Quote: (02-18-2013 06:40 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:
Quote: (05-12-2012 03:27 PM)FretDancer Wrote:
Guys check out this hostel: http://rockingjs.com/
Its the hostel I stayed at Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica when I went a month ago.
I saw the owner (he's pretty popular around apparently) around the hostel many times. It seems he likes to party alot with the backpackers and get blasted.
He also has a recording studio on the hostel that its called The Ark apparently. I never saw it but my friend that was travelling with me had the opportunity to go in and record some dumb songs with other drunk backpackers.
Haha I know about RockingJs. It's kinda filthy, isn't it? A lot of people I met in PV were staying there. I opted for a small lodge a little ways down the main road after the point where it curves and is parallel to the coast. Man, I miss PV!
I stayed at Rocking J's when I went to Puerto almost 10 years ago, it was one of my favorite hostels I've stayed at. I was about 20 at the time, so my standards were a bit different, but yeah it was a bit grungy, but had a great atmosphere and really cool people.
It's like a cross between a party hostel, chilled out hippy hostel, and surfer vibe. There's a lot of people drinking, smoking weed, and doing coke if that's your thing. It was fun hanging out there and they got a real lassiez-faire attitude regarding just about everything. If they have private rooms I'd for sure stay there again.
Also regarding the original post, I think owning a hostel or a cool, hip boutique hotel would be just about the perfect gig. Obviously there would be a shit ton of red tape, headaches, and hurdles to overcome to start one up. The first issue would be finding a spot that not only would do well business-wise, but also one that you genuinely like enough to want to spend most of the year living at.
Otherwise the upsides and possibilities are great. In fact, this is something I will give more thought to over the next decade. Opening a hostel in the U.S. would be the safest bet, but there are only a few cities where I think they could legitimately do well at.