Zostel

Zostel

Company type	Privately held company
Industry	Hostel Tourism Backpacker tourism
Founded	2013;12 years ago (2013)
Headquarters	Gurgaon
Area served	Indian subcontinent; mainly India and Nepal
Products	Zostel Hostels Zostel Homes Zostel Escape Trusted by Zostel
Website	www.zostel.com

Zostel is a hostel chain with over 60 locations across India and Nepal ^{[1] [2]}

History

Zostel Hospitality Pvt. Ltd was established in August 2013 ^[3] by seven co-founders, ^{[4] [5]} who initiated their venture with the launch of the first Zostel in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on 15 August 2013. ^[6]

ZO Rooms

In November 2014, the founders launched a new project called ZO Rooms, which aimed to provide budget-friendly hotel accommodations and aggregate hotel rooms. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} There were reports that ZO Rooms was acquired by rival OYO Rooms, ^{[11] [12]} in an all-stock deal in December 2015, which was later denied by OYO. ^[13]

Zostel offers various accommodation options such as dormitories and private rooms. ^[14]

References

1. Sehgal, Kunal. "India's first chain of backpacker hostels is attracting some serious money". Quartz. Retrieved 8 July 2017.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
2. "IIM, IIT students set up Zostel for backpackers". The Hindu Business Line. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
3. "IIM, IIT students set up Zostel for backpackers". The Hindu Business Line. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
4. "IIM-Calcutta students set up backpackers' hostels in Rajasthan". www.hindustantimes.com/. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
5. Banerjie, Monideepa (27 February 2014). "Why these IIM-Calcutta grads do not want placements". NDTV.com. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
6. Ghoshal, Somak (6 September 2014). "Zostel: Passion for travel". www.livemint.com/. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
7. "Business service providers betting big on startups with great deals – The Economic Times". economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
8. "Budget hotel room aggregators eye pacts with offline travel agents | Business Line". thehindubusinessline.com. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
9. "ZO Rooms has a room 'available' for every traveller | Business Insider India". businessinsider.in. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
10. Singh, Rajiv (4 October 2015). "Virtues of a large founding team: Why many digital ventures are starting up with many cofounders". The Economic Times. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
11. "The curious case of Oyo's Zo buyout – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
12. "The Oyo-Zo Rooms Acquisition Deal Is Falling Apart – Inc42 Media". inc42.com. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
13. "The deal that never was: OYO says it didn't acquire rival ZO Rooms after all – Tech Crunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
14. "Discover Affordable Adventure: Embrace Zostel Lonavala's Charm! punenews.org.in". punenews.org.in. Retrieved 18 May 2025.