After university Anne & Shelly, two sisters from Dublin, had the world at their feet, fueled by their curiosity to experience new places and cultures, they set off travelling around the world. Their accommodation of choice, Hostels. They realized that Hostels provided the perfect space to meet like-minded people and get lots of insider information about the area they were in. When returning home, they didn’t want their passion for adventure to end there, inspired by their experiences they wanted to create a space where like-minded travelers could share their stories. “That’s why when we opened our first hostel, we made it a priority to make it a real social hub, and we’ve kept that priority at the heart of all our hostels ever since” They were brave, took a risk and in 1997 opened their own hostel Ashlee House in London with the purpose of “bringing people and places together to create new travel stories”
In 2007, using the knowledge they had gained while running Ashlee House, a unique opportunity presented itself in the form of an old courthouse on Kings Cross Road, London where punk band The Clash had stood trial and esteemed writer Charles Dickens once worked as a scribe. They began a full refurbishment ensuring the history of the building stayed a prominent feature and talking point, who doesn’t want to say they stayed in a prison cell and sit in the Judges chair! It reopened with the name Clink ! (Why ‘Clink’? It’s an old English slang word for prison, and with its old prison cells and courtrooms, the name seemed apt!).
And so, became Clink Hostels, Ashlee House was renamed as Clink261 and the courthouse, Clink78. But the adventure hasn’t stopped, after all there was a whole world out there to discover and in 2015 ClinkNOORD Amsterdam was opened. Previously an old Shell Head Office & Laboratory, this was an exciting and creative conversion project with the aim of providing open social spaces while giving a sense of intimacy for guests to interact, share their stories and have a memorable experience.
Clinks continued success is driven through our three key Values:
| In-Tune |
with ourselves, our people, guests, partners, the market and world around us
| Dedicated |
to create real value and a positive impact for our guests, our business and ourselves
| Different |
after all, we are not your average hostel. We are proud to be different in what we create, how we operate, think and make people feel
Our values provided the foundation on which the company was built and are continually lived through our actions and behaviours every day. Every decision made for the company, from the people hired, future hostel openings to who we work with are all considered with the values in mind. Without our values we are the same as everyone else and as you can see, we aim to be different!
So, what’s next? The future of Clink Hostels is bright with plans to open in more European cities over the next 2 years and to have more people join our Clinkee Family as we continue to grow
“It’s an exciting time to be part of something GREAT”