• Photo courtesy of the author.•
Owning a hostel can be overwhelming. One moment, you are dying of boredom and watching the door for new arrivals, while the next, you are struggling to quickly process the passport information for 10 impatient and sleep-deprived Argentines who had endured the 15 hour bus ride from hell from the coastal city of Cartagena. In the last two weeks, Miles and Elizabeth have been on a vacation/publicity trip in Ecuador, leaving me to assume the role of Manager for the first time in my life. Having only a general idea about what a manager of a hostel does when I started, this has been an extremely rewarding and challenging learning experience for me. As per the last two weeks, duties of the manager have ranged from being in charge of operations, setting rules and guidelines for employees, and once even, helping a guy from Finland write a love letter to the colombian girl he was leaving behind.
It is unbelievable how much the hostel has changed since I was last here in August. When I left, we were knee deep in the process of renovations and constructing new bathrooms. When I arrived two weeks ago and saw the finished job, I was taken aback by the transformation: The drab white walls had now been turned into works of art by local artists, the garage was upgraded to a fully functioning bar, and the once ugly hottub backspace is now a wooden music stage where most residents enjoy their meals in the sun.
• Photo courtesy of the author.•
I never would have thought that we would be ranging from 50% to 90% occupancy within our first three weeks of operations. It really is a testament of how the hard work done by Miles, Elizabeth, Federico, Gisela and the rest of our team that has gotten us to where we are now. I am really proud of all the work we have done so far, and I feel really blessed to have had this opportunity to pursue something that was merely a pipe dream just one year ago.
Miles and Elizabeth get back in two days, and I am excited to spend my last week here in Medellin with them and share all the tales of the many many interesting guests we’ve had in the last two weeks. More soon.
Brent
Brent – please send us pictures so we can add them to your blog. I would love to see the drab white walls that have transformed into works of art by local artists. It is wonderful that you are sharing this journey with The WIP. Thank you!
Pictures posted! Thanks, Brent!