Case Study
Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel (SYHA)
Why it exists
Edinburgh Central is a brand new city centre hostel, designed to meet the needs of today’s travellers. It has been developed to meet and exceed the expectations of a variety of target markets, and to display a modern image of youth hostelling, both to existing and potential customers.
Travellers and tourists visit Edinburgh for a number of reasons:
- Edinburgh is an entry point to Scotland from England or overseas
- Part of a tour of Scotland
- Educational/cultural visit to Scotland’s capital city
- The “Edinburgh” experience – Edinburgh Festival in the summer, New Year/Hogmanay in the winter
- Shopping/theatre trips
There was a clear requirement to provide a hostel that would be suitable and attractive to visitors of all kinds to Edinburgh. The main requirements were identified as:
- High quality of service and facilities
- Small rooms of varying sizes/configurations
- Ability to book private rooms
- Small dormitories, with low-cost dormitory accommodation option
- All en-suite rooms
- Fully catered and self-catering options
Although SYHA had two existing hostels in Edinburgh, Eglinton and Bruntsfield, neither of the buildings was suitable for development to meet the needs of modern travellers. In particular, because the buildings were listed (as being of historical significance) it was not possible to adapt them sufficiently to provide small private rooms or en-suite accommodation.
Where it is
The hostel is situated in central Edinburgh, less than 10 minutes’ walk from the bus station, train station and main shopping areas. Neither of the previous two Edinburgh hostels benefited from such an ideal location.
The building is a converted, modern office building. The structure of the building, with few fixed internal walls, enabled us to configure the building exactly as we wanted, not limited by existing room sizes.
The location is key to the projected success of this hostel. It was also an element in the design and configuration of the hostel – it is very much a smart, modern city hostel, very different in style and atmosphere from our more rural hostels.
Who it is for
There are a number of different target markets for Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel:
- Families
- Backpackers
- Independent Travellers
- Couples
- Older Tourists/Travellers
As mentioned previously, there are also a variety of reasons for these groups to go to Edinburgh and use the hostel.
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What it is
Edinburgh Central is a modern, stylish hostel. It has 303 beds, in 73 en-suite rooms, ranging from single rooms to 8-bed dormitories.
The furniture and finishes are of the highest standard and the decoration is clean and modern throughout.
Each room has an en-suite bathroom area, with a toilet, wash-handbasin and shower.
The public areas of the hostel are designed to create a strong impression and to encourage those new to hostelling to re-evaluate their misconceptions about hostelling.
The hostel boasts a 70-seat restaurant, café-bistro and professional kitchen. There are 2 conference/meeting rooms which can be opened up if necessary to create a single large conference room. Additionally, there is a self-catering kitchen and dining room. The foyer includes a welcoming reception area and relaxing lounge areas. There are lifts to all floors.
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How it operates
The hostel is run by a team of 41 staff, including the General Manager and 3 duty managers. 9 staff are employed in housekeeping roles, 10 in reception and 18 in catering.
The in-hostel staff are supported by the Southern Regional Managers (Hostel Services manager and Property/Health and Safety manager) and the full team at National Office.
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Business Results
At the time of writing, the hostel has been open less than a month, so the figures given are for the period 05/30 September 2006
Number of guests (overnights) 5,657
Occupancy level 72%
Turnover (€) 126,258
Total income per overnight (€) 22.32