Skift Take
Sure, budget travelers have Airbnb as a more affordable lodging option, but what about those who don't want to stay in someone's home? U.S. cities are largely missing out on those visitors who want something half way between a home-stay and hotel experience.
Hostels and the U.S. aren't terms that often appear in the same sentence and regulatory obstacles hostels face across the country are one of the factors limiting their expansion and popularity.
Hostels are typically a preferred accommodation type for student and backpacker travelers abroad and are common in Europe and Southeast Asia. But it's difficult to assess the state of U.S. hostels because of their comparatively small market size. Major hotel data and research companies such as STR and PKF don't track hostels, for example.
But, according to internal data at Hostelling International USA (HI USA), an international hostel chain, about 360 hostels operate in the U.S. Of that number, about 260 call themselves hostels while the others are "hostel-like" and list themselves on hostel booking sites, said HI USA CEO Russ Hedge.
HI USA has 54 U.S. hostels which had a combined 1.1 million overnights last y
