Herald:   What inspired you to start Roadhouse Hostels? 

Rajesh Borah: My partner, Uday Jhamb quit his job and took the plunge into the travel sector to provide solutions to backpackers. A traveler himself, Uday always wanted to work with the travel industry. However, he started his career in the IT sector and worked there for a few years Accenture & Winshuttle till he finally decided do something that he really wanted.  Following a short stint in Dubai, he returned to India. He wanted to see India. He packed his bags and traveled the length and breadth of the country. During this time, he realized the problems faced by backpackers. He wanted to follow his heart and thus, decided to launch hostels for backpackers. Since he didn’t have much money to launch a travel start-up, he contacted some of his schoolmates and asked them to help him launch a travel-centric start-up and join him as co-founders.

In November 2014, Uday along with Shubham Garg and I kicked off Roadhouse Hostels in Goa our first property. In two years, we have expanded to five hostels across the country and these two years, Rajesh, Shubham and I have done a lot of things.

H: Why Goa - you have 3 properties here now? And what has led you to decide on the other locations? What future locations are you looking at, if you are able to share? 

RB: We had conducted research and learnt that international backpackers usually land either in Mumbai or Kochi and travelled via Goa as they walked across south India. Approximately 30-40,000 backpackers pass through Goa. This motivated us.   When we got our funding, part of our first phase was to open five hostels, we decided on Jaipur, Varanasi and Goa, we decided to take over all three cities and make it a network so what better way to do that but open three in Goa, and one each in Varanasi and Jaipur. The distance between Varanasi and Jaipur is more but is well connected and as well as the ones in Goa and that works for us. Add to that, our core team is based in Goa so it made relative sense to open three hostels in Goa. We plan on opening more hostels in Goa. Apart from hostels, we are looking at enhancing the product by coming out with our very own radio station that could be heard across all our hostels as well as a network to connect our guests to a wider range of things to do while staying at Roadhouse. We have approximately 98 beds in three properties in Paloliem, Arambol and Anjuna.        

H:  What was the nature of investments made? 

RB: Around a half a million dollars. We have spent approximately 20-25 lacs per property in Goa and they have all been taken on long lease. 

H: What are the problems you face conducting business in Goa?

RB: The public transport system is very poor thus making connectivity across Goa a big problem. When we first started the business and we picked up stuff for the properties, transporting them was a pain. This is a serious problem. Apart from this nothing else really is a problem. 

H:Who do you target, who are your main customers? 

RB: Backpackers, from India and the rest of the world. We are doing it right too, considering the last off season we were doing good all through and that, does speak volumes in itself. We have noticed that among foreigners there are a large number of single women who are backpackers which amounts to approximately 40% of the business we are generating. Indian women if they do come in groups and that segment will increase I suppose in the years to come.   

H: How do you view yourself versus your competition? Where does Roadhouse fit in compared to other hostel chains? 

RB: Apart from a couple of other Hostels who are also extremely good friends, the other hostels are definitely not up there in terms of hospitality standards. We focus on safety & comfort and that’s what our guests are happy about. Roadhouse also emphasizes on a good experience and not just the stay and that’s something that definitely sets us apart. 

H: What does Roadhouse hostels look like to you in the future?

RB: We are stepping in to our second phase post funding and our second phase is all about incorporating tech, music and arts. We intend to focus on connecting our properties in the state, improving technology and encouraging our guests to understand the area around the properties in terms of the local food and culture.