Dolores Bike Hostel Opens

A one-of-its-kind lodge is now open for business in Dolores. The Dolores Bike Hostel will cater to those who seek the outdoors in our corner of Colorado. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by Blondie's Trophy Room and Big O Tires. I'm Connor Shreve. When Dolores Bike Hostel was first covered back in April, owner Jacob Carloni knew he had lots of work to do to make the old doctor's office at 507 Central livable. He relied on his skills as a carpenter and plenty of friends and locals.

It's been a little bit of organized chaos, for sure, no days off, 12 to 16-hour days. My sister's been here for seven weeks, getting us over the finish line, helping out with some of the backend stuff, some of our property management systems and booking softwares and all that kind of stuff. So it's been a lot to get us to where we're at, but we're we're really excited to be opening our doors.

When he started the project, Carloni envisioned the hostel to be a place where outdoor enthusiasts could gather and be comfortable after a day in the wilderness. And while that is still the ethos of DBH, Carloni says the finished product isn't what he envisioned.

The idea was this was going to be a place for dirt bags to hang out. It didn't have to be all that nice. I wanted to keep a lot of the walls and a lot of the things, but as I started tearing it apart, I just couldn't quite help myself, and wanted to make everything nice. So it has turned out a lot nicer than I or probably anybody else expected.

He says it's made the hostel more homey. And even though Carloni knows we're past the big tourist season, he hopes hunting season can help the hostel get off to a steady start this winter.

You know, I think it'll be good for us for the learning curve, as far as easing into really running a hostel. 'Cause I don't have any experience doing it personally. So it's probably a good thing that we're not jamming right off the bat.

And though he grinded to complete construction, now Carloni sees what was once the finish line as the starting line.

It was the storm be before the storm. So it's a different kind of work now, instead of hands and knees, swinging hammers and painting walls, now it's going to be really trying to get our name out there and really promoting the place. So we're excited to shift gears a little bit in that direction.

As proud as Carloni is of the space he and many others helped create, he wants it to be a conduit to the trails and trees, rather than a place to languish. He believes the asset that Dolores Bike Hostel provides travelers is the diversity of nearby outdoor activities. And he hopes the business he runs helps Dolores and Montezuma counties showcase their prime locations.

You know, obviously an enormous, huge thanks to everybody in Dolores, who's everybody who's helped, who's lent me tools, who's given me ideas, who's just stopped in and given me encouragement. There was a lot of peaks and valleys mental, emotional, and physical peaks and valleys throughout this process. And it feels really good to be over the finish line, and I really owe that all to the people of Dolores and the community that's around here.

In all, the hostel features 23 beds spread out over 4,000 square feet. That includes four private rooms and one suite with an in-room bath. You can check availability at doloresbikehostel.com. Learn more about these and other stories online at montezumalocal.news. Thanks for watching this edition of The Local News Network. I'm Connor Shreve.