behind the counter x Gonzalo Cabré
Gonzalo Cabré is the CEO and Co-owner of 360 Arts & Culture Hostel in Barcelona; the winner of Best hostel in Spain and Best Solo traveller’s Hostel in the world. Gonzalo was also the President of the Barcelona Hostels Association.
This week he shares with us his brave and inspiring journey and provides his valuable insights on hostels adapting to new circumstances while retaining their cultural essence.
Whats’s your story and how did your journey in the hospitality industry begin?
I’m actually from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was the typical young guy that wanted to travel and had no money at that time; like 18–20 years ago. I used to think to myself, how do I travel without money, and I figured I could do that by working in a hostel. Instead of travelling, I can bring the travel to me.
So I sent emails to a lot of friends all around Argentina and I finally found a job in a hostel in downtown Buenos Aires. I got to practice speaking English, and I made a lot of friends.
After that, I had jobs in two more hostels in Buenos Aires and then a third hostel here in Barcelona. The job in Buenos Aires was like the real first job that I found on my own and I was very happy about it. I was happy working in a hostel; I didn’t like the idea of working in a bank or doing a corporate job. I used to work intermittently and also travel by myself.
It was in a hostel in Venezuela that I met a guy who had actually introduced me to my wife. I met my wife while doing an afternoon shift in a hostel reception, So in the end it felt like working in hostels and owning a hostel was meant to be. I made my life around the hostel and the hostel life is a big part of me. So it was a natural step to start my own hostel.
So when and how did you start your own hostel?
I think I was 25 then, and one day while working at the reception and after finishing my degree in Anthropology, I realised I was very happy with my job but working at a reception at someone else’s hostel at 25 sounds good, but how will it be like when I’m at 40? I didn’t know if someone else would want a 40-year-old sitting at the hostel’s reception, and I decided not to wait and see.
I wasn’t the manager of the hostel back then, but I was practically running that hostel, and it was the only thing I knew how to do really well. I tried to gather funds from friends and family, but it wasn’t enough, so I approached my ex-boss and told him I found a place and my plans for it, but I’m missing half of the funds I need. He really liked my idea and came on board as a business partner.
What’s the story behind the name of 360 Arts & Culture Hostel?
360 hostel is the name of my business partner’s hostel, so he wanted to have the same name. My wife studied communications, and she said if she was going to be part of the project then the hostel will have to be related to arts & culture.
So basically, I didn’t get to choose the name at all. Haha. I was neutral and I said yes to both of them.
That’s why the activities we organise are all related to arts and culture; photo exhibitions, live concert, historical walking tours, local cuisine cooking activities and things like that.
Can you tell us a bit more about Barcelona’s culture?
Barcelona, for me, is an extreme city. It’s not a huge city but it’s still a major city, business-wise. its airport has a lot of traffic and it has a major port, we can go to the beach and the mountain by the underground metro. There is a significant population of which the majority are not originally from Barcelona.
So that’s why I feel in Barcelona, you never feel like a foreigner or an outsider because people living here are from all over the world. It’s a very international city.
You find a little bit of everything from everywhere here in Barcelona and that’s what I like the most.
But at the same time, it’s rich in culture that in a way is very traditional; the Catalan history and language dates back to over eight hundred years.
In April we have major festivals where everyone gets to experience the tradition and culture, like Sant-Jordi day. It’s something like Catalunya’s Valentine’s Day; the day of the rose and the book which is on April 23rd.
People give each other a rose or a book on that day, as a symbol of love and friendship; there are dragons and a lot of bookshops.
So we always try to provide our guests with such experiences and explain about the culture.
How challenging was it for the hostel during the pandemic?
Well, as of now we’re waiting to see what next steps will the government take and in the meantime, we’re trying to figure out ways of spending less money.
We tried to open the hostel last year in August but it was not possible with almost no one in town.
There were many complications with people getting paid their salaries. Like any other business owner, I was trying to speed up the salary process, but it was impossible to do so.
So there’s a lot of work to be done by the Government, as of now people are getting used to it. The major challenge is the waiting and being patient.
What would you say is your biggest takeaway from the global crisis?
To learn patience is one of the things.
The other thing I think is that everything’s connected, the realisation of how connected with are and dependent on things that are not available next door, let's say.
So yes, assuming the interconnectedness of the world and exercising patience are my biggest takeaways from last year.
Lastly, what do you think are the qualities that a hostel owner should have?
Well, you need to be social, genuinely care about people and connect with people. See you can decide to open a hostel because you want to make some money and that’s it, or you open a hostel that you feel comfortable leading, enjoy it and have fun with it.
For me the most important thing is to not stress about anything in the hostel because it’s not supposed to be like that; hostels are the opposite of stress.
Another important quality I think is being adaptive. For instance, when you open a hostel, you’re forced to have a business model; you think of how your hostel is going to be, and how your customers are going to be, but when you open, you might get a completely different type of customers compared to what you thought. So you have to be able to adapt to that. Listen to your guests, get to know them and enjoy the process.
We made minor changes and adapted the hostel to the kind of customers we were actually getting. In the end, I think it turned out well, and we were a success. We even won two awards from Hostelworld last year and funnily enough, we had to shut down the week after because of the pandemic.
It’s been a rollercoaster for everybody and all hostels around the world, and every story is unique. However, you have to enjoy the hostel life because if it’s just a job for you, you’re probably not right for the job, especially for owners of independent and small hostels.
