Detroit hostel encourages tourism on budget; owner wants students to see city before graduation
People looking to experience an insider’s view of Detroit will have a new way to see the city starting today.
Hostel Detroit, a project by 2007 Central Michigan University alumna Emily Doerr, aims to give visitors to Detroit a way to connect and see the city like a local.
She was inspired by Couch Surfing, a program where users register and can stay on others couches anywhere in the world, or open theirs to world travelers.
“I’ve hosted about 100 strangers who have come to Detroit ... when you are telling a stranger about your town you just get to be so proud,” she said. “Couch surfing is very good but very exhausting, (you) feel bad if you cannot host (and) people have asked ‘Why isn’t there a hostel?’”
Doerr decided to answer that question by opening one in the North Corktown neighborhood, 2700 Vermont, near the former Tiger Stadium. She selected the location because of it's proximity to the city center, only about a mile and a half.
One of her former instructors, Professor Joyce Baugh, said she felt the hostel was a great fit for Doerr, who majored in political science and economics.
"Emily is an example of how to blend academic excellence with intellectual curiosity and an interest in the world around you," Baugh said. "I would really like to see Detroit come back ... I think it's a city that too many people have given up on and I don't want to be one of them."
Doerr was first introduced to Detroit by her now-ex boyfriend, he was from the area and she frequently visited from Lansing, where she lived, she said.
She fell in love with the city and now owns a “huge apartment” there.
“I realized very quickly that (Detroit) was this vibrant city … there aren’t millions of young people here so I knew I could make a difference,” she said. “My number one mission is that I think that anyone who goes to college in Michigan should go to Detroit for at least one weekend.”
Doerr said her previous experience with Detroit was to come into the city for a game or a show and leave that night. The hostel will introduce people to an ambassador in the city.
Melissa Piccirilli shares Doerr's love for the city. The 2007 graduate met Doerr at Central Michigan University and is helping her with the hostel.
"I just think Detroit can be great again and if I can be a part of it that would be awesome," she said.
Piccirilli helped with the design of the hostel at the beginning and is now working on the logistics; how many beds can fit, how and where.
A night's stay at the 18-bed hostel costs $18 to $44 per night, Doerr said. There are private rooms for rent or visitors can stay in a room with 10 other people.
"I like the idea of economic community development," Doerr said. "I'm hoping that each year we'll have a total of money that was spent in Detroit because of this hostel."
