Jo&Joe Hossegor, France
Jo&Joe is a new youth brand from hotel giant Accor which is hoping to muscle in on the Airbnb market by “blending the best of private-rental, hostel and hotel formats”. Aimed squarely at millennials, this is the first of 50 hostels scheduled to open by 2020. There are private rooms and dorms, and it’s moments from the beach of this Atlantic surfing resort. Watersports are the focus, with bookable surf and paddleboarding lessons (as well as yoga classes and a climbing wall), plus masterclasses and workshops through partners Roxy and Quiksilver. A bar, outdoor dining area (open to non-guests), guest kitchen and hammocks give the place a party vibe.
• Dorm beds from €25, all-day breakfast €4, accorhotels.com
Mob Confluence, Lyon
Mob is another new concept hotel with a “down with the kids” branding (full name: Mob Hotel – Of the People) and lofty ideals. It is not a hotel chain but a “virtuous movement’ no less. Marketing blurb aside, these are smart, lively places to stay with a strong focus on design (one of the creators was the co-founder of the successful MamaShelter group). The first Mob launched in Paris in March, and this second one opened this month in Lyon’s regenerated docklands. Inside a striking modern building with a honeycomb-like metal facade are 98 funky double and family rooms and a restaurant styled to please the Instagram-generation – industrial with theatrical flourishes such as a lifesize stag sculpture. Exercise and wellbeing classes are available (at a price) plus music nights. There are seven more openings in the offing in Europe and the US, starting with Washington DC in 2019.
• Doubles from €99, house breakfast €14, mobhotel.com
Dock Inn Hostel, Warnemünde, Germany
This large hostel on the Baltic coast is made from stacked shipping containers. The industrial theme continues inside, with concrete walls, exposed pipes, and more containers. Warnemünde is a busy port and seaside town, and the hotel is 12 minutes’ walk from the beach, where there are opportunities to try outdoor sports, including standup paddleboarding and beach volleyball.
• Dorm beds from £17 through hostelworld.com
Hotel Rum, Budapest
This modern conversion of an old apartment block was designed by Hungarians but has a distinctly international flavour. The mix of guests and locals in the hotel’s south-east Asian restaurant and a soon-to-open rooftop bar add to the convivial atmosphere. The 38 stylish rooms are modern with retro lighting and moody colour schemes.
• Doubles from €60 (20% discount for four nights or more) through i-escape.com
Generator Hostel, Rome
The most recent opening in the Generator chain of “hip hostels” is Rome. The affordable, design-led hostel is close to the Colosseum and Termini station, and has 75 rooms, ranging from dorms to doubles, with an industrial chic bar and lounge to make yourself at home in.
• Doubles from €40, dorm beds from €15, generatorhostels.com
Amistat Hostels, Ibiza
It’s not a destination traditionally associated with sleep, but getting a budget bed on the White Isle can be a real challenge. Amistat Hostel in San Antonio offers a cheap, chic place to dump your bags before hitting the clubs, with a mix of basic dorms and simple but tasteful doubles, as well a pool, bar, lounge and rooftop space.
• Doubles from €90, dorm beds from €18, amistathostels.co/ibiza
Oddsson Hostel, Reykjavik
The Icelandic capital may be hip but it comes at a price. The addition of the Oddsson Hostel is a welcome one then; affordable design-led accommodation with room for up to 250 people. The rooms are simple, but that minimal Scandi design permeates throughout, be it in the restaurant, bar, rooftop hot tubs or bespoke karaoke room.
• Doubles with shared bathroom from £131, dorm beds from £30, oddsson.is
Q Factory Hotel, Amsterdam
Q-Factory is a music venue and rehearsal space in East Amsterdam, which recently expanded into running a hotel too. Rooms are simple but with plenty of touches to remind you you’re staying in a city renowned for its design, while the cafe and terrace provide a place to hang out for guests, and those working in the music businesses based in the building.
• Doubles from €112.50, q-factory-hotel.nl
Steel House, Copenhagen
Another luxury hostel to recently open in a top city break destination, the industrial chic Steel House offers four- and six-bed dorms, as well as private rooms, a gym and a pool, right next to the trendy Vesterbro neighbourhood. The latest opening from the Arp-Hansen group, which owns a dozen mainstream hotels, it shows the direction that many chains are going in.
• Doubles from £55, dorms from £14, steelhousecopenhagen.com
My Cocoon, Mykonos
A futuristic design hostel in a town not usually associated with budget accommodation (it’s the only hostel on the island), MyCocoon hopes to provide an alternative option for groups of friends hoping to save that cash for socialising. The hostel rooms range from a communal dorm for up to 46 people, down to private rooms that sleep between four to six, all with a spaceship style aesthetic, with beds fitted into sleek white pods.
• Private room for four from €116, beds from €28, hostelmykonos.com
