Hostel Celje to introduce new quality system

Celje is recognised as the city of fairs and the offer of hotels is good, but there were no budget friendly places to sleep over in the centre of Celje. The youth centre has a very strong international programme, so the hostel was primarily built as support to the youth center and only secondary as a budget friendly place to stay, with a slightly higher standard. Without a doubt it was a good decision as the number of rented beds keeps growing, showing there are more and more occasional tourists visiting us all year around.

 

At the time we opened the hostel, we were not thinking in that direction and I think that the hostel itself opened some new possibilities for the city. The hostel, through its arrangement, presents the hidden stories and myths of the city and many people come to visit it as a good practice example on how to fit the pulse of the city into the hostel. We’ve made a map of the city, based on our stories, which is well appreciated by foreign visitors. This year we also prepared city tours with the theme of myths and legends, where we promote the products and destinations in our broader surroundings that are becoming a part of our offer (activities at lake Šmartinsko jezero, the mountain lodge Celjska koča, the castle…) We are also the only accommodation with a cyclist’s star and had many young cyclists stop over, while crossing Slovenia. The most important thing is, we realized the importance of the youth segment in the tourist offer, where the city municipality also saw a chance for improvement.

 

The hostel, together with the youth centre, encourages activities which require participation of youth. And especially the international character gives the wide range of experience to the youth by learning new cultures, making new friends and learning new skills. All of this prepares the youth much better, to cope with the troubles of every day and deals away with prejudges people tend to have due to ignorance. It’s a sort of a life lesson you cannot get anywhere else.

 

 

The construction of the hostel linked us with the tourist sphere, where we didn’t have many experience with accommodation. But we had experience in other fields of tourism and we’ve woven them into our work. We had to bring in work procedure, train the staff, get experience in reception skills and bring to life many ideas previously put on paper. We had biggest problems with establishing and setting up all the equipment and to follow the regulations about licenses and marketing.

 

The membership means we’re part of the largest worldwide network and only abroad did I realize how big a network this really is. We regularly attend education, seminars, meetings, study tours… and the most important thing is linking among subjects on national and international level to transfer good practices and enter the market jointly. Maybe we can offer more advice with acquisition, appearances at fairs and publications, as well as targeted knowledge and skill transfers.

 

It’s a system that allows us to set things on a common denominator. All the data needed for reception desk, maintenance, cleaning, marketing, food and beverages… it’s all in the same place. The whole team has access to data so each one of us can contribute and change the content. Standardization of certain steps also means less spent time and better overview, and better understanding of the hostel as a complete entity.

 

It’s a simple programme that includes all the things you encounter in daily work, as well as those which are more development oriented and try to foresee the future. Exchange of good practice among employees is better and all, especially new help, get to know the whole system better and faster.

 

There’s a much better response time for maintenance, it’s easier to follow changes and offers for better flow of information. It brings us closer, which cause a better connectivity among hostel staff and it’s easier to reach desired goals.