Tea And Company The World Is Beating A Path To The Doorway Of Spokane’s Only Hostel

Tom Baker, a soft-spoken retired school teacher, has turned the South Hill into a hostel neighborhood.

That’s hostel, not hostile.

If you’re new in town, you don’t have to worry about Baker greeting you at his door with a six-shooter. He’s more than likely to serve you a cup of tea, urge you to make yourself at home and settle in for a chat.

Baker runs the Brown Squirrel Hostel at 920 W. Seventh Ave. Since opening March 1, he’s probably greeted more world travelers than the customs agents at Spokane International Airport.

Unlike a motel or hotel, hostels provide dormitory-style accommodations for travelers. The communal atmosphere is meant to foster conversation and friendship among visitors, who sometimes hail from all over the world. Some hostels provide self-service kitchens, lockers and laundries.

The Brown Squirrel’s guest book is filling with the names of hostelers from all over the world - Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Chile and Switzerland.

Visitors from more familiar locales such as Montana, Texas, New Hampshire and Maine have also spent a night at Baker’s comfortable, apartment-style hostel.

He averages two or three guests a day.

The Brown Squirrel is the only hostel in Spokane, and according to Hostelling International, one of three in Eastern Washington.

The other two hostels are located in Bingen, next to the Columbia River, about 20 miles northwest of The Dalles, Ore., and in Republic, near the Colville National Forest in Ferry County.

“If you don’t have to have your own privacy, it’s another way to travel,” Baker said.

Because the Brown Squirrel is an independent hostel, Baker doesn’t impose age restrictions on his guests.

Nor does he belong to any of the national or international hostel agencies, although his hostel is listed in official guidebooks.

The Brown Squirrel is described as being in the “heart of Spokane.” Nearby attractions include “Manito Park and Gardens, Riverfront Park, Alpine skiing, Expo Pavilion ice skating and hiking on the Centennial Trail.”

Baker is in the process of converting the six-unit apartment building, a former mansion, into accommodations for up to 16 guests.

He hopes to complete the work by mid-July.

“There’s about 100 years of debris here,” he said.

One unit will accommodate family groups; the other three will sleep 12 hostelers in a dormitory-style setting. Two of the building’s units will remain traditional apartments for monthly renters.

Baker had to get a special permit from the city - similar to those required for bed and breakfasts - to open the Brown Squirrel.

In addition to renovating the interior, Baker plans to convert the parking lot, a bumpy concrete slab, into a patio.

The white pillared mansion, with its stained glass windows, enclosed reading porch and grand stairway, is likely to become a welcome respite for people biking, busing or driving cross country.

In the spirit of the hostel’s turn-of-the-century German origins, which emphasizes fresh air and exploration, guests are expected to be out and about during the day.

The Brown Squirrel is closed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but guests can stow their luggage in their rooms.

“We don’t allow people to stay in their rooms during that time,” Baker said. “But we’ll make an exception if someone’s not well or if the weather is inclement.”

Hostelling is inexpensive, which for many is its appeal.

A night’s stay at the Brown Squirrel, which is open year-round, is $12 a night, $6 for children under age 18.

In comparison, a hostel in Sitka, Alaska, costs $7 a night and $20 in New York City.

Baker points out, however, that the Brown Squirrel is for travelers, not the down and out.

“One of the more unpleasant jobs I’ve had is letting people know this is not a mission or a shelter,” Baker said. “I’ve had people come up and ask if they have to listen to a sermon before they can get a meal.”

This is Baker’s second hostel. Ten years ago he opened the first Brown Squirrel in Browne’s Addition. The hostel closed in 1993 when Baker moved to Newport, Ore. He reopened this spring in his new South Hill location.

Through the years, Baker has collected memories and memorabilia from his guests the way a traveler collects souvenirs.

He shows a collection of small pen-and-ink-drawings on the wall.

“These are scenes from San Francisco drawn by an elderly man from Romania,” Baker said. “He came by when I first started the hostel 10 years ago. That was when there was still an iron curtain. He said ‘Because I’m old, they don’t care whether I come back or not.”’ Baker first became interested in hostels when he stopped at one in Missoula.

A year later he took a short course in hostelling in Montara, Calif. “I decided this is what I wanted to do after I retired,” he said.

Baker, who grew up in Grangeville, Idaho, admits he isn’t much of a traveler.

He traveled to Europe when he was in his 40s, but that was more than 20 years ago. Most of his life he taught school in Montana.

So instead of traveling, he takes in travelers, like Sylvio Moor, 32, a native of Olten, Switzerland. Moor, who has been on the road for seven months, described Spokane as a little too quiet for him.

“I’m used to a busier downtown. It’s 10:30 in the morning. Hey it’s like Sunday,” the tall Swiss teacher said last Tuesday.

But the neighborhood homes are beautiful, Moor added.

Moor also found Riverfront Park and the Spokane River appealing, but admitted that during his three-day stay he spent most of his sightseeing time gazing at cars in the $700 range.

“I came to Spokane in hopes of buying a car,” he said, “but it didn’t work out.”

Moor planned to buy a car and spend the rest of his travels behind the wheel, but obtaining the title and permit was too complicated, he said. Instead, he plans to take a bus to Canada and in two months fly home to Switzerland.

During his sojourn he said he has visited hostels in Canada, Hawaii, New Zealand and Fiji.

“I’ve been in Fiji hostels,” he said, and then paused. “You have to be flexible.”

The Brown Squirrel is “the smallest hostel I’ve been to - and very, very clean.”

Baker said he enjoys the chance to chat with his guests. Even though it isn’t always easy.

“Last week I had a guest from Peru,” Baker said. “We had a terrible time communicating. It’s terrible to travel when you can’t speak the language.”

In spite of language barriers, Baker provides his guests with information on how to get around town, where to go sightseeing or hiking.

As the new hostel takes shape, Baker keeps adding new additions - books, dictionaries, a world-band radio to make visits more enjoyable for his guests.

Baker surveyed his handiwork - the freshly painted walls, the comfortable couches and chairs he has collected over the years, the paintings, pictures, knick-knacks - little touches that make the explorer, urban or otherwise, feel at home.

“I don’t know whether it’s a financial good,” Baker said.

“But see, I wouldn’t know Sylvio if I didn’t have a hostel.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Hostel information By Janice Podsada Staff writer If you’re interested in staying at a hostel, the following information sources will help guide you. For a list of more than 600 hostels in the U.S and Canada send $4 for a copy of the Hostel Handbook to: Jim Williams The Hostel Handbook 722 St. Nicholas Ave. New York, NY, 10031 For Internet information about hostels, send e-mail to: infohostle@aol.com The Web site address for hostel information is: http://www.hostels.com For information on hostels in Washington state, call the Washington State Council offices at (206) 281-7306. The state’s three hostels can be reached at the following phone numbers: The Brown Squirrel, 838-8108; Bingen Hostel, 493-3363, and the Republic Hostel, 775-3933.