New Downtown Hostel Offering More Than Just a Bunk

Jay Barrett/KMXT

The new Kodiak Island Hostel – a low-cost alternative to more expensive hotels – is set to open this week, downtown on The Mall. It is owned by Rhonda Maker, and is located upstairs of her store, The Treasury.

Hostels are very popular overseas and among the more adventurous backpack traveler. Maker is hoping to attract more visitors to Kodiak and serve those coming to Kodiak to work in the seafood industry.

— (Hostel 1 31 sec "The basic idea is … will get a better price.")

Maker says when she opens, there will be a special discounted rate, and there will be more amenities than just a place to lay one’s head:

— (Hostel 2 29 sec "We’ll have our introductory … part of the whole plan.")

To serve the fishing fleet and travelers on unpredictable schedules, she says the hostel will be staffed 24-hours a day:

— (Hostel 3 38 sec "Yes, that is my goal, … whoever needs us.")

There has been some misconceptions among at least one of Maker’s neighbors that a hostel is nothing more than a flophouse for indigent transients, but she sets the record straight:

— (Hostel 4 28 sec "I’m not the Brother Francis … or things like that.")

The new Kodiak Island Hostel is upstairs from The Treasury on The Mall, right next door to Henry’s restaurant.

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