Introduction
The Student Hotel claims it is the world’s largest “complete connected community”. It is comprised of individuals inspired by the student spirit who co-work, co-live and “co-a-lot-more.” Each hotel is a place where long-term student residents as well as hotel guests experience hybrid accommodation that blends living with leisure and work facilities. With a vision of bringing people together, The Student Hotel is intended to encourage individual goals to be achieved while guests collectively work to change the world for the better.
Description of the destination or original product
Collaboration and design are two cornerstones of The Student Hotel. The hotels’ vibrant atmospheres are designed as modern, open spaces in order to forge new connections between guests and to cultivate collaboration and idea sharing. Four demographics are served at The Student Hotel: student guests, hotel guests, short-stay guests (those staying from two weeks to one year), and those who use the premises to work and meet.
State-of-the-art facilities as well as high-speed Wi-Fi are only some of the ways in which guests’ experiences are maximized. At each of its thirteen current locations (including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Florence, and Paris), The Student Hotel contains student rooms, hotel rooms, and co-living studios. The ground floors host open spaces to facilitate social and inviting environments. They are publicly accessible and include study areas and meeting rooms. Hotels are equipped with facilities such as a gym, swimming pool, game room, bar and fleet of bicycles that can be used by The Student Hotel community. In seven of the current locations, entrepreneurs and businessowners can become members of the TSH Collab, which is a co-working space that offers desks, office space, and meeting rooms and events on demand. Members have access to all TSH Collabs, meaning that they are able to take their work with them wherever they go.
The Student Hotel connects people of various backgrounds, whether students, entrepreneurs, or travelers. Each person contributes to the connected community, and the overall result is cross-cultural understanding. While students enjoy high-quality accommodations, parents are able to visit as hotel guests and enjoy the inclusive environment. With the inception of The Student Hotel concept, the socially-minded design of a hotel has successfully contributed to the spirit of discovery, openness, and adventure.
Process that facilitated change
CEO Charlie MacGregor was involved in the student accommodation industry before creating The Student Hotel. His plan was not originally to create a hotel akin to what The Student Hotel is, but rather to provide first-year students with good quality accommodations, ample shared common spaces, and extensive ground floors where individuals could come together.
Once the business plan evolved into a hotel model, it became evident that The Student Hotel environment was one in which people of all generations and backgrounds could be successfully integrated in order to bring the community together.
Implementation
The first branch of The Student Hotel was established in Amsterdam. Since then, the company has expanded in the Netherlands and abroad. With the help of public-private partnerships with local as well as international stakeholders, The Student Hotel has grown substantially. With the help of city governments and property companies, buildings that remain vacant have been successfully developed into hotels, sometimes in less than a year. All efforts in the planning and development process are done with the support of international experts.
On March 3, 2017, the first TSH Collab was opened in Amsterdam City, the company’s flagship hotel. Since then, TSH Collab (as well as hotel locations) have begun to spread throughout Europe.
To encourage meaningful change-making, The Student Hotel aims to utilize ten percent of its resources and space to creating a positive impact on the world. This process has been accomplished by the greening of buildings and supporting a diverse community, to name a few. Through its annual Impact Report, The Student Hotel discusses its current sustainability initiatives.
Success/failure story
Forty-one hotels are slated to open by 2021. In total, these hotels will house over 3,000 bikes, 1,755 hotel rooms, and 30,000 square meters of shared connecting spaces, and over 1,300 jobs will have been created. By 2020, there will be thirty TSH Collabs in Europe.
The Student Hotel has been able to achieve an accommodation environment that serves students better, integrates parents and guests into the experience, and cultivates a greater sense of community in everyday living quarters.
Company info
The Student Hotel
Jan van Galenstraat 335
Amsterdam, 1061 AZ, Netherlands
References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=saBYrRk1QMw