11 Hostel-Style Lodges for the New International Nomad

Generator Hostel Berlin. Nikolas Koenig photo.

How to jigsaw a twin bed (or a few), plus desks, shelves, and closets into a tiny room? So often the dorm puzzle is solved in the most cost-conscious and Soviet drab of ways. But privately built student housing alternatives have been cropping up in Denmark, Berlin, and other European cities that are so inventive, we’ve found ourselves looking to dormitories for small-space living ideas.

A companion movement, the boutique hostel, is equally compelling—and has a considering bunk rooms for our next vacations. Here are 11 designer dorms and dorm-style lodgings currently on our radar, starting with a 1920s classic that has become a pilgrimage stop for the devout modernist.

Bauhaus Dessau in Germany

Bauhaus Dessau Josef Albers dorm room. Restored rooms in the 1920s dorm are now available for overnight stays. — Above: Student and professor studios at the Bauhaus Dessau were furnished with designs by members of the faculty: the intention was to introduce hardworking, industrial-edged furnishings to humble student quarters. The campus is now a museum and a hotel of sorts: 28 restored dorm rooms are now available for overnight stays.

Shown here, the Josef Albers room with two of his iconic furniture designs (a reproduction of the Bauhaus Nesting Table, in a set of four, is currently available from France & Son for $449, marked down from $760). Rooms starts at €40 ($47.64); for booking information, go to Bauhaus Dessau.

G27 Global Institute in Berlin

G27 CIEE Global Institute dorm room in Berlin by Macro Sea. — Above: New York–based property developer Macro Sea used easy-to-rearrange wheeled wardrobes and other wooden cubes in its G.27 Global Institute Berlin, a combination campus and dormitory.

The firm worked in partnership with CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange), a nonprofit that runs several study-abroad programs. This one occupies a century-old former factory in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood.

G27 CIEE Global Institute dorm bathroom in Berlin by Macro Sea. — Above: “We reject the standard operating procedure for a student dormitory,” say the team at Macro Sea. In this dorm room corner, they inserted clever wall-hung bathroom storage and a metal and wood ladder that leads to a loft bed.

Generator Hostel in Berlin

Base Camp in Potsdam, Germany

State-of-the-art student housing: BaseCamp-designer-dorm-room-Potsdam-Germany, designed by Studio Aisslinger. — Above: BaseCamp, another of the many companies offering fully furnished dorms in repurposed buildings, takes great care to get the design details right. That’s thanks to the team at Studio Aisslinger of Berlin, who came up with a series of custom adaptable desk-and-bed combinations that they’ve introduced in BaseCamp’s three locations: Potsdam, Germany; Lodz, Poland; and Copenhagen, Denmark (several more are in progress).

Shown here, a 23-square-meter (247.57-square-foot) single at the BaseCamp Potsdam, with a platform storage bed of waxed birch sectioned off by netting to allow natural light to fill the room. Drawer pulls are made of a heavy fabric that picks up the color of the sconce and hanging light, both adaptations from Studio Aisslinger’s Hobo Lamp Family by Wästberg. Note the metal hanging rack incorporated into the wooden bookshelf. The felt desk chair is Studio Aisslinger’s Chairman Wood; €425 ($504.41) from Conmoto.

Base Camp in Lodz, Poland

State-of-the-art student housing: BaseCamp designer dorm in Lodz, Poland, designed by Studio Aisllinger. The group has dorms in three other European cities. — Above: At other BaseCamp locations, Studio Aisslinger applied the same design vocabulary without repeating themselves. BaseCamp Lodz features colored laminate drawers (with fabric pulls), pegboard storage, and a bed divider and desk frame of green powder-coated steel with rounded edges.

Base Camp in Copenhagen

State-of-the-art student housing: BaseCamp designer dorm in Copenhagen by Studio Aisslinger. — Above: BaseCamp Copenhagen occupies a grand 1771 former barracks across from the Rosenborg Castle gardens with 216 irregularly shaped rooms.

“Our main concern was to create a flexible but still production-friendly family of furniture that would allow the items to easily interact with each other, depending on the shape and size of the room,” explains Studio Aisslinger interior designer Alessandra Cetto. “The connecting piece is the desk board, which can be slid on both sides into the other elements (wardrobe, kitchen cabinet, or bed structure). This simple trick allows a lot of combinations.”

In case you’re wondering about moving into one of these rooms: BaseCamp reports that it only accepts applications from students for full semester stays and is currently juggling a lot of wait lists.