Hostels are Being Reinvented, Going Upscale Christine Ajudua - The New York Times
go to original March 2, 2013

Downtown Beds in Mexico City is part of a new breed of hostels is emerging, smartly designed and offering chances to socialize. (AccommodationWorld)

Grupo Habita, the Mexico City-based team behind the upscale Hotel Americano in New York, is known for taking an unconventional approach to hospitality. Still, its latest property — Downtown Mexico, a hotel within a 17th-century palace in the Centro Historico district of Mexico City — houses a bit of a surprise: the company’s first hostel, Downtown Beds.

Downtown Beds occupies the palace’s former service quarters.

“The space had the bones for a youthful project,” said Carlos Couturier, managing partner at Grupo Habita, which created an upscale hotel at the opposite end of the building. “But there was an intimate patio and a rooftop that could be transformed into something cool.”

The local architecture firm Cherem Serrano kept the original Catalan vaulted ceilings, painted the wooden floors white and installed up to eight bespoke lattice-brick bunks in each room, as well as en-suite bathrooms with rain showers. The patio is now a “chela” garden (that’s slang for beer), and the rooftop has a swimming pool and bar that draws a steady stream of locals. There’s also a kitchen serving Mexican street snacks, a screening room, table tennis, foosball and free use of bikes.

“People don’t come to Downtown Beds because it’s cheap; we have had guests pay with Amex black cards,” said Couturier, whose company also plans to open a hostel in Mazunte, Oaxaca, in two years. “They come because it’s fun and different.”

Clearly, Downtown Beds is not your traditional hostel, nor could its guests be defined as typical backpackers. There are no chores required, no lockout hours or curfews, and linens and toiletries are provided in each of the 17 rooms, whether private or shared. It is one of the latest examples of a global, industrywide trend focused on accommodating design-conscious 20- and 30-somethings who are seeking out the scene (via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for reasons beyond saving a buck.

Read the whole story at The Chronicle Herald

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