Tucked away in a quaint courtyard just off Wheeler Gate, Igloo Hybrid is Nottingham’s only hostel accommodation for visitors to the city. After thirty years of welcoming guests from around the world, owner B Kristiansen is getting ready to sell up and return to her native Denmark, but not before finding a buyer that will keep the heart of Igloo beating. We spoke to B to find out what kept her in Nottingham for so long and what goes into running this local establishment.
If you’ve ever been backpacking or stayed in a hostel on a weekend away, walking into Nottingham’s Igloo Hybrid Hostel is likely to rustle up some nostalgia. Finding your bearings, making friends from far flung places, communal cooking and getting happily lost in new places - travel can be a breath of fresh air, providing you have a good base to go back to each night.
A cheery warren of a place, Igloo is adorned with art and kitsch vintage furniture, with a strong sense of Nottingham in the quirky details throughout. After a friendly welcome at reception from B and manager Molly, I was immediately kicking myself for opting for other choices such as Airbnb or hotels in recent years and missing out on that personal touch.
I think people find this place a really safe space, and that is so important to us. There's nothing nicer than being abroad in a strange place and someone greets you good morning
Over a cup of tea in the bright lounge area, B explains the story of how she came to be in Nottingham, which began in 1996 when she left Denmark at eighteen to visit a penpal who was studying at the University of Nottingham. “The city was booming and full to the brim with life. The creative scene was extremely exciting, especially the music. Live music was spilling out of most pubs and the dance scene here was so alive and epic, there was barely any time for sleep,” she says. “Igloo at the time was a small hostel with dormitory rooms only, within a Victorian building on Mansfield Road. We piled our pennies together, cooked and washed for each other and always ate together. It became a seriously well oiled example of collective community living - by far the best and most useful education I have ever received in my life.”
Enamoured with Nottingham’s creativity and community charm, B decided to stay and began making music. Having found success when the rights to one of her songs were bought by a big company for an advertisement campaign, she put a deposit down on a house with her payment, and then set her sights on buying and developing Igloo.
Over the next ten years the business grew, and with the recession more opportunities came. “Extraordinarily enough, it was the best thing that ever happened to us as a business because people suddenly had to look for different cheaper alternatives to hotels, as people always have to move around,” says B. In 2015, with the help of her team, she started merging the several Igloo buildings which were dotted around the city, to Eldon Chambers in the heart of the city centre, which was finally completed in 2019. Today, with more and more people looking for budget accommodation, the hostel is going strong, having their most successful November and March ever this year.
As well as having personality, Igloo is welcoming, clean, safe and affordable - qualities that will top a list of requirements for most travellers. “I think people find this place a really safe space, and that is so important to us. There's nothing nicer than being abroad in a strange place and someone greets you good morning. Or you come home from a night out and someone asks how was your evening? It’s just a few words but having those conversations I think can be really important.”
Our guests are very diverse, these are the humans that make this place so interesting and exactly what we do it for - to provide for all demographics.
One of the best parts of the job is introducing Nottingham’s hidden gems to new people, creating a more tailored and unique experience for guests. “We are fiercely independent, and it's really important to us that we try to match the vibe of the city, because the generic hotels are not doing that,” B explains. “Nottingham has many really good things going for it - it's affordable to live here, but it is also compact enough to pull a scene together and get the progressive and creative things out there.”
Compared to other accommodation options, it is this human aspect of Igloo - the team that runs it and hostel life in general, that is part of its appeal, and Igloo has garnered a loyal clientele base over the years including international students, professionals and families. “We also accommodate school groups or university competition teams, and a lot of up-and-coming bands and stage actors,” explains B. “Our guests are very diverse, these are the humans that make this place so interesting and exactly what we do it for - to provide for all demographics.”
You need stamina and enthusiasm, but it's exciting. You can only do one thing for so long. I think sometimes you have to just get out of the way and let younger people come with new ideas and grow something better.
The option to be sociable, or not, is popular with the Igloo clientele, whether they are people off on adventures or those working in the city for a few days. Following Covid, B saw the habits of travellers change, with more demand for private rooms. However, with 23 rooms in total, consisting of dorms, family rooms, Japanese inspired sleep pods, and en-suites, there’s an option to suit most visitors.
Throughout her time at Igloo, B has also managed to travel the world, picking up fun and imaginative ideas along the way. Each room name and design is inspired by individual journeys and places, from island log cabins in Denmark to jungle hammocks in Ko Pha Ngan. Blending art with practicality, much of the eye-catching wall art was completed by well-known local graffiti artist Smallkid, who transformed the ‘sleep pods’ into cheerful Brighton beach huts and a New York subway carriage, while murals in the boutique Shed wing are by another local artist, FryFace.
With plans to head home to Denmark to study, go back to her artistic roots and be nearer her elderly mother, B hopes the new buyer, whoever they may be, will honour the character of the premises while also adding their own personality and ideas. “I’ve run this business in a certain way, and fundamentally it will become someone else's vision. My heart and their heart might look at things completely differently,” she explains, adding that she would probably be ‘turning in her grave’ if the place was turned into a dull apartment hotel - something this city does not need.
With previous planning permission granted for a number of additions, including a two bedroom extension or an Airstream caravan on the rooftop, B notes that there’s much that can be incorporated to the place. “We need people who think outside the box,” she says.
As her time as a hostel owner is coming to a natural end, B shares some advice for her eventual successor. “You need stamina and enthusiasm, but it's exciting,” she says. “You can only do one thing for so long. I think sometimes you have to just get out of the way and let younger people come with new ideas and grow something better.”
If you can see yourself becoming Igloo’s new hostel owner, the hostel listing link can be found on Rightmove Commercial.
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