I recently posted an article about the Hostel Detroit on the Detroit Letters of Love Facebook page, but after personally exploring and touring the Motor City Hostel, I felt it deserved a more detailed shout-out.
When people think hostels, their mind wanders to visions of traveling through Europe with no plan and a single backpack on hand. Although hostels can be found in the states, overall the American culture tends to choose pricier hotels as a place to rest their heads after a day of sight-seeing. Sure a hostel may not have all the conveniences as your own personal hotel room. You will have to share your bathroom, you will likely have to wait for a shower, and you may even find yourself sharing a room with a loud-snoring stranger. However, the Hostel Detroit provides something FAR greater than these little comforts, and that's education about the city of Detroit.
In fact, education has become the Hostel's mission - it even mentions it on the website where it eloquently states,
"Our goal is to teach each of our visitors about the history and evolving future of our city. We want our guests to leave Detroit with the perspective of someone who has experienced it first-hand. We want them to eat from our urban farms, cycle our streets, enjoy our locally owned boutiques and eateries, and take in our festive atmosphere. We help Hostel guests tap-into what’s happening around town. We offer maps, “adventure-planning”, self-guided explorations, and personalized tours led by local ambassadors."
To any true traveler, this is a dream. After all, the main goal of traveling in the first place is to experience a new culture. Rather than looking at the same wall paintings in Marriott's across the country (no offense to the Marriott), wouldn't you rather bunk up in an Indian Village themed room? Or prepare a snack in the Eastern Market themed kitchen?
As an adventure seeker myself, I must say the Hostel Detroit did it right. Detroit should be proud of the effort exerted by Emily Doerr, Alex Manwell, and many others who were able to bring this unique vision to life. You don't have to be an out-pf-towner to enjoy it. As Detroit struggles to reignite the flame that once made it great, I personally think we could all take a little extra time to learn more about Michigan's largest city, and the Detroit Hostel is a great resource.
Look for yourself! http://www.hosteldetroit.com/