Anker Hostel Budapest - the beginning of a journey
Hi, my name is Tamas. This is my story about how I am trying to open a buzzing hostel in the centre of Budapest, one of the most up and coming tourist destinations in the world.
I have been working on a this project for the past 12 months and full time for the past 6 months, but I am still right at the beginning. This has been a dream of mine for quite a while and I am really hoping I can take it all the way.
So where am I now, what have I done so far and what is still to come?
How it all started
One friday afternoon I was driving past Deak ter, the central square of Budapest where I got into a traffic jam. I was just standing there, listening to the radio, when I suddenly saw the FOR SALE sign on this beautiful building.
It seemed that the full first floor was on sales with over 1300 m2 (14,000 square feet). I got very curious and called the number on the ad. The next day I had an appointment to see the property and I must say it was love on the first sight. The place had been empty for 8+ years, so it was in a terrible state, but the high ceilings, the amazing view and the large spaces got my imagination going and I knew I wanted to do something with it.... well at least until I first heard the asking price.
It took me 12 months of hard negotiations to bring the price down to an acceptable level where I could make the numbers work and I could put together a business plan that I was happy to present to investors and banks for the financing. Finally this week I signed the contract with the sellers and the project can hopefully really kick-off now.
What is still to come? Lots! We still need to get the building permits, the "yes vote" from the house to be able to carry out the refurbishment and then probably 5 months of hard work on the property itself to bring it back to live and open a hostel. The plan is to open in May 2014...quite ambitious, but who doesn't love a bit of a challenge ;-)
With this blog I would like to document the steps all the way to the opening (and hopefully there will be an opening and the project doesn't die on the way).
Hope you will find this interesting and your comments and feedback are welcome. More to come soon....
