Hostelling International Employee Reviews

Casual workplace. Very busy at times. Need more staff - working on getting them. Nonprofit organization with great mission. Everyone seems to try to be positive and supportive.

Was this review helpful?

excellent Mission and people

Vice President, Northeast Region (Former Employee) - Boston, MA - December 16, 2022

loved the Mission. wish overall goals and potential giant shifts in priorities were better thought out and just more transparency overallFun office environment, even better environment at most hostels. loved the variety of hostels and locations

Was this review helpful?

Jobs at Hostelling International

Housekeeping Associate

Chicago, IL

30+ days ago

Maintenance Associate

Boston, MA

12 days ago

Supervisor de Limpieza

Boston, MA

25 days ago

Guest Services Associate | AM Shift

Sacramento, CA

5 days ago

Good experience

Front Desk Lead, Night Audit (Former Employee) - Chicago, IL - May 7, 2022

It's a company that cares about its employees and goes to great lengths to make sure they are treated fairly. It was a good experience, I definitely enjoyed it.

Pros

They care about giving you breaks, positive work culture, meet people from all over the world.

Cons

Typical hospitality stuff: pay is not everything it should be. Sure it's gotten better

Was this review helpful?

Great mission but lackluster support from upper management.

Employee (Former Employee) - Houston, TX - December 30, 2021

Working with HIUSA has been a pleasure yet stressful. Hospitality leans toward a high-stress environment and lack of support from upper management made it difficult to get anything done like maintenance repairs that kept getting pushed back This location ended up closing due to the pandemic. Met some great people and heard great stories.

Was this review helpful?

Good place to work, little room for advancement

Hostel Assistant (Former Employee) - California - September 30, 2021

As with most front-line hospitality roles, there's little room for advancement, which led to a bit of boredom and stagnation for me after a few years. The PTO is quite good and they cover nearly all of your medical benefit costs. They try to do great, with meaningful missions, but can miss the mark on inclusiveness at times, in part due to shared accommodation settings and trying to please other guests. The pay is probably about average for the industry.

Pros

Medical and Dental Benefits, great PTO accumulation, positive mission, free stays at HIUSA hostels

Cons

mediocre pay, little room for advancement, stagnation

Was this review helpful?

Hostelling International insights

Based on 20 survey responses

What people like

Feeling of personal appreciation
Sense of belonging
Inclusive work environment

fun place to work

Front Desk Receptionist (Former Employee) - Los Angeles, CA - July 9, 2021

Good place to work fun guests and really good culture Company actyally cares about you and set ways to reach your goals. Great fit for a summer job.Ok

Was this review helpful?

Es una gran Empresa para trabahar

Housekeeping (Former Employee) - New York, NY - November 25, 2020

Ambiente de trabajo bueno .buen equipo se trabaja sin presión

Was this review helpful?

Serviceable

Senior Accountant (Current Employee) - Silver Spring, MD - July 21, 2020

A company that cares about its members. Hostelling International USA believes in the power of travel to foster a deeper understanding of people, places, and the world around.

Pros

Accommodating

Cons

Limited opportunities

Was this review helpful?

Fun place to work

Night Auditor (Former Employee) - New York, NY - March 20, 2020

Fun place to work. Promotes travelling. Management can be a little more professional. You can stay at other locations for free around the world. Training are hands on and fun as well.

Was this review helpful?

most enjoyable part of my job is the communication

Housekeeper (Current Employee) - San Diego, CA - January 3, 2020

The communication i have with staff and guest's to me is the most enjoyable. I believe it is important to not only connect with the people working around you but also establish a dependable attitude to keep the environment uplifting.

Was this review helpful?

Rate your recent company

Share your experience to help others

Es una compañía buena

Housekeeping (Former Employee) - 860 Ámsterdam Avenue - December 29, 2019

Es buena compañía los jefe son muy amables con todo el personal

Was this review helpful?

Flexibility and diversity training just came natural with the work!

Maintenance Manager (Current Employee) - Downtown San Diego - October 27, 2019

As maintenance manager I am always building upon preventative maintenance so that I can fulfill the day's requests from the different departments. The day begins with yesterday's planning for today! Then, by mid morning the agenda changes, and that's where flexibility is the word for the day! Hostelling International has given the opportunity to grow and understand on how to work with a diversity of people, culture and minds... The most enjoyable part of the job is creating a collaboration with all he departments creating inter- department teams and getting so much done! I loved it! Finally, I am allowed to complete projects using project management, again, things moved forward...

Pros

Promotes time off for well being...

Cons

For maintenance managers, little room for growth...

Was this review helpful?

Fun place

Laundry Attendant (Former Employee) - Chicago, IL - September 15, 2019

A good job to have I really wish they never let me go I like this job but really didn’t like my supervisor he was not so cool and alway trying to tell me how to do my job when I was their longer then him I was and still is a good housekeeper

Pros

Cons

Nothing

Was this review helpful?

Wow!

Night Auditor (Current Employee) - Chicago, IL - September 3, 2019

OMG worst company ever. Management is horrible, the Assistant GM is a looney tune who wants total domination and wants everything and everyone who does not agree with her to be fired. She isn't fit to be in management, and is nothing more than a liar who is bent on destroying everyone's lives who go against her. Now, she's trying to have the GM and front desk supervisor fired so she and the manager on duty can run the hostel.

Pros

None

Cons

Everything

Was this review helpful?

So stressful with little reward

Guest Service Agent (Current Employee) - New Orleans, LA - September 1, 2019

Working here has been pretty miserable. Very low pay and strict rules. You're constantly being surveilled and management gets angry if you seem too relaxed or content. I have frequent panic attacks now after not having them for a long while and I feel like my health is rapidly deteriorating. There are so many job duties in addition to your main ones and it seems like more are added every week. Taking this position feels like the biggest mistake I've made this year.

Was this review helpful?

Room to be creative, work independently and well as collectively

Education Administrator (Current Employee) - New York, NY - August 30, 2019

A typical work day begins at 10am, we are a national organization so that time is most convenient for our West Coast colleagues. Monday there are team meeting, Tuesdays are one on one meeting with your director, and Wednesdays are manager meeting with other hostel departments. There are 4 education programs a month that are promoted, created, and facilitated by the sole Education Administrator on site. There is a lot of room to create programming that positively impacts the community.

Was this review helpful?

Decent

General Manager (Current Employee) - Austin, TX - August 18, 2019

Great benefits but not competitive in terms of salary, work/life balance, and professional development. For a non profit it's not a bad company but they can do a lot better to attract and retain talent,

Was this review helpful?

Flexible

Night Auditor/Front Desk Agent (Current Employee) - Washington, DC - August 14, 2019

If you have school thing to do Night audit is for you .You will have time to do other stuffs while you are in the clock.Schedule is flexible as long as yoi communicate with your manager

Was this review helpful?

Fun Workplace

Back Office Coordinator (Former Employee) - Baltimore, MD - August 12, 2019

I was able to experience different cultures all in one place. Fun place to work great for college kids or travelers. I would work here again and refer people to stay.

Was this review helpful?

I need a new job

Front Desk Agent (Current Employee) - Chicago, IL - April 9, 2019

The only benefit of working here is that as long as the cash drawers are not short and guests are checking in, management doesn't care. People do whatever they want, there's no accountability for anything, and if you complain, you either are retaliated against, or fired. Favoritism runs rampant throughout the hostel, sad to say, and there are individuals working here whose behavior is antithetical to the hostel's mission. But hey, as long as their bottom line is not affected, who cares about the employees, right?