It’s not always easy to find the perfect place to stay without spending more than you want to, but it looks as though members of our generation are starting to figure out a way to make this possible. Introducing Hovelstay, a company that provides a place to lay your head without donating an organ. If these places look slightly like dumps, well, that’s because they are.
As hostels are adopting more and more boutique-looking atmospheres and charging guests more for staying there, Hovelstay attempts to reconnect travelers with the idea that travel isn’t necessarily about having a vacation—it’s having an experience. Guests can rent different kinds of “hovels,” including a large hammock in San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua for $18 USD a night or an abandoned school bus in Hawaii.
It’s geared mostly toward college students (you have to have a student ID and an email address from your college or university), and it’s similar to the idea of AirBnB, which offers rooms and apartments for guests to stay in rather than crowded dorms in hostels. Hovelstay is this idea on steroids, taking the concept and pushing it even further.
I’ve been thinking about whether most of the travelers my age would choose to stay at some of the places on the site. Originally, my first inclination was to say no (especially since the site recommends that you have all of your immunizations—not exactly what you want to hear when booking a place to rest), but the more I thought about it, I started to realize that it probably wasn’t all the much different than some of the hostels I’ve stayed at before. Though I don’t necessarily think I would book a hammock, I would consider the private boat in Miami for $50 USD a night—plus, can you imagine the Instagram photo opportunities you would have?
I think what this all comes down to when you think about being a Gen Y traveler is that we are surprisingly innovative, and we’re doing new and interesting things. We’re making our travel experiences unique and individual—meaning that it will appeal to some travelers and certainly won’t to others. When people ask about your adventures, you want them to be that, and some of the best stories come from stepping outside the box and doing something a little bit differently from what someone else might choose.
What do you think? Would you book a “hovel”? Or is part of the traveling experience for you enjoying certain luxuries?
Image courtesy of Jeffrey Beall.