Deborah Ruhe, executive director of Hostelling International’s Eastern New England branch, said they have already begun accepting advance reservations for May 15, 2012, and later, though they hope to be open in time for the Boston Marathon in April.
“Marathon weekend would definitely be a sellout, if we’re here,” Ruhe said. She explained that most individuals staying in hostels book close to their arrival dates, but groups sometimes book months or even years in advance. For popular events like the marathon or the Head of the Charles Regatta, every bed is full.
The new hostel will have 468 beds in 100 rooms, 22 of which will be private rooms with their own bathrooms. Most will be dormitory-style rooms with three sets of bunk beds and a shared bathroom outside.
Though a certain amount of uniformity is necessary, there’s a good deal of variety among the many sleeping rooms and the public areas. Some spaces have well-maintained exposed brick, while others will be brightly painted drywall. Each floor has a different ceiling height, and throughout the structure are a surprising variety of structural columns.
There will be some bedrooms on the second floor of this six-story building, but much of the space there and on the firs t-floor is set aside for public spaces, including a coffee shop, a kitchen and dining room, a community room, and a library to be named for “original hostellers” Ben and Roselyn Olken.
Richard Olken, their son, took part in the Dill Building tour and shared a bit of family history. He explained that his father had been friends with Monroe and Isabel Smith, who in 1934 founded American Youth Hostels, the predecessor to Hostelling International.
