Rajasthan: Backpacker hostels turn office for youngsters in times of Covid

JAIPUR: As the concept of work from home (WFH) gains popularity and acceptance, increasing number of youngsters are opting to work from remote locations, especially from backpackers’ hostels.
The backpackers’ hostels were opened to cater to tourists for a few days where they could share dormitories. However, with WFH culture since pandemic, such hostels are now providing various facilities to the people who want to stay for more than a week.
Many people from metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai are coming to various cities in the state and staying in backpackers’ hostels where they provide good Wi-Fi, work space and a good crowd to hang out with after office hours.These stays are now called ‘Workation’.
Gypsy Child Hostel in Udaipur has been continuously getting enquiries from people and with the current scenario they are making required changes in their hostel. Ruchika Wason, the owner of Gypsy Child hostel said, “We have installed Wi-Fi routers in every dorm and provided good furniture in private rooms for WFH. Some people prefer quiet space for working, hence, we are in the process of converting one of our dorms in three bedrooms with all the facilities.”
After the first lockdown, this trend was seen in Rajasthan but when the second wave hit, travelling was prohibited. Now, with things getting back to normal, people have started arriving at different locations like Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Pushkar. Most people are those who work in IT sector.
Moustache Hostel, which is located in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Pushkar and Jaisalmer, offers different packages to people staying for more days. As the travel industry was plummeting, Moustache Escapes came up with some sustainable solutions.

Abhishek Khandelwal, the managing director of Moustache Hostel said, “Internet connectivity was the most important thing to make our hostels workation friendly. The next thing was to come up with longstay deals at a discounted rate since people wanted to stay for long durations. We added meal combos to our menu to make sure nobody went hungry. We made weekend deals for those who wanted short hikes.”
The Hosteller, another group of hostels, for more than one week stay has different packages with good deals.
Ankasha Borthakur, the marketing manager of Hosteller said that hostels with different vibes provide good working space. As people are fed up of living in closed boundaries, young generation till early 30s is preferring to work from places with good views and different kinds of crowd that they can interact with.