Is 2015 the year of the Poshtel?

Generator hostel, London

The hospitality industry is driven by innovation. One of the exciting new trends changing our business is emerging in the low cost and hostel market sector. More and more hostels are offering a great hotel experience and creating dynamic concepts at exciting locations.

Poshtel is a term that relates to hospitality establishments that are on the border between hostel and hotel. They usually offer large, shared dorm-type rooms, but also offer private rooms for singles or doubles. They invest in design and cultural experiences, delivering a unique guest experience. The poshtels are a link between affordable price and a new type of luxury that focuses on design and experience. The leaders of this trend are brands like GENERATOR, St Christopher’s Inn-Village, The Dictionary,  Meininger CLINK

In terms of target markets, poshtels target the demands of millennials, those born in the 80’s and 90’s. These young people have just recently become real adults and they have jobs and money that enable them to travel the world. The hospitality sector has begun to sit up and taken notice.

The millennials live in a technological world, and they expect this technology to follow them everywhere. They expect great (and free!) Wi-Fi everywhere – in their cafés, at the bank and certainly in their hotels. They live in and through social networks, and tend to believe the information in these networks much more than the messages in the “traditional” media. When they stay at a hotel, they expect a social space where they can meet others like themselves. Even when traveling for business, you won’t find them cooped in a corner with their laptop – they prefer working in a public space that lets them experience the locale while they work.

More than anything, these travelers are looking for an Experience. They will always prefer boutique hotels over large chains. But, they have a significant problem – they are still young, and usually cannot afford the type of luxury they think they “deserve”. To solve this dilemma, poshtels are being introduced.

Poshtels are making their mark on the whole hospitality sector. They are forcing low and medium cost hotels to re-examine their pricing and the value they deliver to their guests. It’s not just about hotels being cheap. Millennials (and other customers) expect that even low budget hotels will invest in their guests.

At Copeland, we have already brought poshtels to Israel, in a new project in Jerusalem called “The Post”. This will be a new poshtel that will emphasize the social experience for guests – a “social hostel concept”. This exciting project is being built right now in an iconic building in Jerusalem, the old postal building, which also gives the poshtel its name.

I believe you’ll be hearing a lot more about poshtels. Soon, I’ll also be able to write about two more projects in the center of Israel that are also inspired by the “upmarket hostel” idea.

The Post – a Copeland project in Jerusalem

At Copeland, we develop hotel concepts with our clients. These can be for existing hotels that want to improve their business results, or for new hotels that want to build a strategy for success. Whichever the case, I always give my clients the same message: only in-depth knowledge of your target market will lead to creating the right hospitality experience for their market.

The Post – Jerusalem

Great designs and attractive prices on their own are not enough to draw guests to a hotel. Today’s guests take these for granted. A hotel that wants to succeed must create an experience that guest will take with them. They must offer an experience inspired by its local setting, and allow guests to feel like a local, even if their stay only lasts a night or two. They should interact with the local crowd and experience the atmosphere. This is what they will remember and make them appreciate their stay, and also tell others about how great it was. We all know that there is nothing like a satisfied customer to boost our marketing efforts.