Destination Lisbon

Meet Eric, Destination Hostels' manager, a major Lisbon hostel chain

If you are wondering what's the best accommodation option to enjoy your stay in Lisbon, there are no better places than hostels. No presentation is needed for Lisbon's ones: they are hands down the best. We take you to Destination Hostels, a fantastic hostel chain including Lisbon Destination Hostel, Sunset Destination Hostel and Alfama Patio Hostel. We had a chat with Eric, their marketing manager, about traveling and about Portugal, about his passion for backpacking and the hostel industry, you ready?



1. If you had to describe Portugal in 5 words, which would they be and why?

First I say colorful: this country is picturesque and people are never tired of discovering among its streets and buildings many allegories of colors, scents and scenery.
Second, this produces a "shiny"effect: it feels at once the importance and the role that has the sun here. Entirely pervades cities, towns and countryside with a magical sky. The white mosaics floors reflecting a bright light, which gives uniqueness of colors and sensations.
Third, the Portuguese people are proud: let's think of our history, our traditions and geographical discoveries, as the westernmost country of Europe. This spirit can be felt today by visiting the coastal towns or going to Cape da Roca, which the 16th-century Portuguese poet Luís de Camões described as the place "where the land ends and the sea begins".
Fourth, at the bottom, this is a country that is presented in the name of tolerance. His ethnic crowd is quite unique in Southern Europe, and your eyes will not see so many people from so many different cultures and histories, to live in a peaceful way, creating a melting pot that seems to me melt down all this diversity into a single face. This is very good for human relationships.
Last, but not least, key word is joyful. Portugal awaits you.
Here the popular festivals are deeply felt and experienced by the local population. There are different types and are able to paralyze the city in which they take place. Visit the Portuguese cities during one of these events means catch the ultimate popular expression that mixes the sacred and the profane, pagan traditions with religious ones. Cities become a swarm of people and events that occur for days: witness a music, dance, color and streets covered with flowers. A veritable feast for the eyes and for the photography fans!



2. What is the main difference between a hotel and a hostel according to you?

In my opinion, the main difference between hostel and hotel, beyond the letter s, is that the second ones offers only private rooms, have turned to a medium-high segment of the market, while the first ones also offer places in dorms, which may vary from 4 to more beds, depending on the size of the hostel. The dorms can be small or large, for women/men only or mixed, but this still means that the room is shared with people who you don’t know (yet).
Although many hostels, like ours, also offer private rooms inlcuding en-suite facilities, the atmosphere here is still very different from that of a normal hotel. While hotels are limited to providing customers with a comfortable place to spend the night, hostels have a much more "familiar" connotation, since they often end up sharing with other guests not only the room but also the breakfast tables, washing machine, and so on.
Hostels organize parties and tours, you can relax during sunset at a bar where guests can meet and make friends.
In a hostel, it is much easier to find and talk to complete strangers exchanging advices, information and points of view.
Ultimately, I think that hostels are a great place to find new friends, to meet people from other countries and cultures, rely on the staff always attentive and available, who know ver well the city in which you are and who can give you a good suggestions about where to go to spend a night out!

Sunset Destination Hostel

At Sunset Destination Hostel, a breathtaking view over the river Tagus meets a crazy terrace filled with sunflowers and an urban garden. Plus, it’s located in Cais de Sodre, the train station that takes you to some of the best beaches in the Lisbon area. Also it's very well connected to the Universities by metro and bus!

3. Would you describe the most important characteristics of Destination hostels?

To speed towards a revolution in the accommodation market, by changing the perception of quality of Hostels to an outstanding social experience. This way bringing new clients to this sector, that otherwise would never stay in a hostel.
To make Destination Hostels an international chain and brand. Proving outside of Portugal that a Portuguese company can be leader, and there is a genetic improvement for Portuguese people as a result of 5 centuries of managing within different cultures and continents.
To provide both accommodation and social experience, in a unique interior design, unique location, at a low cost price, where young minded guests feel they got more than what they paid for.

Alfama Patio Hostel

Located in Lisbon’s most bohemian neighborhood, among winding cobble-stone streets, Alfama Patio is a traditional Portuguese house where the living room extends onto a garden patio with flowers spilling over their pots and a deck terrace overlooking red roofs and the Tagus river.

4. Could you define the idea of backpacking?

OK, I will try to define what backpacking is to me:
-Visit the same places that the tourists, but live like the locals, going to see the world through different eyes. Let it be a little bit of everything: traveler, discoverer, naturalist, hippie, lover and get amazed by all the small details that only few know.
-The skill to realize, capture, absorb and record everything that is around us. You interact, plunge headlong into a culture, living it intensely, but mostly respecting it. Be proud to feel a world citizen, exercising their rights, but never forget their duties to the planet. Also find that the more we travel the more we realize how big this world, but the more people we know the more we find that the world is small.
-Plot your course and move on, change and adapt its course if so required, without losing the mood, expectation and joy to get where desired.
-Sweating a lot, gathering strength over time, but when you get there, let the thrill of conquest hold you, deep breath and thank by the good life that took you up there.
-Abstain the comforts of luxuries, grate the whole year at work, going hours by bus. Once you return home to harder rock and when viewing photos or memories of the trip, remember also that it was well worth it!



5. If you were planning a trip as backpacker, what requirements would you have for a hostel?

Definitely my needs are to find a simple environment in its totality, friendly and familiar.
Backpacker hostels can also be found in most major tourist destinations and have the best locations. There are several backpacker hostels on the beach, some in the mountains and a few in remote, rural places. Others can be found in the heart of the cities and in its trendy districts.
I think generally a backpacker is a traveler, a person who travels for the same reason of the trip. So first of all you have to fit: most hostels supply linen including sheets, pillows and a duvet or a blanket.
For the rest I think you can complete the answer with the considerations made on questions 2 and 4.

Lisbon Destination Hostel, the finest and most sophisticated Hostel in center of Lisbon. Housed in the industrial heritage train station located in the heart of the city, it offers first class service at low rates!



Choose Lisbon Destination Hostel, Sunset Destination Hostel and Alfama Patio Hostel and let us know how it was!