by Võ Thị Dung

If you want to try some new and unusual accommodations while travelling, spending a night at a hostel made from discarded containers might be the choice for you.

Why Not Hostel is the first lodging facility of this kind in the central province of Quảng Bình, home to the world-famous natural heritage site Phong Nha Kẻ Bàng Cave. With unique design and decorations as well as an environmentally friendly atmosphere, the hostel has become a favourite choice of accommodation that has attracted an increasing number of visitors to this beautiful coastal province.

While other hotels and hostels are built with concrete, the whole structure of Why Not Hostel, located in the centre of Đồng Hới City, is made of recycled old containers and other discarded materials. However, these recycled building materials still create comfortable and impressive accommodations, offering the visitors new and interesting experiences.

“Utilising the abundant sources of discarded containers that can be transformed into small rooms and eliminate the expenses of constructing the foundation, I have taken the risk to invest in it, spending over one year to realise my idea of building a new-style hostel in my homeland,” said Hoàng Nha Trang, the owner of Why Not Hostel.

This hostel is built on a total area of 1,100sq.m, comprising 22 rooms each of which is measured around 16sq.m. Its total investment is over VNĐ8 billion (US$364,000). All the rooms have been well-furnished and decorated in fresh youthful style.

Though it is made of old containers, the space there does not leave guests feeling hot or uncomfortable thanks to its heat-proof design and surrounding rows of trees. The rooms are connected with each other by airy and light-filled corridors.

Meanwhile, its central garden is covered with green grass and also serves as space for guests to drink coffee or enjoy outdoor bathing in the cool fresh atmosphere.

The hostel is situated in a favourable place in Đồng Hới City as it is located just about 300m from the beach and around one kilometre from the city’s popular destinations like the central market, the statue of Mother Suốt or Nhật Lệ Bridge. The guests can conveniently travel to sightseeing destinations, recreation, shopping or food areas in the central city by taxi, bus or electric car.

As a travel enthusiast, Nguyễn Anh Dũng from Hà Nội has had many opportunities to visit and stay in container hotels in other destinations like Sa Pa, Cát Bà and Hồ Chí Minh City, but he and his family still had unique and relaxing experiences when staying in Why Not Hostel for the first time.

“I was quite impressed with the way each room in this container hostel is named. They are not named in numbers but after various kinds of flowers and fruits, creating a friendly and familiar feeling. The colours of the paint and decorative paintings in the rooms are eye-catching and interesting. The rooms made of discarded container might sound dull and rough, but it is totally different in Why Not Hostel,” Dũng said.

“Our room is well-furnished, modern and standardised. If my family has a chance to come back to Quảng Bình Province, we will still choose the hostel as our accommodation,” he continued.

Another visitor, Đỗ Mỹ Linh from the northern province of Lạng Sơn, also shared her impression.

“The container rooms are different and lovely. From our small room, we can have a view of the beach while enjoying the peaceful relaxing moments of the vacation after hard-working days,” Linh said.

Another highlight of Why Not Hostel is the makeover of the discarded objects. For example, the frames of the old sewing machines are turned into lovely table legs, the wood chopping boards are transformed into chair surfaces and the flower pots and vases are made from old tyres.

Trang, the owner, revealed that he would continue to expand and improve the rooms and surrounding gardens, making them more convenient, fresh and beautiful.

His main idea is continuing to utilise and recycle discarded objects into environmentally-friendly and useful products to furnish the accommodation. VNS