When Zahra Khozema was offered an unpaid internship at a top company in 2019, she knew it was an opportunity too good to pass up.
She was 23 at the time, and studying towards a Master’s degree in journalism, she needed all the experience she could get.
As soon as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s international news bureau came calling, the answer was an immediate yes.
There was just one problem; Zahra had £30,000 worth of debt and couldn’t afford not to be earning. So, she decided to take drastic measures, and swapped her £500-a-month rented flat for the bottom bunk in a hostel.
In an effort to cut her expenses, she moved into a shared room at Bowden Court Hostel in Notting Hill, West London, priced at £80 per week.
Although Zahra’s new home – the bottom half of a bunkbed in a room with three other women – was a big shift, two meals a day were included in the rent, as well as access to a laundry service and a gym.
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The property, located in one of London’s swankiest postcodes, was also cleaned twice a day, the sheets were automatically changed once a week, with 24-hour security on hand.
Better still, the longer you stayed, the cheaper your rent became, so by the end of her tenancy, Zahra was only paying between £50 and £60 per week.
‘It was the cheapest I could find. The room was tiny; if one person was standing up, it felt crowded,’ 30-year-old Zahra, who is from Toronto, says.
‘The people I met were really diverse. There was a Japanese guy who cut everyone’s hair, a British gentleman who liked to paint portraits, lots of students, people who came from the EU to learn English, working in retail and hospitality and a few British pensioners too.’
Zahra initially intended for her hostel living situation to be a short-term solution, but she ended up living there for a year, having fallen in love with the community despite her lack of space.
Together, they’d throw parties, teach each other their native languages, and share meals. Plus, since she was already well-travelled, she was used to hostel living, and has always felt that they get a ‘bad rap’.
‘I’ve often found hostels to be as clean as Airbnbs, and I very much prefer them over hotels,’ Zahra adds.
Naturally, there were a few downsides, the most obvious being a lack of personal space. Zahra had little to no privacy and very limited room to keep her belongings, so everything she owned had to be stashed inside her suitcase, a nightstand and a small wardrobe.
She says: ‘Some people really made it their own. People had furniture that they brought in, beautiful sets of matching beddings, curtains that they bought, fluffy pillows and rugs.
‘But there were no chairs in the room and my roommate would sit on my bed. I really don’t like outside clothes on my bed, so I would have to ask her not to. And anyway, if you sit on the bed, your head hits the bunk above, so there was nowhere to chill on a laptop or watch a movie in the evening.’
How much does living in a hostel save you?
At the time, Zahra was paying between £50 and £60 a week to live at Bowden Court Hostel in Notting Hill, right in the heart of London.
Now, costs start at £173.50 per week for a three-bedroom dorm, while a single room costs £260, a single ensuite £297, and a private double £346. All of these options come with food and bills included, promising a low deposit but, crucially, no contract.
Still, even though costs have increased since Zahra lived there, but it’s cheaper than renting privately through a landlord.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, average London rents hit £2,271 in November, while four weeks’ worth of costs at this particular hostel would come in at £694 (for the cheapest option, that is).
She subsequently threw herself into exploring the area, and she became a regular at a few coffee shops that were usually empty, as well as parks she’d take a solo walk in when she fancied a bit of alone time.
However, when her roommate started dating someone, her space became even more limited, as he’d sleep on the top bunk while Zahra was on the bottom.
‘When he slept over and rolled in bed, the whole structure of the bed moved,’ she says.
After a while, these niggles started to weigh on her, alongside the fact that that she didn’t have the facilities to cook – even if the provided food wasn’t to her liking.
Despite all that, though, she has no regrets.
The internship didn’t last forever, and she soon started working full-time in communications, she began earning enough to make more headway with her debt.
‘I was able to save all that money because my living costs were low with the hostel, and the pandemic meant I wasn’t going out,’ Zahra says.
After a year, she ended up moving into a house with four other flatmates from the hostel, which was a major step up compared to their previous living situation.
However, despite its foibles, she’ll always hold the memories – and the ‘friends for life’ – she made there close to her heart.
Zahra continues: ‘When I moved to the UK, I only had enough for a one-way ticket, but when I returned home after two years, I was clear of debt.
‘I was really grateful that I was able to do that.’
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