ok, my friends! advice welcome!

[kindlekitten]

Bumping again. We're going to start touring seattle hostels this next week.

Would still love input!

[Darqref]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

Bumping again. We're going to start touring seattle hostels this next week.

Would still love input!

My hostel experience is 15 and 25 years out of date, but the one that I remember most was in Feldkirch, Austria. We walked in and had the most wonderful aroma of French Onion Soup. An aromatic welcome mat. Try to have food that welcomes you in the door at the proper hours.

But, they also had one of the bad points that I remember - the bikes they had available to rent were in very poor maintenance. We walked back, and had a memorable picture of the group together with one person having the bike on his back. Make sure your rental equipment works properly, and that whoever manages the renting knows how to service and/or repair. Maybe work a local deal for rentals from an appropriate shop, with service discounts for your customers who bring their own equipment - tuneup deals for your hostelers who bring their bikes to the local shop, etc. (on another trip, when I traveled by air with a bike, I effectively needed a tuneup to put the bike back together from the shipping box.)

[kindlekitten]

Ah! Having a soup for the day people coming in, especially during the cold/rainy season is a grand idea!

We actually have a bike vendor here in town that apparently knows his business. But he's also a bit of a hoarder. He's actually on one of the best commercial corners in town but no one can go in. The fire department has actually put a notice on his door. BUT! He can still visit the bikes in need of assistance

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

Ah! Having a soup for the day people coming in, especially during the cold/rainy season is a grand idea!

I second that! Hearing the mention, it reminded me of a ski touring center I used to guide for back in the day. It was famous for it's "Never-ending Soup," a big tureen that was kept on top of the pot-belly stove in the warming shack. The owners of the touring center were gourmet chefs, and they would take the soup left over from lunch and dinner at the lodge and add it to the tureen every night so the flavors were constantly changing but always delicious, and a welcome delight when coming in off the trails on a cold and snowy afternoon!


Stitchawl

[kindlekitten]

Yeah, our long rainy days would call for that. Even though I'm not a kayaker and know little about it, it does seem that weather rarely deters them unlike pleasure sailors for instance