A nonprofit is readying newly refurbished and affordable lodging for travelers.

It was a simple idea by a teacher in Germany in 1909 looking for low-cost accommodations to take students on trips into nature: Why not rent out beds in shared quarters instead of private hotel rooms? Richard Schirrmann opened the first hostel in 1912 and the idea took off: There are approximately 10,000 in Europe, with around 300 in the United States, including one in Monterey a few blocks from Cannery Row, opened in 2000. The pandemic nearly shuttered the hostel for good, but now it’s months from reopening with a new look.

For nearly three years, Monterey Hostel has been undergoing a renovation inside the former Carpenters Union Hall just one block up from Lighthouse Avenue in New Monterey. A private developer purchased the property from the former owners in 2021 and partnered with another hostel nonprofit, HostelingOn Inc., to renovate and operate the property.

“It was in pretty rough shape, it hadn’t been updated since it first opened,” says Ryan Oetting, executive director of HostelingOn. “We knew that we were going to take it and have to do a facelift on the inside and reconfigure it to be more marketable and viable in a post-pandemic world where shared dorms aren’t as desirable.”

They replaced large dorm rooms with smaller rooms to accommodate individuals or small groups and families. Each room has a bathroom attached. Oetting says beds will start at around $65 a night – a far cry from last year’s average hotel room rate of around $300 a night. Private rooms will also be available inside the hostel at a price to be determined.

In the spirit of hostels, guests will share the kitchen and dining area, laundry, and the opportunity to interact with other travelers, many of them students from high school to college. Oetting says his email inbox is already full of requests from public school teachers who want to bring classes to experience Monterey Bay.

“We believe you shouldn’t have to be wealthy to experience the coast and so hostels are helpful institutions to make travel more affordable compared to other things on the market,” he says.

As a nonprofit, HostelingOn is dependent on donations to keep the mission of providing low-cost accommodations available – they’re currently fundraising to purchase furniture and other necessities in time for the spring opening.

MONTEREY HOSTEL is located at 778 Hawthorne St., Monterey. More information at montereyhostel.com.