A Wonderful Hostel Surrounded by Nature

A wonderful hostel surrounded by nature

The hostel is an excellent starting point, since all of the above destinations are less than ten kilometres away. You can reach them by car, but it’s even better to explore them by bike in the warmer parts of the year.

The hostel is amazing. Of all the hostels – that I’ve been to in Slovenia – the HI Ars Viva was the one that won me over. It’s clean, tidy and safe, and you feel quite like at home. This feeling is already noticeable when you drive onto the courtyard. When you’re greeted by Beno, the owner, and takes you to your room, you really start to feel like at home.

Years ago, the old family farm was redecorated into a modern hostel. When it came to the design and furnishing, each traveller and each guest was taken into account. That’s why there are rooms with bathrooms suitable for persons with disabilities, and the hostel also has a lift, plus there’s a ramp leading from the entrance to the basement and the ground floor. After its opening in 2017, the hostel was the first tourist accommodation in Slovenia that was adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities on wheelchairs. The two attic rooms will be particularly popular among school groups, as the attic was excellently optimised and converted into two well-lit rooms with six beds each. There’s a library in both the ground floor and the first floor, and an online reading room is available for foreigners, with regularly issued English magazines. There’s also a computer corner with three computers. The dining room and the kitchen are large, spacious and well-lit. Drawers are full of plates, shelves are stacked with cups and glasses, and cupboards are laden with kitchenware. The kitchen is equipped with a fridge, a glass-ceramic cooktop, an electric water kettle, a tabletop grill... Everything you need to prepare yourself a meal. Or you can order breakfast that’s available between 8 and 10 a.m. The large dining room doesn’t accommodate a large number of visitors only during breakfast or later meal, though, but is perfectly suitable as a working space for groups. Apart from conference or study rooms, or rooms for workshops and gathering rooms, the hostel also boasts a new, modern 3D printer.

There’s a gallery downstairs that hosts art exhibitions. Even the walls in hallways and rooms are decorated with paintings that are truly works of art and were painted by Mr Beno, the owner of the hostel and an expert in mouth painting, and his friend Željko Vertelj.

Rooms with a private bathroom, an apartment...

There are 29 beds in the hostel with altogether three double rooms with a private bathroom, four double rooms with a shared bathroom, a triple room with a shared bathroom and two six-bed rooms. The neighbouring building has a large event space and there’s a four-bedroom apartment with 14 beds on top. All rooms are tidy, beautiful, and clean. The bed linen comes with the hostel’s name embroidered on it and towels all have the hostel’s logo. These things might seem trivial at first, but all of the little details together create an overall image of the hostel and give it a label for excellence.

Two charging stations for electric vehicles and an amphitheatre

The hostel is situated in a peaceful environment and surrounded by the countryside, offering fresh air, and there are green plateaus all around with a view over the surrounding mountaintops and meadows. There’s a large car park in front of the hostel. Two car parks for electric vehicles, together with two charging stations, are also available. A big balcony with deckchairs overlooks the terrace, and these deckchairs come quite handy during the summer when visitors can unwind and enjoy the bird singing and bask in the sunshine. But there’s also one more thing that makes the hostel special, namely the large amphitheatre right next to the main building where groups can practice and put on theatrical performances with the help of excellent acoustics.

Ambitions plans for the future

Mr Benjamin Žnidaršič doesn’t hide his ideas for the future development of the hostel. He’s already got plans to try to fulfil two of his wishes, namely the conversion of the farm building into a restaurant (where the chef will prepare dishes in front of the guests and the latter could experience an experiential workshop) and build a pool under the barn (that would be available all year round and would be an exciting addition to the activities in the hostel).

The hostel truly is something special, a story of kind-hearted people and big, ambitious ideas. The hostel is also the head office of the Institute for cultural integration and socialisation of social groups from the Loka Valley, but the cultural centre and the technology and development incubator also have their offices there, though, they go quite unnoticed by guests and are unobtrusive – quite the contrary, all of their activities make the countryside even more interesting.

The hostel is suitable for individual guests and groups, as well as travellers, schools, camps, gatherings, and business meetings. If desired, the hostel can arrange its own programme or work with the local environment for the most diverse offer. For example, there are already clay workshops available in a renovated building in the neighbouring village and soon there will also be a picnic space and a playground available.

The hostel is part of the Hostelling International network, which means all HI card holders get 10% off their booking.

You can find out more about what we did in the Inner Carniola region, what we went to see there and the places we explored, in the next issue.