When Seonaid MacDonald first traveled solo, she spent two days sick from food poisoning in a hotel, where she started to have doubts about traveling alone. As soon as she recovered, she happened to check into a hostel, immediately finding a sense of community and a group of people who helped her out.

After staying in hundreds of hostels over the last 10 years, MacDonald has discovered what it takes to run a successful hostel. She’s bringing her experience to Austin with Hostel 512, set to open in August in East Austin.

The city now leads Texas in the growing hostel trend, as her spot marks the fifth for Austin. For MacDonald, Austin’s up-and-coming international status made it the perfect place to start a hostel. So she contacted Firehouse Lounge & Hostel to learn more about the market, and in 2014 purchased a lot off of East Seventh Street for her new hostel.

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