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A little over 10 years ago the Flying Pig’s founding fathers: Ronald & Willem started travelling around the world. At the age of subsequently 19 and 20 they first set foot in New Zealand and during their stay on the island they stumbled upon the above described ‘picture’. Being young, reckless and full of dreams, they convinced the owner of the tiny hostel they were the cut out managers for his place. And so it happened, The Chief Pigs moved into the hostel, sat out on the porch in the breezy sunny afternoon and drank their beers...

BOSWELL
Even though the first Flying Pig hostel flourished under the management of these two Dutchies, both owners admit some of the credit needs to go to Boswell, an innocent, young New Zealand...
...SHEEP!! Boswell became thé face of the Flying Pig hostel. And after spending a couple of nights on a porch drinking beer, even sheep begin to look like Pigs! To make the illusion of Bosswell’s Pigness complete, the guys spray painted her pink and a star was born! She was the one who convinced travellers that the Flying Pig hostel was the craziest
and best place in town. Yes, Ronald & Willem pulled it off with a sheep!
Their neighbour wasn’t so fond of Boswell though. One morning he came out to the street and screamed his head off:
WIIIIIIILLLEM!! “GET YOUR F*CKING SHEEP OUT OF MY GARDEN OR I’LL SHOOT IT”!
But the formula worked and everyone had an amazing time. That’s when they started thinking: “If we can pull this off
here, we can also do it back home”....

BACK HOME
So they went back to Holland, wrote a business plan, tried to convince the bank to invest some money, found a beautiful spot next to the Vondelpark and borrowed some money of mom and dad to buy
their first beds and blankets. So they had a building, were the proud owner of 130 green army bunk beds, were bursting with energy and were convinced that they were going to create the best hostel
of Amsterdam. Everything was going according to plan. Their dream would come true: a laid-back travellers hostel in the city centre of Amsterdam where nice, crazy people could meet up and have a great time. Were they really this lucky? No of course not: the bank changed their mind and the fire department did not give them the required permit to start a hostel. On top of this, the landlord wanted to see a big amount of deposit money which they didn’t have and this while they already had 130 bunk beds tucked away in the basement.

Anyone else would consider giving up but Willem & Ronald were still convinced their plan was feasible. So they made an appeal to every friend and family member to help out by fixing ceilings, carpets and painting walls. And all of this was done over one weekend! This time they were fortunate. The fire department appreciated their hard work and decided to give them a permit after all. Next to this, the bank changed its mind again. They gave the guys the money, less than they asked for, but enough to start their hostel with.

FULL/ EMPTY
On 28 April 1994 the Flying Pig Hostel Amsterdam opened its doors for the first time. And the next day they were full! Only for two days though and empty for the rest of May. So they flew Boswell over from New Zealand (............no just kidding), but still being creative in business they started sending flowers, cakes and roses to the girls from the Tourist Office. In return the lovely ladies from the Tourist Office really helped them out the first summer! Every penny they earned was put in the hostel again and Ronald, Willem, and Karin, (Ronald’s sister) worked their asses off. They would stand behind reception in the morning, clean the rooms in between checking people in and work night shifts the same night. Nonetheless, they still found time to party with the travellers. (One of the three, I won’t mention the name, is surprised not to have a liver problem from this crazy period!!). Passing travellers stayed to help them out and slowly they started hiring people to work for them. There wasn’t always enough money to pay them though. Every time this happened, Willem took out his creditcard to withdraw some money. This worked for a couple of times, until one morning the office clerk from the creditcard office took Willem’s card, a pair of scissors and cut the card in half!! But slowly things started to improve and the travellers kept coming. It was a bit disorganized but very laid-back. Travellers loved the craziness and the positive vibe created by the owners and the people who worked for them. Here we are a decade later: a bit older, still crazy and as laid-back as ever.

Besides offering you clean sheets, continental breakfast and a cheap single or queen
size bed, the Flying Pig Palace is known and loved for her mellow and laid-back
atmosphere mixed with crazy, swinging Amsterdam vibes. The hostel bar is always
“gezellig” (Dutch for fun) and it’s the ideal place to meet your fellow travellers. The
kitchen is available to backpackers who like to try local dishes from all over the
world (or just like to cook their own dinner to save some money!. There are nice pillows
on the stage to sink into and relax a bit. Dvd’s are played during the day and there’s
free internet to keep in touch with everyone.

The heart of this part of town is the Albert
Cuyp market. A huge, very Amsterdam-like
market. This is not so much a tourist market
but this is where the Amsterdam people go
for their bargains, cheap fruit and fish and
to end their day of shopping with fries
covered in mayonnaise. Tired of seeing and
hearing all those new impressions? Relax
in the kitchen with a hot cup of tea or chill in our cosy basement and drink a cold
beer, and swap travel stories with other
travellers. Meet, relax and enjoy in the
Flying Pig Palace, a backpacker’s oasis in
the middle of crazy Amsterdam!

The Flying Pig wouldn’t be the Flying Pig if we weren’t celebrating our 10th anniversary all year long!
Every Thursday evening it’s party time at the Palace, Downtown& Beach hostel with DJ’s, live music, lots of dancing and of course drinks. Everyone is invited. Since travelling budgets are tight, we decided to have crazy barprices on Thursdays!!

€ 1,-
€ 2,-
€ 1,-
€ 1,-

Thirsty Thursdays start from
8 pm and last till closing time!!!