Hostel in a non-residential building. How to open a hostel from scratch: first steps, costs and profitability

In Russia, independent tourism is gaining more and more popularity. At the same time, tourists often prefer not to stay in hotels or boarding houses, but in more budget hostels - small European-style hotels.

What is a hostel?

In fact, they are converted apartments in a busy part of the city. You can open a hostel in a separate room, if there is one, and if not, then converting apartments into a mini-hotel is simply easier.

Living conditions in hostels are usually modest: beds (often bunk beds), tables, chairs, and a shared bath and toilet per hostel. Despite the spartan conditions, the occupancy of such mini-hotels is kept at a good level all year round.

There are especially many young tourists in them who need everything “cheap and cheerful”, because their goal is to have time to see as many sights as possible, and not sit in a hotel room.

More advanced hostels offer their guests free WI-FI, breakfast, rental safes, and so on. In my opinion, in our time, if you open a hostel or hotel, the presence of the Internet is simply a must.

Opening a hostel is not difficult if you have the necessary skills and have a business streak. Let's talk more about how this can be done.

How much does it cost to open a hostel

Since it is not necessary to equip the hostel with expensive furniture and equipment, minimal costs will be required to open a business. You can meet the amount of 500 thousand rubles.

You should have an amount to pay rent for a few months in advance, until the business "unwinds". However, the estimate can vary by a large amount if the business owner can afford it.

No need to skimp on beds, because often guests are settled exclusively for sleeping, no more.

To ensure the proper level of service, you will need at least two administrators and several employees at the reception.

Administrators are the face of the hostel, so you need to choose friendly, sociable and always ready to help people. It's good if they know English. By the way, even if they are not perfect, their language skills will quickly develop in the process of communicating with foreign clients.

People are the backbone of almost any business. The article "" describes the requirements and recommendations for salon employees. And about the selection of personnel for a real estate agency.

Skill requirements vary, but being kind and getting along with customers is a key skill for any job.

It does not hurt to organize a minimum excursion for foreign guests of the hostel, especially if they are on Russian soil for the first time. Such a move will only benefit you. Contextual advertising in Yandex, for example, is very effective, but it is very expensive. Word of mouth will also play its role.

Documents for opening a hostel

The question of what documents are needed to open your own hostel worries many. In this case, it is enough to have a certificate of an individual entrepreneur or open a regular LLC, transferring it to a simplified form.

If you open a hostel in an apartment or a separate room, you do not need any licenses for this.

Just follow the rules established by law:

the hostel cannot be located on the basement or basement floors,
it must comply with fire safety requirements
and will have to keep a migration record of foreign citizens.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the step-by-step instructions for. If you prefer to register as an individual entrepreneur to open a hostel, then see the guide on this page -. What to open an individual entrepreneur or LLC - the choice is yours.

If at the opening stage you need a loan, we recommend how to choose a bank for a loan.

About choosing a room

If you intend to rent an apartment as a hostel, you will have to look for the best options.

Analyze the transport infrastructure, track the car and pedestrian traffic, the contingent of the surrounding yards, and study the area.

It is worth finding out if there are other hostels or hotels nearby, how efficiently apartments are rented.

The success of the hostel will also depend on the neighbors. Before renting an apartment need to contact them to make sure there is no negativity from them. They may not like specific guests, increased accessibility of the entrance, and so on. As a result, there will be endless complaints about noise, garbage.

It is better to open a hostel in the spring, so by the summer you will have clients. As you can see, everything is not as difficult and scary as it seems at the beginning. If you take it seriously, responsibly and enthusiastically, you will be able to justify the money spent in six months.

In 1912, the German Richard Schirman opened the world's first Hostel "Jugendherberge" in his Altena castle - a hostel for youth tourism. Now hostels have become widespread as the cheapest accommodation away from home. Many poor entrepreneurs have the opportunity to start their own business, investing very little money. And time shows that this way of earning is reliable - especially for small businesses. The idea interests every second young businessman.

Hostels: what are they and who uses them

Without any doubt, the format of the hotel in the form of a small budget hostel not only took root, but also became in demand in vast Russia. At the same time, hostels differ from each other in a number of ways.

Type of institution	Visitors	Room stock and its characteristics
"no stars"	Guest workers, internal migrants and even the homeless	The total number of seats is 100 or more. The rooms can accommodate up to 15 beds.
"no stars"	Students, groups of organized tourists	The total number of seats is 50 or more. The rooms can accommodate up to 8 beds.
Apartment, "no stars"	Business travelers, part-time students, poor tourists, fans of sports teams	The total number of beds is up to 15. The rooms can have 2-4 beds.
1 star*	Business travelers, poor family tourists, travelers	The total number of seats - any. The rooms can have 1-4 beds. Shower and toilet on the floor. The room does not have air conditioning, refrigerator and TV.
2 stars*	Business travelers, poor family tourists, travelers	The total number of seats - any. The rooms can have 1-3 beds. At least one room in the hostel must have a shower and toilet inside the room.

It is known that in connection with the preparation of the World Cup on July 1, 2015, the Law on the mandatory passing of the classification and the award of stars was adopted. For hostels, special classifications have been adopted: “no stars”, 1 and 2 stars. According to hostels, about 30-35% of all hostels meet the standards of "one star" and "two stars".

What are the requirements for hostels?

The activity of the hostel is regulated by GOST 56184-2014. This document obliges hostels not to use basement and basement rooms as rooms, as well as rooms that do not have windows. In the semi-basements it is allowed to make showers, toilets, laundries for self-washing, a buffet, a shop and luggage storage rooms. There are no mandatory requirements for the mandatory equipment of kitchens, but a place for communication can be made in the open air.

As for the area, in hostels it is allowed to allocate 4 square meters. meters per bed, no matter what: single or bunk, and the space occupied by the bed is also taken into account. That is, to provide accommodation for 10 people, you need a living space of 20 square meters. meters with bunk beds. At the same time, there must be at least 75 cm to the ceiling from the top of the bed.

GOST does not prohibit the organization of mixed hostels for women and men. However, guests must be notified of this in advance. By the way, there are no special requirements for mandatory kitchen equipment, although there must be a place for cooking. In any case, even before settling, customers should be notified about the features of their institution.

Fire safety requirements oblige to place an evacuation plan in case of emergency.

Is it possible to organize a hostel in an apartment?

Paragraph 5.7.18 of GOST 56184-2014 says that it is not forbidden by law to make a hostel out of your apartment. To do this, you need to go through legal registration. Well, then the hosteler is obliged to comply with "hygienic standards for noise, sound, vibration, electromagnetic radiation and the rules of living in residential buildings." That is, complaints from neighbors can become grounds for terminating a business.

How much does it cost to open your hostel: we draw up a spending plan

When drawing up a business plan, it is necessary to calculate the potential costs for the start and for the period of formation. The amount of initial investment depends on what area the businessman will use:

use of own housing;
renting a room to accommodate a budget hotel;
purchase of non-residential premises and its refurbishment.

The best option is to rent out beds in your home, for example, a second apartment in order to pay off a mortgage loan. Hotel business experts advise setting aside a room on the ground floor with a separate entrance for this business. In this case, when creating a business plan, you need to take into account the following costs:

registration and "paperwork" - from 15 thousand rubles (depending on the city);
expenses under the lease agreement, if someone else's premises are rented (prices vary significantly, should be taken into account separately);
repairs costing 10 thousand rubles per sq. m. area meter;
organization of one bed at the rate of 15 thousand rubles, including household appliances;
3-month wage fund for 4 people: approximately 423 thousand rubles, including taxes;
organization of an advertising campaign in the amount of at least 50 thousand rubles;
contingencies, which usually amount to 20% of the estimate.

To organize a hostel in a 2-room apartment with a living area of 32 sq. meters and 48 sq. meters of total area for 14 guests will require:

Plus unforeseen expenses in the amount of 20% of the amount of 1,178,000 rubles, i.е. 235,000 rubles. In total, according to the business plan, investments will amount to 1 million 413 thousand rubles.

If you rent someone else's premises, for example, an apartment, then the cost of the start increases by the amount of a six-month rent, which depends on the city and region. A more careful calculation of the plan will be needed when buying a room.

Necessary equipment

For the normal functioning of the hostel, a minimum set of furniture and household appliances is required:

single, double and bunk beds;
bedside tables with locks;
dining tables and chairs;
sofa for guests;
TV;
coffee table;
individual lockers (preferably metal) for clothes with locks;
reception desk;
individual night lighting;
individual electrical outlet;
shared refrigerator;
electric kettles;
microwave;
router for wireless internet.

The cost of the necessary furniture and equipment to open a hostel from scratch depends on the ability of the entrepreneur to choose the best option in terms of price and quality.

Staff

The experience of using hostels for 15-20 people shows that the hotel should have an administrator around the clock (or a security guard in the evening and at night).

You will also need a cleaner. Hostellers usually recruit "young" pensioners for the position of security guards and cleaners, who are happy with any extra work. Let's calculate staff costs for the hostel's business plan (calculations are relevant for Moscow):

Accommodation costs

If the hosteler uses his premises, then the costs of its maintenance are related to maintaining the health and safety of water supply, sewerage, electrical wiring, exhaust ventilation, doors and windows. Taking into account the high traffic of visitors and sometimes inaccurate handling of hotel property, the cost of maintaining a small (for 15-20 people) hostel reaches from 3 to 7 thousand rubles a month, said the owner of the mini-hotel Sergey Koromyslov. Approximately such figures were given by other businessmen.

Promotion: effective methods and cost

The promotion of a hostel, of course, requires consistency from the entrepreneur and, most importantly, an understanding of the importance of this event for business success. As the reviews of most customers show, they chose this or that hotel using Yandex or Google. Therefore, in this matter, one should not neglect the seo-promotion of the hotel website. Many hostels called it the most important and effective PR mechanism. The businessmen also advised to devote time to contextual advertising and active promotion through social networks.

Such promotional activities cost 30-50 thousand rubles, but they fully justify themselves.

Does the hostel as a business bring in a lot of money?

When compiling a business plan with calculations, entrepreneurs calculate the income from future entrepreneurial activities. For this, simple steps are applied, including monitoring similar hotels. Simply put, hostels disguised as customers call competitors and then try to develop their own price list.

“Plus or minus a day in a hostel today is estimated at 600-700 rubles in regional centers,” says Artur Mukhin, an expert on the hotel market. “In medium-sized cities, the price is a little lower.”

Thus, a hostel with 20 beds at 75% occupancy will bring the hosteler a monthly income in the amount of:

20 places × 75% × 700 rubles × 30 days = 315,000 rubles.

If you subtract the cost of wages, housing maintenance, utilities and unforeseen expenses, you get a profit of 100 - 150 thousand rubles. Thus, the profitability does not exceed 30%, while the break-even point can be passed in about a year.

Step-by-step plan for opening a hostel from scratch

Hostels are becoming a very trendy business. For the first 2 months of this year, search engines recorded an increase in requests for a hostel business plan with estimates of 30-45%. People are also interested in what steps you need to go through to open your own mini hotel. To become a hostel, you must do the following:

register as an individual entrepreneur or as the owner of a limited liability company;
rent a suitable room if you do not have your own apartment;
draw up contracts for the removal of garbage and carrying out deratization and disinfestation;
obtain permission from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, the local authority of the Fire Service and Rospotrebnadzor;
develop a business plan for the hostel with a list of repairs;
draw up a detailed investment estimate, including 20% for contingencies;
carry out repairs with an emphasis on anti-vandal performance;
purchase furniture, equipment;
hire staff;
develop a website and implement its seo-promotion.

After that, you can already accept clients.

OPF and documents

You need to choose a form of business. If you read articles on the Internet, then the conclusion suggests itself that it is best for a hosteler to be an individual entrepreneur. Then taxes are paid according to a simplified system (6% of revenue) and it is easier to keep accounting yourself. However, experienced businessmen arrange a hotel as an LLC with a minimum authorized capital. Moreover, the premises are leased to the hotel. It is clear that the right of ownership is removed from the risk of raiding or bankruptcy.

After a businessman chooses an OPF, he is faced with the question of what documents are needed to open a business. It should be noted that today it is easy to form a package of required papers - it is good that specialized online services have appeared. The same applies to bookkeeping, which can be outsourced inexpensively.

Is it worth it to franchise?

It is not so important for a poor traveler who owns the inn - the main thing is that for little money they are allowed to spend the night, travelers wrote back in the Middle Ages. Today the situation has not changed.

“Franchises are good when the brand and technology are important,” says Artur Mukhin. - But in hostels, the profitability is low, and the service is minimalist. It is hardly reasonable to give someone royalties under these conditions.”

In any case, the choice is up to the businessman.

Hostel - risky business?

Realists advise underestimating the possible risks of entrepreneurship, especially for those who are "bewitched" by the business idea of a hostel. It's one thing when a company of tourists who have known each other for a long time moves in, or if quiet pensioners-travelers become clients. Another thing is when it comes to the most diverse audience, in which there are malicious violators of the internal regulations.

“My wife dreamed of opening a quiet family business and thought of clients as guest relatives who also pay extra for the night,” writes a forum member with the nickname wehrtan#. “In reality, she got a headache in the form of restless guest workers.”

Among the common problems are vandalism, conflicts between clients, problems in relationships with residents of the house where the hostel is located.

As a business project, the hostel is rightly considered a reliable and profitable business. Moreover, the 21st dynamic century is in the yard with tourist flows growing from year to year, with rapid labor migration and with increasing business contacts. There are more and more people who need an inexpensive overnight stay every day.

However, in order not to make mistakes, it is necessary to carefully work out the business plan of the hostel. This is exactly what seasoned entrepreneurs advise.

The hostel is an ideal vacation spot for students, business travelers and tourists who do not want to overpay for expensive hotels. Despite the proposed low cost of accommodation and services, in total, such an institution brings excellent profits, and for many, opening a hostel means choosing the most promising and profitable line of business.

Why are hostels profitable?

It's very simple: they are popular. A lot of tourists and guests of the city are happy to stay in "hotels" that rent not individual rooms, but places. Of course, there is a possibility that you will have to spend the night in the same room with strangers, but as compensation, the guest receives low prices, acceptable service, cleanliness and the opportunity to communicate.

What do you need to know to open a hostel? In fact, a businessman should only have the experience of relaxing in such institutions, and there will be a minimum of difficulties accompanying the creation of a business. The owner of such a "hotel" will need:

Registration of an enterprise (individual entrepreneur or LLC with a simplified taxation system will be an excellent way out)
Open a bank account that will receive payments for guests (it is advisable to immediately open the possibility of transferring funds from abroad)
Obtain permission to open a hostel in the selected premises - it is issued by the municipal authorities
Get permission from the sanitation station, which will check the living conditions in the "hotel"

No business license is required. Moreover, you may not even have your own cash desk - it will be replaced by strict reporting forms.

Particular attention should be paid to the premises, on which the answer to the question of whether it is profitable to open a hostel directly depends. It is best to place such a "hotel" in convenient, but not central areas, where the cost of rent is not too high. There must be major public transport stops nearby, and if they are not, the “hotel” must offer a transfer for guests.

You can save on the area of rooms by placing bunk beds in the rooms: the number of beds will thus double, but they will occupy a minimum of space. It is also important to take care of the hygiene of the guests: in hostels for 6 people there should be 1 sink, for 12 people - 1 toilet bowl, for 15 people - 1 shower. All this will be in great demand: for many visitors, such accommodation is the height of dreams!

What should be taken care of when opening a hostel?

There are a number of important nuances that will need to be taken into account, and on which the answer to the question of how much it costs to open a hostel in each case will depend. The company needs:

An interesting idea - hostels decorated according to a theme are always in higher demand
Qualified staff - for starters, one administrator is enough (he can also be a porter), 1-2 maids: all employees must be young, because most often it is young people who stay in hostels, and it is much easier for peers to find a common language with them
A well-thought-out range of services: the hostel, if possible, should offer free Internet, household items and basic equipment, guide services (simple tourist information will be enough)
Well-thought-out rules - any guests can move in, but they should not interfere with neighbors, make noise, provoke conflicts

How to start a hostel?

The building for the "hotel" can be rented or bought. In the latter case, it will be expensive - 4-5 million rubles (the construction of a new building will cost 9-10 million at all, but this step should be decided, having firmly understood whether it is profitable to open a hostel in a particular locality). The cost of rent can be equal to the cost of an ordinary apartment or office space in a particular city.

Having decided on the premises, you need:

Make repairs in it - it will take up to 100 thousand rubles
Buy furniture for rooms - 200-300 thousand rubles.
Purchase various household items (bed linen, towels, hygiene items, curtains, etc.) - 50-80 thousand rubles

As for profit, the cost of placement can range from 800 to 2000 rubles (depending on the locality). A 20-bed "hotel", completely filled, will thus bring 16-40 thousand at a time. The total amount of profit per month can reach 100 thousand or more. Half will go to wages of employees, rent of premises, as well as utility bills, and approximately 50 thousand will remain net profit.

Regardless of how much it costs to open a hostel in a given city, the payback of the project, even if it does not develop at all, will come in 10 months. If the building was purchased or built from scratch, this period will stretch for several years, however, with the proper development of the “hotel”, you can significantly reduce the specified time, gaining a solid client base and never standing idle without guests.

Despite the fact that hostels have existed for more than a century, they appeared in Russia relatively recently. At its core, a hostel is a hostel, but not a service one, where workers or students are accommodated (although they also use the services of modern hostels), but private, for everyone. This is housing where not a room is rented, but a bed: several beds are arranged in the living quarters for the inhabitants, and the toilet and bathroom (or shower room) are common to everyone.

Hostels are of little use for a long comfortable stay, but they have one undoubted advantage - cheapness. A bed in such a hotel costs several times less than in a regular one. Accordingly, the advantages of hostels can be appreciated by a variety of people:

travelers and tourists (especially those who do not use the services of travel agencies, but prefer to choose the route themselves);
correspondence students who come during the session to take exams;
employees of organizations on short-term business trips.

In a word, a hostel is a good option for those who need a roof over their heads for a while, a place where you can sleep, wash up, and relax in between chores.

How to open a hostel in Moscow without breaking the law?

Now hostels are becoming more and more popular. They can be found in almost every city. At the same time, Moscow is the center of Russia, the center of places of study, work, business activity (and tourists in the capital will always find places to go and see). That is why the question of how to open a hostel, especially relevant in Moscow. Accordingly, we will focus mainly on Moscow norms - it’s good that in relation to hostels they practically do not differ from those in other cities.

To avoid this, you can register:

one of the forms of partnership (full or limited);
public or non-public JSC.

With regard to the hostel, it is most convenient to register as an individual entrepreneur or open your own LLC. The latter is even preferable: in case of ruin, all losses will fall on the organization, and not on personal property.

Where to open a hostel?

But suppose the registration has already taken place, there is a certificate in hand, a certified copy of the charter is in the folder, the seal has been ordered and received. What will be required next?

First of all, you will need a living space in which the hostel will be located. The following options are available here:

Don't know your rights?

Build a building from scratch. This is the most expensive option, but the most promising in terms of business: you can initially plan the premises for a hostel, place living rooms, showers, toilets, and so on, as it is more convenient. However, the absolutely prohibitive cost of land in Moscow makes this option extremely unlikely for an individual entrepreneur or a small company.
Acquire non-residential premises and, after a major overhaul, convert it into a suitable for temporary residence. This option will also require considerable costs and approvals.
Use existing apartments. This method is now spreading more and more widely.

In the event that a hostel is opened on the basis of an apartment, it will be necessary to somehow legalize its status for use in business activities. The easiest way here is for an individual entrepreneur: if the housing already belongs to the entrepreneur, he is legally entitled to use it for business activities, so no transfer to a non-residential fund or anything else is required.

In the same case, if the hostel is opened on the basis of an LLC or other commercial organization, you must:

transfer the apartment to the ownership of the company (by issuing it, for example, as a contribution to the authorized capital);
or conclude a lease agreement (even if the owner of the apartment and the sole participant of the LLC are one person, since from the point of view of the law they are completely different persons).

Coordination and contracts with organizations

If the apartment is used as commercial housing, then before how to open a hostel, it will be necessary to coordinate this with the supervisory authorities and conclude a number of agreements.

The minimum required to be agreed upon is:

Conclusion of the fire inspection on the safety of the apartment as a hostel. This is a necessary thing, because the owner of the hotel is responsible for the life and health of his guests. Such a conclusion is especially important if repairs were carried out in the room and the load on the power grid increased: the slightest short circuit or heating of the wiring could well lead to a fire.
Permission of the sanitary service of Rospotrebnadzor (formerly called SES). The sanitary condition of the hostel premises must comply with current standards.

In addition, by deciding how to open a hostel, will have to negotiate with other organizations. For example, you will have to conclude a separate agreement for waste disposal (MSW). Typically, such contracts are concluded with residents, but since the apartment will be used as a commercial hostel without permanent residents, the volume of solid waste will increase markedly.

It can be useful to provide residents with access to the Internet (via Wi-Fi or in another way). The popularity of such a hostel will be high, but the service requires an agreement with the provider.

Regulatory requirements for a hostel

Dealing with that how to open a hostel, it should be noted that since 2014, GOST R 56184-2014 has been adopted in Russia, relating to this particular type of housing.

To comply with this GOST, the hostel will need:

at least 4 sq. m of living space for each bed (including bunk beds);
a distance of at least 75 cm from the bed of the upper tier to the ceiling (respectively, three-tier beds in most apartments are prohibited);
not less than 2.5 m height in residential premises, 2.1 - in the halls;
at least 1 toilet, washbasin and shower for 15 residents;
mandatory allocation in addition to the bedroom as a common area for recreation, meals, receiving guests. Its absence is permissible only if the hostel has its own cafeteria or there are catering establishments within walking distance.

GOST also introduces norms for towels and bed linen: their change for residents should be carried out at least once every 5 days. However, this rule only applies if the owner of the hostel generally provides the residents with bed linen and towels without fail. The fact is that in this respect GOST is similar to railway standards regarding reserved seat cars, where you can not pay for a bed and sleep on a bare shelf.

For hostel beds, the rules are as follows:

dimensions - at least 80 by 190 cm (double beds 140 by 190 cm are also allowed);
the distance between the beds is at least 75 cm.

The bed is provided with a mattress with a cover, a pillow and a blanket. Bed linen, as already mentioned, may be included in the cost of living, but may also be issued for a fee.

Finally, for each tenant there should be either a bedside table for things and clothes, or a separate section in the closet, equipped with a lock.

Hostel staff

Deciding how to open a hostel, the owner must take care of the recruitment of staff who will serve the residents. In principle, an individual entrepreneur may well do this personally - however, it is unlikely that an entrepreneur will be able to sit in a hostel without getting out, accepting residents. For a commercial organization, hiring staff will be mandatory at all.

In practice, the minimum staff for a hostel is an administrator and 1 or 2 maids who clean the premises. In the event that the hostel provides additional services (food, laundry, etc.), other workers may be required.

Each of the staff members will need to conclude an employment contract (See A sample of a standard employment contract with an employee for 2014-2015 (download the form)). In addition, the owner of the hostel is obliged not only to pay wages, but also to deduct money to pension and medical funds, as well as comply with the requirements of labor legislation.

Inexpensive short-term accommodation without "star" aplomb is gaining momentum around the world, bringing homeowners a good income. Consider the approval procedure and all the documentation that is required to open a hostel in an ordinary apartment, in a non-residential premises, as well as the risks and nuances of each option.

Hostel as a business: are there any prospects?

Hostels are not mentioned in official Russian documents. Nevertheless, in fact, in our country, as well as throughout the world, they operate quite legally, and their number is growing every year. In the tourism industry, this is a well-defined concept: an inexpensive room for short-term accommodation of guests with the provision of the minimum necessary service (bed).

The hostel is not just a low-budget hotel. This is a certain philosophy and lifestyle. Many travelers cannot afford luxury hotels. Affordable alternative accommodations are popular with young people and those who prefer spending money on sightseeing and entertainment rather than luxury apartments. In addition, it is fashionable, fun, expands the circle of acquaintances and new experiences.