Even in the hip, artistic city of Barcelona, the Hostal Gat Xino manages to stand out. With a streamlined white interior punctuated by lime green doors and baseboards, stylized graphics on the walls and sculptural Panton chairs, the establishment picks up on the energy of El Raval, the edgy neighbourhood it calls home. An open-air roof deck, free breakfast in a dining room with polka-dot wallpaper and cruiser bikes all add to the appeal.
But the most pleasant surprise comes when you get the bill: Rooms start at only $82, a fraction of what most design hotels, such as the nearby Casa Camper, normally charge. As its name suggests, Gat Xino (along with its Barcelona brother Hostal Gat Raval) is a hostel - part of a growing number of them bringing the atmosphere of boutique hotels to budget-conscious travellers. While quirky, modern design used to come with a hefty price tag (ever try booking a room at New York's Royalton?), these boutique hostels are proving that cheap rooms can have lots of design appeal.
"The whole lifestyle aspect of the hotel business is working its way down to the budget sector," says Jeff Weinstein, editor of the industry magazine Hotels. "Going forward, I think you're going to see more innovation coming from hoteliers at the lower end of the market. They're creating concepts to appeal to Generation Y." But aside from twentysomethings, the private rooms in these establishments appeal to more seasoned travellers who want something more stylish than dreary budget hotels, and who don't mind a slightly more freewheeling attitude.
Stay, which describes itself as "a boutique hotel/youth hostel hybrid," recently brought the format to downtown Los Angeles. "I think people who have travelled through Europe in their 20s are pretty aware of what most hostels look like," says designer Catherine Coan.
Coan and collaborator Amy Price worked to avoid the dark, grungy, cramped rooms typical to hostels. Stay's rooms are baby blue and juicy orange; they come with Pop Art-style bedspreads and chairs shaped like huge upturned hands.
"When people come through and see these rooms, they say, 'Wow, I get that for 60 bucks?' " Coan says.
And that U.S. dollar price - which works out to $75 - will get you a private room. A bunk in a shared room is only $44.
There are, of course, some tradeoffs. One of the reasons Stay's prices are so affordable is that it's located in a less desirable part of town. "Downtown Los Angeles is notorious for a boom and bust cycle, where gentrification comes and goes," Coan explains.
"Our demographic [is] younger travellers who are willing to be in an edgier part of town, but want good accommodations on a budget."
How low can design hostels go? The room rates at the stunning Pfefferbett hostel in Berlin are spectacularly inexpensive - dorm-style rooms start at only $20, and private rooms with showers start at $44.
Those prices buy you a stay in a renovated former brewery with vaulted brick ceilings and pleasantly utilitarian furniture. When you first arrive at the hostel, you might think it's the wrong place - the upscale lobby is equipped with designer furniture (such as stools by star designer Konstantin Grcic) and features a faceted bar and computer stations resembling rock formations.
In Paris, there's Oops!, a hostel in the Latin Quarter that has its name spelled out in lights at the entrance, as part of a floor-to-ceiling backlit wall. Step deeper inside and you'll find swirling stripes of colour wrapping the dining room, and contemporary wallpaper with black and white floral patterns in some of the bedrooms. Rates start at $37 for dorm-style accommodations, and $99 for private rooms - including free breakfast and WiFi.
