The Atlas Valley Hostel: Where Community Comes First
I would stayed at 100s of different hostel from my travel from a decade. This place have been one of the best community experience at a hostel
Most of the places or hostel where I have traveled, the goal of the community have not been belongingness but money. Most of the activities they had revolve around money. I got a change to have a word with the founder of Atlas Valley Hostel, he said: “we didn’t want to just sell a place where people stay but an experience”. I can definitely tell, they are selling an experience, not a hostel for you to stay
The Atlas Valley Hostel in located in Pai, Northern Part of Thailand. Funny thing is, they are on outskirts of Pai, still they are almost sold out while property in city center are empty.
All of the activities are free, they do charge for Ice Bath (2.4$) which is bare minimum. I loved the morning Yoga session, did them for 3 days of my stay.
I tried my first Ice Bath and my first Estatic Dance here
To some up my learnings:
If you’re a hostel owner, try to sell an experience, not a bed for winning in long run.
Community is a two way street, you need to gain the trust, that means giving a lot more.
Communities are all about feeling it home or belongingness.
Don’t try to revolve everything for your community around money. You’re not forming a community then.
With a real community, you’ll form trust and a great brand. This will benefit in ways you can’t imagine.
I recommend this to couple of people and they had the same experience. I writing this blog about them is also a marketing for them