behind the counter x Gunta Rasa
You know that person, whose smile can just warm up and brighten an entire room? Managing to emanate warmth to everyone in it? Well, Gunta Rasa is ’that’ person! Gunta is also the Founder of the Tree House in Riga, Latvia and it’s no surprise that Tree House was built and designed to provide the same feeling of warmth and positivity!
Tell us about yourself and how Tree House came to life?
Before Tree House became my full-time job, I used to work in advertising and marketing, and I travelled quite often on solo business trips. It was always exciting though because it was also an opportunity for me to meet and interact with new people from different cultures and backgrounds. In Latvia, you don’t really get that opportunity often. So whenever possible, I chose to stay in a hostel over a hotel because it always felt like a more rewarding experience, also it’s quite boring to stay alone in a hotel, isn't it? That’s when I thought it would be nice to open a hostel of my own. But the real motivation came to me when I had a bad experience staying at a party hostel in Munich. I was put in a six-bed dorm with five males, and after a night out drinking they came back very late and they were very loud and noisy. It made me realise that although I loved the community aspect of the hostel life, I’d want my hostel to be the complete opposite of a party hostel. I wanted to create a place with a peaceful and positive environment where travellers could relax and unwind, and be able to enjoy activities like yoga, hiking, and running. I wanted it to be a place where the guests didn’t have to suddenly wake up from their sleep or be caused any sort of inconvenience.
So as soon as I got back home, I called my sister Eva, who stayed in England then. Eva has a lot of experience in the hostel and hotel industry, which I lacked then. I told her about opening a yoga hostel, and she thought it was a great idea and it motivated me further. She helped me document it as a business project to get financial support from the local bank, which we did, and it was an extremely happy and proud moment for us. She also stayed back in Latvia for a year to help set it up and bring the hostel to life. And then, she left me alone and went back to England! But honestly, I really wouldn’t have been able to do it without her!
TreeHouse has won many awards and always has great reviews! How do you manage to keep that beautiful consistency?
When our guests come in, their first impression usually, as they walk through the doors is that “this feels like home!”. And that’s exactly how I’d want them to feel! So we have designed the hostel keeping that in mind, to feel at home and provide a positive nurturing vibe. Everything has a story behind it, right from the carpet, to the pictures and the souvenirs. Each nook and corner of the hostel is personal in its own way and every plant and tree here has it’s own name too!
Apart from the regular activities like yoga and hiking, we also have more intimate activities with our guests like our yearly workshop of traditional Latvian midsummer crown-making and Easter egg painting. We really like for our guests to experience Latvian culture and events which when you do as a group is a very rewarding experience. There is bonding, laughter, music, cooking good food together and these times spent together will always remain as special memorable moments for everyone including myself.
Walk us through how it’s like running the hostel now, amidst the pandemic situation?
In the beginning, the borders were closed by the government and we were required to close for two-months. We opened in July again, however, tourists from most international countries have to be quarantined first, like when Poland was on the list, we received a lot of cancellations! There are only a handful of countries that don’t have to be quarantined, so right now we are relying on travellers from these countries.
Currently, everyone at the hostel is required to maintain a one-meter distance at all times. It’s manageable because, at the moment, we don’t have many guests at the hostel. It’s a sad situation, even though people want to travel, it all depends on the restrictions set by the government. We might be pushed to close for the whole of winter if the situation doesn’t get better by September end. but on the up-side, It’s only during the past few months that things have slowed down, and it’s given me the time to think of other projects and ideas that I would love to do.
What is your favourite aspect of hostel life & community?
My favourite part of the hostel life and community is something I had actually forgotten for a while! You see, when I started the hostel, I didn’t do it for the money, I wanted to create a place that I would love to go to every day, and work. In the beginning, Tree House was much smaller, we only had three rooms and now we have three floors, the bigger the hostel got, the busier I got too. So that meant lesser interactions with guests, unfortunately. And interacting with the guests happens to be my favourite part of running a hostel.
But in the past few months, we have had fewer guests and there’s not a lot of work, so I had the opportunity again to interact with our guests and get to know them, and it’s amazing, it’s like getting to read books everyday! Sometimes I feel like the hostel is a library full of walking-talking legendary books in the form of humans! It’s so interesting to me when a person tells you their story, there are so many things you can pick up, relate to, and learn from. It’s a magical feeling I cannot explain, when you meet such varied people with unique stories and how travelling can bring a feeling of interconnectedness!
What would be your advice to someone who would want to start a hostel?
Well, the first advice would be, don’t start it now! haha. But jokes apart, post-pandemic would be a better time to start a hostel. The main advice though is to start it only if you really love doing it. If you are doing it for money and treat it as pure business, it won’t be so fulfilling.
Running a hostel can be a 24/7 job, at least in the first few years. Even when you are not physically doing anything you are constantly thinking about it in your mind — things you need to do, numbers, beds, guests, employees, menu, activities… the list goes on! So it’s really really important that you feel passionate about it and love being around people and not be afraid to do tasks you have never done before. You’ll be amazed by how organically your business will thrive. I am also blessed with a great team of women who also feel as passionate about the hostel as I do. If you love what you do and have a great team to support you, it all comes together beautifully.
