Bringing the World to Madison!

Our humble hostel was created from a renovated 1918 residence in the heart of downtown Madison, conveniently located to many fun cultural and music venues. We offer both private rooms and shared dorm space, with no lockout during the day. Madison is an amazing town during the summer or winter months, but be prepared for some snow if you come between November and March. The Madison Hostel is safe and shoeless environment.  There is a kitchen for the guests to use, and a common area with a chairs, a couch, T.V., VCR, library, and payphone. As for our dorm rooms, they are generally separated by gender, but sometimes we do have co-ed dorms during the busy summer months. We also ask that people under 18 stay in a private room if not chaperoned by a parent.

Meet the Crew

Katie, Assistant Manager

Katie played basketball while in high school. Through countless hours of hard work and dedication, Katie became the best basketball player in her home state of Illinois, where she was the first female to perform a triple 360 flip dunk. Because of her amazing skills she was recruited to play basketball for the Barbados Barracudas. However, while boarding the plane to leave the States, her opinion of flying changed as she passed the cockpit. To her horror, a rabid Bucky the Badger, foaming at the mouth, was slightly attacking passengers. From that day forward she despised flying. Barely escaping imminent doom on the flight to Barbados, she jumped from the plane onto the piping hot tarmac, where a luggage man recruited her to join his band of swash-buckling pirates who sailed the seven seas collecting excessive amounts of chocolate coins from the ocean floor. One day, while crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, David Hasselhoff visited Katie in a vision, telling her to give up her pirating days and take up a more stable position as a staff member at the Madison Hostel.

Nicole

One day, as Nicole was preparing her daily breakfast of Peanut Butter toast, she heard a knock on the door. When she answered it she was astonished to see a gorilla wearing a green tuxedo. Before she could run away, the gorilla exclaimed, "Hello, Nicole. My name is Igor. Do not fear, for I am here to help you. You must take this magical compass that will guide you to the flute festival of your dreams." With that, Igor disappeared. Confused but intrigued with the idea of finally finding the flute festival she's always dreamed of, for years, Nicole trekked along the globe following the guidance of Igor's compass. Finally, she reached the festival in Germany. However, a fellow flautist tripped while performing their South Caribbean flute jig and hit Nicole in the eye with their flute. Nicole immediately hit the ground and blacked out. When she awoke she found herself at the doorstep of the Madison Hostel ready to work and with a black eye.

Brett

As a child, Brett once drove his red Radio Flyer south, all the way to Ecuador. Upon arriving, he met a talking llama who began teaching him Spanish. Luis the Llama and Brett had many exciting adventures, most of which included mountain climbing or river navigating and always involved lots of singing. One day they decided to take the Radio Flyer down a mountain, and Brett was unfortunately tossed out of the wagon, injuring his back. Luckily, Luis the Llama knew where to find a water bottle to ease Brett's pain. There was one problem-- this water bottle had a leak. "I've got it!" Brett exclaimed, "We can patch this leaky old water bottle with pancakes--my favorite food!" Doubtfully, Luis the Llama helped him prepare pancakes, which they stuck to the water bottle with sugary maple syrup. After Brett's aches subsided, he and Luis the Llama resolved to exercise more caution when traveling. When Brett was about 13, he realized he missed his family, so he and Luis the Llama took the Radio Flyer north, all the way to Wisconsin. Along the way, they detoured to a taping of the Price Is Right, because Brett hoped to one day be a game show contestant, but alas, it was not yet meant to be. Due to construction detours on their journey to Brett's home, instead of finding Milwaukee, they somehow found themselves on the door step of the Madison Hostel.

Mary

Entering the world in the foothills of Chile, Mary developed a love of log-rolling down moderately steep hills at an early age.  As she grew, other childhood habits fell by the wayside, and sure, she could walk, but the log roll remained her preferred mode of transport.  It was during one of her more adventurous periods as a rolling adolescent that Mary made her first attempt at rolling down Mt. Aconcagua, the tallest peak in South America, which straddles the Chile-Argentina border.  While bouncing down the rocky terrain, lost in a cloud of her own joy, she forgot to tuck her head at just the right angle and ended up knocking out a tooth.  Sure, this was easily fixed with a fake tooth and matching retainer, but what wasn't fixable was the anger of the Argentine border patrol.  Mary soon became a fugitive and seeing no other option, sought exile in Houston, Texas, where she tried to maintain a low profile by pursuing everyday activities of the common folk, like coordinating the oldest and largest Art Car Parade in Houston or coaching high school water polo.  But these days of hiding her log rolling passion didn't last long.  One day, tired of living a lie, Mary just had to roll.  She rolled straight North, and never looked back.  Hardly stopping for rest or sustenance, Mary began to have visions of a disco-dancing parakeet.  He would call out to her, "Come with me.  Pedro is my name."    Having no energy to question him, or his choice of out-of-fashion, yet oddly attractive, retro clothing, Mary obeyed and rolled all the way to Madison, WI, before finally passing out on the doorstep of the Madison Hostel.

Nate

Nate stayed awake all weekend attempting to perfect the protocol for cooking his Number One, World Famous, Egg Sandwich on a canoe. He nearly had it completed when his canoe hit a rock and flipped, soaking all his fine work. He waited at the bank of the river frantically collecting evidence that he was on to something, when a left handed mitten with six fingers floated ashore. It occurred to him that his favorite customer at his night job as a bartender, Pepe, has no right arm but 6 fingers on his left hand. "This must be Pepe's mitten!" Nate exclaimed. So he hiked into the nearest town of Madison WI in search of Pepe. When he arrived, however, his fatigue got the better of him and he decided instead to find a nice warm cozy bed. That was the day we found Nate on the doorstep of the Madison Hostel.

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