into popular local bars. Generator also launched an all-new website last week to push that lifestyle messaging even more to both locals and visitors. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, the company has always offered an array of in-house programming such as live concerts, DJ parties, art openings and fashion shows. However, over the last few years, a growing volume of trendy corporate consumer brands have been booking the properties for their own special events in an effort to align with Generator's hip brand experience. Josh Wyatt, co-owner and chief strategic officer of Generator Hotels, says the company will be going after that market more aggressively in 2016. For example, half of the guest rooms on one floor of the new Stockholm hostel were removed to create a larger event space. “The fact that we're actually thinking about doing this is absolutely shocking, because when we first set out to look at creative hostels, or design-led experiences, we didn't actually foresee or think that cool, on-brand corporates would start to look at the hoste