How long have you been in hostel business?
Borut (my partner) and me have been running a hostel business since summer 2006, so that means that we run
Hostel Pod Voglom for 9 years already.
Can you tell something about your background and how you ended up in where you are now? Previously we ran
Outdoor sports agency Pac sports for 10 years on the same location. We are both sport teachers and outdoor fans. During our summer season we stayed in the same building (Hotel Pod Voglom, which had 2 stars only). The owners decided to shut the Hotel Pod Voglom down as it was not rentable enough. As we did not know, where to go, with all our outdoor sports equipment and we needed a spot for our agency, we were 'forced' to rent a building. As we were both quite enthusiastic travellers and mostly used hostels as our accommodation, we decided, to turn the building into a hostel – and luckily we were quite successful in that.
What are the best things in your town/area for travellers?
What do you recommend your guests to do? The best thing is Triglav National Park and it is our main advantage that our Hostel Pod Voglom lies right in the heart of the Triglav National Park on the shore of the Bohinj Lake. We are actually the only accommodation in Bohinj with our own beach.
We can recommend the guests to do outdoor sports with us. We run the outdoor sports agency Pac sports for 19 years already and is the main outdoor agency in the area. We can offer our guest a complete package – full board with the whole day activities, such as rafting, canyoning, paragliding… We have plenty of sport equipment to rent (mountain bikes, canoes, kayaks, rowing boats, sups… ).
The guests have a possibility for the winter sports, too. Our Hostel is 2 km away from our main ski resort Vogel, where you can ski until May. So actually you may ski in the morning and in the afternoon go biking in the valley or supping/canoeing on the Bohinj Lake.
There is plenty of things to do in Bohinj, so it is sometimes a shame, when I see guests come to Bohinj for one afternoon only. There are numerous possibilities for the outdoor sports (trekking, water sports, climbing, biking…) and not so many for the party. Except in the summer time, when it is really a lot of tourists in Bohinj and there are plenty of concerts and other events going on. Apart from July and August it is very quiet, so if the travellers are looking for a loud party, Bohinj is not a good option.
What’s your own favourite destination in Slovenia? And anywhere in the world?
It is really difficult do decide among the destinations in Slovenia. Slovenia is a small country (you need 3 hours with a car to ride it through), however we really have almost everything – a bit of a sea shore, high Julian Alps, plenty of Lakes, thousands of caves, vineyards, a lot of forest and wildlife. What we do not have are big cities. Our capital city Ljubljana, you can walk through in 2 hours. I am a mountain lover, so my favourite destination would be Bohinj – the place I live in. To pick the best destination in the world… very difficult question... I would pick Bohinj again. There is no place like home.
What do you think a great hostel is like?
The most important is ‘’the vibe’’ of the place. It is definitely very important the location and of course, how clean the hostel and the area is. But if there are no good vibration – something is missing. And here with the vibe I am referring to the staff - the staff is the most important factor. If the staff is friendly, helpful and professional, the guest fells he/she is wanted in the area and likes to come back.
What’s your favourite hostel of all the ones you’ve stayed in as a traveller (apart from your own)?
I remember staying in very nice cabañas on the Tulum beach (Mexico) and the Cabo Blanco beach (Mexico – Pacific coast). They weren’t ‘’true’’ hostels, but they really made an impression on me. In Europe I remember mostly YH in Basel (Switzerland) – it had quite ‘’cold’’ inside architecture (as most of the Swiss hostel have), but the staff was very nice and I had a good felling there. In lots of the hostels I have stayed recently (here I am referring mostly to the big city hostels), the feeling I got was very formal and impersonal – I was definitely missing the ‘’vibe’’ there.
Where would you like to travel next?
I have plenty of wishes. I would like to visit Baltic lands, Northern European countries and Finland of course. But my next destination will be Portugal – I love Portuguese and when I find time I will definitely visit South America again.
Kati Ollula
.jpg)
.jpg)
