Oliver Winter

Founder & CEO

Born in East Berlin in 1975, Winter grew up hungry for travel despite the difficulties of doing so in the restrictive society of what was then the German Democratic Republic. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, he took advantage of his newfound freedom to spend six months backpacking around the world with a friend. It was from his travels that he was inspired to bring back the hostel concept and quickly realized that Berlin was a perfect place to launch such a concept, with the city newly redesignated as the seat of German government. Berlin was also brimming with empty office buildings at the time, which Winter believed could be easily converted into accommodations. Since then, he’s opened 40 hostels (and counting!) across Europe with sustainability being a key pillar of the brand since inception.