Business & Tech

Hostel Seeks to Open in Alexandria

More than five years in the making, the co-founders of a planned hostel in the City of Alexandria are closer to their dream.

The city’s first youth hostel is a project inching closer to reality.

Paul Cianciolo has been working on the idea for more than five years.

In 2008, a group of friends and family including Cianciolo’s mom, decided to move forward with the idea.

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But it’s not easy being a pioneer. After one building didn’t make the city’s cut for certain code requirements, group members, many of whom Cianciolo knows through his time in the Air Force, have their collective sights on leasing 216 S. Peyton St. in Old Town.

Cianciolo, who works at the Federal Aviation Administration during the day, became convinced that the city could use a hostel through his time volunteering for the Civil Air Patrol.

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Through the patrol’s youth program, Cianciolo recalls he was often asked by young air cadets for inexpensive places to stay locally.

“A lot of time military bases were full so they had to go commercial,” Cianciolo said in an interview at St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub. “It’s expensive for some to stay in a hotel in this area.”

Cianciolo says it has been tricky to set up shop because Alexandria city code doesn’t define a hostel – but it does define endeavors such as a bed and breakfast, rooming house, housing facility, hotel and motel. That has lead to a lot of meetings, which he said have been productive.

He says in his meetings with city staff, they appear generally supportive of the hostel, which would be an affiliate of Hostel International USA. HI operates a network of more than 60 hostels in the United States and 4,000 across the globe, including one in Washington, DC.

“We want to be sure that the community knows that this place wants to be part of the community and showcase what Alexandria has to offer,” he said.

For example, if the hostel is approved to serve beer, he would like to offer locally-made beers.

“This would be place where after you’ve been walking around Old Town or the downtown mall [in DC], after an art gallery, you want to sit down and relax,” he said. “This is not a party house.”

Cianciolo is looking to partner with a local bike shop to allow hostel guests to rent bikes on a daily basis.

The plans also support a community room that would be offered to the public for meetings or special events.

A few years ago the co-founders took out a lease on a three-story building on Duke Street between Patrick and Henry streets, but because the very small third floor didn’t have two sets of internal stairs in the building, it did not meet city hotel requirements.

The current site is a two-story building with two sets of stairs and meets building code for a hotel. It’s also on the edge of the King Street Metro parking district, allowing a reduced parking requirement. It has a parking lot.

A maximum number of 94 people could be in the building at one time, which includes hostel staff. At least one employee will be on-site round-the-clock, seven days a week.

The proposal also includes a café and bar on the first floor, which would be open when the hostel is open and closed during “quiet hours” from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The founders have not decided if they would like to open the café to the community or if it would be strictly for hostel guests.

The proposal for the hostel is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission June 4 and if approved would head to council.

Ciancolo says if council gives it the green light, he can complete the paperwork necessary for the building improvements (such as adding multiple bathrooms) and hopes to open for business this fall.


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