Bozeman
Backpackers Hostel offers a place to rest.
By
KAYLEY
MENDENHALL, Chronicle Staff Writer
The doors at the Bozeman Backpackers Hostel on West Olive Street
are never locked.
"It's a low-maintenance type of set up," Mortimer,
42, said. "We work on an honor system."
Mortimer bought the hostel a little more than a year ago from
former owner Jim Marshall, on the condition that it remain a hostel
for at least 10 years. That plan suits Mortimer, who is originally
from Australia and first visited the hostel in the early 1990s.
He wouldn't want to change the funky feel of the place.
"I just ended up loving the place," he said.
"I kept coming back and coming back and coming back."
Now that he's running the show he realizes
other patrons from all over the world also feel at home in the
1890s-vintage house.
With worn-down couches in the living room, a tidy kitchen that
smells like fresh-made food and two guitars hung on the walls ready
for impromptu jam sessions, the hostel has a lived-in-but-loved
look.
"It's the best place in the nation," said John Brandt, a
return visitor from Alaska. "And he's the best proprietor in
the nation."
Part of the reason for the customer loyalty is the hostel's relaxed
atmosphere. Unlike some international hostels, there are no curfews,
no lock-outs during the day and no real rules other than a required
respect for the house and other guests.
People take turns making meals in the kitchen and sometimes guests
work together putting on potlucks full of international flavor.
Mortimer encourages game nights and invites neighbors to hang out
and meet visitors.
"There's an aspect to it where people who are traveling get to
meet locals and do the local thing, as opposed to the touristy
thing," he said.
Mortimer and his one employee will point guests to the best
reasonably priced local restaurants, bars and shopping areas. And
Paul Reichert at the Downtown Bozeman Partnership will sometimes
point foreigners toward the hostel for a place to stay.
"We had a flood of people in the spring, mostly employees of
Yellowstone that are kind of in limbo. They've got a couple of days
before they start work," Reichert said. "I've at least
offered the hostel. I don't know how many have taken him up on
it."
One night Mortimer arrived home to find 23 Colombians had taken over
the house. They were Yellowstone National Park employees who needed
a place to stay on their way to the park.
Even though the hostel really only has room for 15 people, Mortimer
pulled out extra mattresses and set them up on the floor.
"For $20 a night, they're just happy to have a roof over their
heads," he said. "Sometimes the front porch will be filled
with interesting people."
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