A&O – a new look and a new hostel in Bremen

A&O opens its first hostel in Bremen

A&O’s new hotel, A&O Bremen Main Station, opened its doors to visitors on 1 October and is the first of the chain’s hostels to feature its brand new look: a completely revamped and very smart lobby with a dynamic structure that seamlessly merges with the breakfast area. The lobby’s main features that instantly catch the eye are its backlit seating platform and illuminated counters, which welcome new arrivals with A&O’s motto ‘Everyone can travel’. Just as with all of the chain’s new hostels, A&O Bremen Main Station is packed with design features inspired by the location’s rich heritage and culture. As a result, the hostel’s lobby, bar, breakfast area and individual rooms are marked by Hanseatic-inspired, cosmopolitan design. 

A&O’s latest hostel has 402 beds in 107 rooms distributed over six floors. Most of the rooms are four-bed family rooms (66), but they also include 24 double rooms and 16 six-bed dorms/family rooms. The hostel is located right in the centre of Bremen’s inner city and only about 750 metres from Bremen main station, which can be reached in as little as five minutes by foot from the hostel. 

‘We are really pleased to have been able to open an A&O hotel in Bremen’, said Oliver Winter, CEO of the A&O Group. ‘The new hotel is the first one to feature A&O’s new look, which comprises a new interior design concept, an open-plan, multifunctional lobby, design features inspired by the city’s culture, and progressive facilities.’ Winter furthermore adds, ‘The new hotel is an important milestone in our expansion strategy, which encompasses making new destinations available to our guests by offering them affordable accommodation in popular cities.’

A&O started the construction of the new hotel in March 2017. The hostel is located in Friedrich-Rauers-Straße 20a in 28195 Bremen, and has bicycle parking facilities and a guest car parking area.

Hanseatic flair and modern facilities in a fresh new look  
Using flexible room division screens, the hostel’s lobby and breakfast area can be seamlessly merged or dynamically separated depending on requirements. This means that the breakfast area can be opened up to become part of the lobby during the day and evening for use by guests as a vibrant meeting place and lounge. The new look furthermore includes a new colour scheme comprising warm and earthy shades that are complemented by vibrantly coloured furniture. 

All of the rooms have also been given a new look and the City of Bremen has been used as inspiration for the cover and panel designs featured throughout all of the rooms, where they make for unique headboards and privacy boards on the bunk beds in the family rooms. All of the headboards and privacy boards are furthermore fitted with LED reading lights, tablet holders and USB connections. The hostel’s new look also includes completely newly designed bathrooms, which are now larger than those in the older A&O hostels, fitted with XXL mirrors as well as modern, flush-to-floor shower trays with swing doors. 

The hostel’s wireless and digital equipment has been specifically designed with the needs of modern travellers in mind and includes free high-speed WiFi throughout the entire building, keycard room locks and, soon-to-be-introduced, smartphone room keys. 

A&O – continued growth 
‘Bremen marks an important milestone for us in terms of our company’s growth. However, this is really just the beginning, as 2018 will see the opening of our second hotel in Frankfurt am Main, and as our international expansion programme into countries like Italy, the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Poland and Hungary is fully and successfully under way’, explained Oliver Winter.