hawaiihostel.net/press_release.shtml -
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Published on: 5/13/2006
Last Visited: 2/19/2008
In additional to more conventional travelers, owner Scott Owens says, "It's a great place for youth sports groups to stay, like soccer or volleyball teams that travel inter-island for tournaments, or halaus who come for Merrie Monarch, or Elderhostel, groups like that."
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Scott, 47, has frequented hostels all over the world and knows what hostel visitors need."It's basic, cheap, and clean," he said."What's fun about hostels is people meet other people.For $18 it's pretty hard to beat."
Owens commutes to his job several times a year from Australia where his family lives and his teenage daughters are finishing high school.He manages a number of day-to-day functions via computer from Australia - reservations, accounts, payroll, website maintenance - and stops by up to six times a year when he sends his onsite assistant on vacation and takes over.
"I started working on this two years ago," he said."It took me 13 months to get it open.It's amazing the people who come through," he said.Owens just took a reservation for Merrie Monarch week in 2005 from a group in Whitefish, Montana.
"We send a lot of business to local restaurants," he said."We have Ocean Sushi on speed dial."
Visitors are not all travelers, either.Lately Owens has seen a number of real estate deals signed on the tables in hostel's common room by guests looking to buy property.
A mother wanted a place for her son to stay after his job in a band instead of driving home to Waimea in the wee hours of the morning."He's welcome here, I told her."
People learn of the hostel via the Web site, rack cards at the airport and referrals.Word of mouth is important, Hostelers are the epitome of free and independent travelers.Up to 75 percent don't make reservations."They do things spontaneously," Owens said.
"We're more of an international hotel," he said.
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Until recently "it was just a derelict building," said Owens, who credits previous owners for not tearing it down.Guidebooks are also key to gaining recognition among hostelers, but "we're too new for the guide books."The place is filling up anyway, Owens said.
"It's going to make it, I'm not worried about that."
"The main thing is some place that's clean, a place where you won't get ripped off and doesn't cost too much," Owens said.
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"There's a whole group of travelers out there in the world who don't have the money resorts and hotels require or would rather spend that money having fun," said Owens.
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"Hilo is just such a unique environment with so many awesome sights and activities, not to mention the interesting people you meet," Owens said.
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