Creating hostel magic in Katoomba, New South Wales

Something magical happens at a certain hostel in Katoomba, and everyone there will remark upon it, except of course the owner, let’s call him Joe, who wants no special thanks and may turn away in flurry of dish-doing if you try to acknowledge him.

He’s done a few strategic things that make for the most trusting, warm, and engaged hostel environment I’ve ever been in – so engaging really that most people who stay there will say it feels “commune-esque.”

The hostel is a big old house, with seven beds per room, so dorm accommodations are cozy.  There’s also a more pricey double room, and there are tent camping sites out back.

Social Time happens from 6-9pm every night.  This means that smart devices and computers are forbidden in the common rooms.  The guests are good-naturedly self-policing, making cracks at 5:45 every day about the mad dash to finish up Facebooking and emails.  What happens then between 6 and 9 is that everyone actually talks, and puts their full attention into it.

Of course it helps that Joe builds a fire inside and a fire on the patio every night, no matter the weather or temperature.  Long-term guests usually pitch in and help him.

Cultural continuity comes from a small group of young backpackers and foreigners who either work for partial or full room and board.  Some of them only work at the hostel, others have jobs in town.  When you work at the hostel, the one thing Joe asks is that you do not ask him what to do.

What this means is that between Joe and those long-standing guests, it appears to the casual visitor that everyone contributes, and thus, the casual visitor is much more likely to dry a rack of dishes, just because.

Pasta dinners and gluewine nights appear out of the blue.  Word goes round sometime in the late afternoon that Joe is making pasta or gluewine and that everyone is invited.  Nearly everyone partakes.  Except, of course, Joe, who seems to prefer to step back and let the magic for which he has created the conditions happen.

I didn’t take any pictures and I changed the names, but if you don’t try too hard, you might just stumble across this wonderland anyway.