Converting bunkers into hostels

TIRANA, Sept. 18 – A joint German-Albanian project is converting a communist-era bunker into a backpacker hostel in the northern coastal area of Tale, Lezhe district. The project is being implemented by 10 German and 10 Albanian university students who are working on a unique tourism project, involving the conversion of a former bunker into a hostel that will provide space for up to eight people.
Tourists will be able to gaze out on the beautiful countryside through the bunker’s gun slits, and dream beneath a concrete dome 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) thick. Perhaps they will even spare a thought for the dictator who had hundreds of thousands of these bunkers built, and made Albania one of the world’s most isolated countries.
The German-Albanian tourism project is meant to primarily benefit local residents. The bunker that the students are currently transforming into a cozy igloo-style hostel נwith wood floors, mattresses for lounging on, a shower and a kitchenette נis just a prototype. If backpackers like it, many other bunkers could be converted into accommodation in the same way.