Youth hostels and design get a lot of attention today and I've been writing about why we shouldn't be surprised by finding good design in hostels. Architects have a long history of getting involved in youth hostels and one of the first in Britain was Sir Patrick Abercrombie. He’s best known for planning London after the... Continue Reading →

Today designer hostels create a stir. CN Traveller has picked up on them. Wallpaper, the magazine with the latest news on architecture, design, and lifestyle, has too, along with many other newspapers and magazines. Hilton hotels have launched their concepts for a new brand they call Motto based on the hostel concept. If the idea... Continue Reading →

The original warehouse centre before modernisation. Photo courtesy YHA Archive at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham. On a visit to Bristol, last week I skipped past the youth hostel. I was late and didn’t have time to stop in what is still one of the my favourite city hostels. I’m as fond of... Continue Reading →

A planned new youth hostel will be big. It'll be purpose built and it'll be in London. Not what many of us expect from a youth hostel? It's easier to think that youth hostels are small, out of the way places in fantastic locations. We might love those kind of hostels but we should think... Continue Reading →