Mark Raymond, of Geneva, plans to open the Cleveland Hostel on West 25th Street next year. He chose Ohio City because of the West Side Market, nightlife, proximity to public transportation and the short hop to downtown Cleveland.
View full sizeA hostel operator has signed a lease on West 25th Street, near Cleveland's West Side Market. The 60-bed Cleveland Hostel could open in May. It will include a shared kitchen and could feature a rooftop patio and a bike-rental shop.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mark Raymond has visited more than 70 countries and slept at more than 100 hostels.
Now the 30-year-old Geneva man plans to open his own budget-oriented inn, where beds will start at $25 a night. The Cleveland Hostel, near the West Side Market in Ohio City, will be the only such stopover in Northeast Ohio.
A smaller hostel in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park closed several years ago.
"This is just going to be an amazing economic-development engine, because people who travel talk," said Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, whose ward includes the Market District, the area around the West Side Market. "If they have a good experience here, they're going to tell more people."
Part of an influx of young entrepreneurs in Ohio City, Raymond signed a lease last week for 8,500 square feet at 2084 W. 25th St.
The three-story building will hold 60 beds and a shared kitchen. It could include a rooftop patio and bike-rental shop. Raymond hopes to have his own apartment in the building, in a retail-and-office redevelopment called Marketplace.
Hostels offer rooms ranging from dormitory-style halls to smaller spaces for families or individuals. These no-frills accommodations cost less to run than hotels, enabling them to rent rooms cheaply.
Some hostels target young travelers, but the Cleveland hostel will aim for a range of guests, from road-tripping retirees to church groups.
"It will not be luxurious, but it will be unique to Cleveland," Raymond said. "I'm really trying to capture what Cleveland is and my love for the city. It's not necessarily the hottest tourist destination, but there are definitely people coming here, wanting to explore."
Civic groups have been tossing around hostel plans since 2003, but financing was hard to find. Raymond said he is tackling construction with help from his father, the president of Raymond Builders Supply Inc. in Geneva. The project, a nearly $500,000 investment, could open in May.
The city of Cleveland is considering a $40,000, low-interest loan for the bike-rental area. Ohio City Inc., a neighborhood nonprofit, is considering a $10,000 to $15,000 grant.
The local chapter of Hostelling International, a nonprofit network, plans to give furniture from the former Stanford Hostel to Ohio City Inc. for the Cleveland project. The Stanford Hostel, in Peninsula, closed in 2008 and is now a bed-and-breakfast.
A call to the local Hostelling International chapter was not returned. Raymond said his hostel will be a for-profit endeavor and will not be tied to a network.
In Detroit, an independent hostel opened in April and quickly filled its bunks. Michel Soucisse, a Canadian transplant who manages the nonprofit Hostel Detroit, said half the travelers come from other countries. The guests range from tourists to businesspeople and from teenagers to grandparents, he said.
"It's a different market than people who stay in hotels," said Ari Maron, whose family is behind the Marketplace redevelopment. "They want to socialize with other travelers and they want to experience the city with other travelers. It really fits into this vibrant, 24-hour urban place that's being created."
Proximity to food, entertainment, downtown Cleveland and public transportation made Ohio City a natural choice, Raymond said. His hostel will be a short walk from the West Side Market, surrounded by restaurants, breweries, small shops and bars.
"I think it says something about Cleveland that we are a city supporting an international hostel," said Eric Wobser, executive director of Ohio City Inc. "Especially as we're trying to become more global."