{"id":25197,"date":"2024-10-22T16:16:49","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T22:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-bike-hostel-reflects-on-first-year-in-business\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:11:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:11:59","slug":"dolores-bike-hostel-reflects-on-first-year-in-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-bike-hostel-reflects-on-first-year-in-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores Bike Hostel reflects on first year in business"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jake
Jake and Hannah Carloni, the brother and sister duo that runs Jake\u2019s Dolores Bike Hostel. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

On Sept. 30, the Dolores Bike Hostel turned 1 year old.<\/p>\n

And to celebrate, it\u2019s throwing a party on Saturday, Oct. 26, complete with two five-piece bands and a DJ that\u2019ll play a dance party set.<\/p>\n

A Montezuma County band called Goat Head will play at 5 p.m., when the party starts. Mojo Birds out of Durango comes next, followed by DJ Bad Goat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bracketed by goat-themed things,\u201d said the hostel\u2019s owner, Jake Carloni.<\/p>\n

That night, the hostel will be open, inside and out.<\/p>\n

Everyone of all ages is welcome. They\u2019ll have a choice of four cocktails \u2013 and four cocktails only \u2013 and beer on tap from Cortez\u2019s WildEdge Brewing Collective.<\/p>\n

Yia Yia\u2019s food truck will be there too, and so will The Italian, selling subs and pizza.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just hoping it\u2019s going to be a big party,\u201d said Jake. \u201cIt\u2019s a real big hoorah that we want to throw for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJacob spent way too much money on lighting,\u201d said Jake\u2019s sister, Hannah Carloni, who helps him run the hostel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got so many sick lights,\u201d said Jake. \u201cLaser lights, fog lights everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJake bought a fog machine,\u201d Hannah added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bought two fog machines. If you think we\u2019re making money on this party, we are not,\u201d Jake said as they laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just going to be a lot of fun, and we\u2019re stoked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But like any business, getting the place up and running wasn\u2019t all fun and games.<\/p>\n

Almost three years ago, 507 Central Ave. first came into Jake\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of at a time in my life when I had just enough money and just enough skill to be thinking, all right, what can I blow all of my money and take a huge chance on?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake said he had been thinking of buying 35 acres and divvying it up, building small homes on it. But then he saw the 4,000-square-foot, 50-year-old building that\u2019s now the Dolores Bike Hostel<\/a> on Zillow.<\/p>\n

\"What
What the Dolores Bike Hostel looked like before it was the Dolores Bike Hostel. (Photo courtesy Phil Carloni)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It had been on the market for 100 days, and was a textbook vacant building: Trees and weeds grew unchecked, overtaking the yard, and if you looked closely, you could see the shadow of the old Dolores Medical Center\u2019s sign on the faded forest green awning.<\/p>\n

Considering its downtown location, Jake wondered why it hadn\u2019t been bought yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI figured the reason why \u2026 is because it\u2019s kind of a big, awkward building and was going to have to be completely redone,\u201d he remembered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just sitting around, waiting for somebody to come up with a good enough idea to do something with it, I guess,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After contemplating and brainstorming in a hot tub with his friend Brendan Page, Jake said he was driving home afterward when Brendan texted \u201cDolores Bike Hostel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was like, I\u2019ve never been to a hostel in my life, I don\u2019t know anything about hostels, but that\u2019s a really cool name,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The name alone \u201cspawned this journey of asking questions and expecting the door to be shut in my face at every turn, but instead doors opening,\u201d Jake said.<\/p>\n

Renovations took 14 months, and for the first five, Jake lived in the construction zone.<\/p>\n

He deemed the experience of living with no heat or hot water under a tarp in \u201cpseudo clean corners\u201d during a historic winter \u201chorrendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoots (their cat) slept on him for warmth \u2013 it was a symbiotic relationship,\u201d Hannah said.<\/p>\n

\"Jake
Jake Carloni mid-construction in his Dolores Bike Hostel. (Photo courtesy Phil Carloni)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

During the period of \u201cliving like squatter in this place,\u201d Jake said how kind the community was to him. He\u2019d shower at Kokopelli\u2019s, Marie from The Italian fed him four days a week, and ladies from the Food Market would bring him free coffee in the mornings. At night, he\u2019d frequent the pub or Kelly\u2019s Kitchen to use the internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, dark days,\u201d he laughed. \u201cIt was a lot of hard work, but it was a lot of getting lucky and being supported by my friends, my family and my community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that entire 14 months, Jake said he maybe took off seven days. And a few months before the grand opening, Hannah came out to offer a helping hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she called me, she was like yeah, I\u2019m thinking about coming out there for like three weeks to two months,\u201d said Jake. \u201cShe\u2019s been here for a year-and-a-half.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did a lot of physical labor, but also helped set up the website and figure out how to accept bookings, Jake said.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also been responsible for a lot of the \u201cthoughtful things\u201d around the hostel, like four pillows on the beds instead of two, Jake said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd being really funny on social media,\u201d Hannah added.<\/p>\n

After finishing up her 10th year of teaching in Washington, D.C., Hannah said she needed a break, so she visited Dolores for a long weekend in May last year and realized how much help Jake still needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in an OK financial spot where I could not have a job for a year or so, so I quit my job in D.C. and one-way-ticketed my way out here,\u201d Hannah said.<\/p>\n

Until that point, they hadn\u2019t really hung out since they were teenagers, Hannah said. And even then, they weren\u2019t exactly close.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a crapshoot. I was like, I only know the 16-year-old version of Jacob,\u201d Hannah said. \u201cSo it\u2019s been really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHannah\u2019s my best friend,\u201d Jake intervened.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting to know the adult version of Jacob has been really fun,\u201d Hannah laughed.<\/p>\n

She said it\u2019s been refreshing, too, to get out of the city and move to a small town.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn D.C., you find your little tiny community just like in Dolores you find your tiny community, it\u2019s just that in Dolores your tiny community is the whole community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

They both emphasized how thankful they are for the tiny community, and how it\u2019s been great to give back and help stimulate the economy in Dolores.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love when the Food Market or Kelly\u2019s Kitchen or the brewery \u2026 see me and say, \u2018Hey, we had some of your guests yesterday, they were really nice\u2019,\u201d said Jake. \u201cThat\u2019s my favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it first opened, the hostel was busy, but it slowed down from November to April. So in that time, they decided to host events.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember looking at Jake and being like, we can plan any community event that we want because we can and this is ours. We can do whatever we want here,\u201d Hannah said.<\/p>\n

And so they did.<\/p>\n

They started with their first annual Hostelween Party, which is geared toward families with kids. It\u2019s a free event with an obstacle course, crafts, mask making and face painting, and they just had the second annual event on Sunday, Oct. 20.<\/p>\n

Next came Friendsgiving, an Avalanche Awareness Course with Friends of the San Juans and ski tuning with Scott Darling from Kokopelli Bike & Board.<\/p>\n

The Dolores High School Student Council had a pop-up in the hostel\u2019s lobby in January. They borrowed clothing racks from Kokopelli to create a makeshift store of free, used prom dresses.<\/p>\n

In February, they had a speed puzzling competition, and the $600 it made went to Habitat for Humanity. Twelve teams were given the same puzzle, and they raced to finish it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody paid attention to anything but the puzzle; everyone was so concentrated for two hours,\u201d Jake said.<\/p>\n

They were so concentrated on finishing the puzzle, in fact, that the beer and food they bought went untouched, Jake said.<\/p>\n

They also organized a Beer Mile, which Jake called \u201cthe best thing we\u2019ve ever done.\u201d They set a course, beginning at the Dolores River Brewery, and runners \u2013 personally or in relay style \u2013 had to drink four beers over the course of a mile. He said there were 47 runners and a good deal of spectators, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a real good party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Every first Thursday at 6 p.m., they host a book club where people talk about what book they\u2019re reading. And every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., the run and walk club meets at the hostel and goes from there.<\/p>\n

In addition to being part of the colorful community, meeting all the eccentric travelers that the word \u201chostel\u201d attracts is a huge perk of the business. Jake said.<\/p>\n

He said he had actually thought of naming it the Dolores Bike Lodge instead, but thought the word \u201clodge\u201d had an \u201cuppity connotation,\u201d so he opted for hostel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted people to come in with low expectations and hopefully try to exceed them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And often, people\u2019s expectations are exceeded.<\/p>\n

Sometimes guests will book for one night and extend the stay for a few extra nights, something Hannah and Jake attribute to the hostel being nice \u2013 as many visitors have called it the nicest hostel they\u2019ve stayed in \u2013 and all the things to do in the area.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Dolores Bike Hostel now. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The hostel\u2019s kitchen and common area. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to the Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWhenever people are like, \u2018I think this is the nicest hostel I\u2019ve ever been in,\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018I think I know why,\u2019\u201d said Hannah. \u201cI think it\u2019s because my brother\u2019s never been to a hostel before so when he was making it, he didn\u2019t know it was supposed to be kind of sketchy, a little dirty \u2026 I think it worked to our advantage, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visitors came from 25 different countries the first year; Jake said at the start of summer, it felt like there were more international than American visitors.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s loved being able to sit down with people from faraway places, comparing the differences in their daily lives. He remembers one visitor from the Middle East being most stunned about America having bears.<\/p>\n

Overall, in reflecting on their first year in business, the pair feels awfully glad to be part of Dolores.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re turning into a town that\u2019s going to be less of a pass through and more of a destination,\u201d said Jake. \u201cWe\u2019re well-situated and I feel lucky we got in at the time we did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They\u2019re celebrating the milestone on Oct. 26 with a party at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78839,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25197\/revisions\/78839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25197"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}