Zostel steps into the premium stay segment with villas that blend privacy with local connection

Hostel civilization and fund question are relatively caller concepts for India. They have been astir lone for a decennary oregon so, but fit close into India’s appetite for getting their money’s worth. At the cusp of the roar successful the question manufacture successful 2013, successful the Blue City of India, Jodhpur, a tiny hostel opened that acceptable the benchmark for question hostels nationwide. Zostel, which is present India’s largest concatenation of hostels, began arsenic a mode to assistance the younker of the state question wider and farther connected a choky budget.

Over the years, Zostel has evolved acold beyond its hostel roots, expanding into caller formats to cater to antithetic types of travellers. From Zostel Plus, their premium hostels with upgraded experiences, to Zostel Homes, curated homestays that bring guests person to section culture, and Zo Trips, designed to connection seamless question experiences, the marque has steadily built a full-service ecosystem. “Rather than trying to capable the gap, the extremity is to beryllium everyone’s travel spouse for life. Zostel wants to beryllium a portion of your full travel and thing that you bash related to question or  an hold of it, done manner design,” says Aviral Gupta, CEO, Zostel. He wants travellers to beryllium capable to plan their ain question personalities based connected what suits them best.

Now successful 2025, with the motorboat of Zostel Villas, the marque mirrors the improvement of the Indian traveller. “When radical archetypal started coming to Zostel, they were mostly youngsters, 22 oregon 23-years-old,” says Aviral. “Now those aforesaid radical are 32 oregon 33, with families, partners, and amended incomes. They inactive privation to question with Zostel, but successful much premium, backstage settings.” As India’s mediate people matures, question has moved from fund escapade to personalised comfort. The backpackers who erstwhile bunked successful Zostel dorms present question thing backstage wherever they tin unwind with their friends oregon families without losing that consciousness of authenticity and assemblage that archetypal drew them in.

But dissimilar different players successful the villa-rental abstraction similar Airbnb, Zostel is banking connected thing it is ever done good — section connection. “All the hostels and homes are powered by the section community, and locals who privation to big guests successful their antithetic homes and their villas,” says Aviral. Some of their astir fashionable yet off-beat destinations are Bhor, Panchgani, Stok, Kalpa, Wayanad and Kolad.  Each villa volition beryllium curated to bespeak its surroundings alternatively than conform to a template. “Standardisation would beryllium lone to the grade of the basics.  Every hostel is antithetic from the different successful presumption of however they bring retired the archetypal vibe and civilization of that place,” helium adds. It is an hold of the Zostel doctrine — authentic, rooted, and built connected existent radical and places, adjacent arsenic it gets much premium.

The emergence of Zostel Villas besides reflects a broader displacement successful however Indians travel. As integer entree deepens and disposable incomes rise, travellers are progressively seeking experiences that spell beyond accommodation. “A larger displacement has travel on arsenic a earthy effect of digitisation,” says Aviral. “People are present looking for much on-the-go experiences and privation accusation successful existent time.”

In galore ways, Zostel Villas bring the marque backmost to wherever it started: with radical astatine the centre of the journey. “The lone quality is that we request antithetic products to service radical from antithetic demographics now,” says Aviral. As Indian travellers proceed to evolve, truthful excessively does the marque that helped signifier their wanderlust — from dorm beds to backstage pools, without ever losing show of what made radical take Zostel successful the archetypal place.

Zostel Villas volition motorboat successful the archetypal 4th of 2026 with its archetypal villa successful Wayanad. Cost per nighttime volition beryllium tentatively ₹12,999.