A bite to eat and a place to sleep
Loki is a hostel chain that has three hostels in Peru, one in Bolivia and one, soon two, in Argentina. If you’re feeling lazy, you won’t even need to set a foot out of the door: the hostel has an affordable bar and restaurant, and there are usually plenty of people to party with regardless of the time of day – whether you want it or not.
Is this concept practical? Jesse Ferguson, the director of Loki Lima and one of the owners of the chain, bursts out laughing.
“We frequently get feedback saying Loki is like a trap you can’t escape. We don’t lock anyone in against their will.”
In Lokis, the bar staff are travellers who work as volunteers. Paid staff, like cleaners and security guards, are locals. The proportion of volunteers isn’t particularly high, but the barkeepers are the most visible staff members to guests.
The policy started when Loki had only one hostel. Back then the four founding members of the chain were doing much more than just managing: Ferguson grins when he admits he even used to cook. Their visitors themselves asked if they could be of help.
Loki doesn’t look for volunteers through agencies; the ones that are keen on volunteering usually approach the directors of the hostels. Ferguson thinks that the most important criteria are sociability and friendliness. According to him, the fact that both the bar staff and hostel guests are backpackers affects the atmosphere.
Usually Ferguson doesn’t want to recruit volunteers who simply want to save money. The same goes with bartenders who are too experienced.
“We sell the cheapest vodka and rum and the shittiest pisco, because we serve budget travellers. Anyone can learn to mix the drinks on our menu in an afternoon.”
Volunteers have to commit to work for a minimum of two weeks. Staying for too long isn’t an option, because according to Ferguson, there is a risk of cliques.
“If there’s a really tight group of friends behind the bar, they might start acting rude towards the customers without even noticing,” he says.
In addition to cliques, the volunteers being more or less on holiday can sometimes cause issues.
“This isn’t dead serious, but you can’t get away with being too drunk, for example.”
Hang on a minute. Too drunk? Ferguson laughs.
“In the bar, it’s the staff’s job to help the guests enjoy themselves. Drinking is allowed, but not to the point of being legless.”
Sometimes drunk workers forget to ring the drinks up, or they want to give a free drink to a cute guest. Ferguson mentions that small thinks like that happen by the dozen. However, a big screw-up can send the whole crew packing. Like in the city of Cusco, where the bar staff started to give each other free drinks despite the generous staff discount.