Business Food & Lifestyle

“LOCOMOs ‘Backpackers Heaven’ now open for Mumbai’s Millennials”- Founder Yash Bohra tells INN his ‘LOCOMO’ Journey

By Renu Valke
“LOCOMOs ‘Backpackers Heaven’ now open for Mumbai’s Millennials”- Founder Yash Bohra tells INN his ‘LOCOMO’ Journey
Founder of LOCOMO - YASH BOHRA (Left) and Mentor of LOCOMO - AALOK PUROHIT (Right)
Share This:

Have you ever thought of just sitting in a peaceful place with your laptop for work and at the same time, have an opportunity to bump into like minded strangers and all this at a place right in the city – IN A HOSTEL? Yes you heard me right! A 4000 square feet rooftop, with bean bags to dive in with your laptops and even letting ‘Bruno🐶’ be by himself for a while and like a cherry on top, a ‘not so conventional’ Hostel-like stay for prices your pockets can bear, LOCOMO Hostel in Vile Parle, Mumbai, aims to be the ‘YOUTH HUB’ for the Mumbaikars.

In talks with INN was the founder, whose name happens to be synonymous with  ‘Success’ and that’s what he’s achieved, LOCOMO is the output.

That’s YASH BOHRA, the founder creator of LOCOMO for you!

“LOCOMO Mumbai was shut for 364 days, one day short for a year due to the pandemic,” tells Yash, terming it as the ‘Pandemic Story’ of LOCOMO Hostels. “We were shut for new bookings but the people who were already staying with us and waiting for their Visas and flights for going back home, were still with us. We were operationally shut but helping people coming from all over the country who wanted to fly back home via Mumbai and who wanted a safe haven,” Yash added. After hosting backpackers for free and even spending some from his own pockets for them, LOCOMO Mumbai did something that was the most appreciable part of the Pandemic. Yash briefed about the months of April, May and June saying, “For 3 months, LOCOMO hosted the MUMBAI POLICE. A lot of male and female Police Officers were needed in Vile Parle and traveling was difficult as everything was shut right away. So, the local Police Inspector called me and asked me if we could host them and I was really obliged and said that ‘I was more than happy to help the Frontline Covid Warriors of the country’.” Though commercially LOCOMO was in great loss, they were still serving people with the same enthusiasm and kindness. Giving the credits of their survival to their Property owner who happened to be a generous and an uplifting man, Yash also mentioned the mentor of LOCOMO, Mr. Aalok Purohit who comes from a hospitality background too. Coming from the same background, Aalok has helped LOCOMO Mumbai with his brilliant ideas to make it a Youth Hotspot. With his experience, Aalok has mentored the Mumbai venture of the brand, helping Yash and LOCOMO sail through.

“My staff was very understanding and hence, when we reopened after, we experienced the most beautiful part of the story is that the staff that we had when we shut was back at work after we reopened on March 22 this year,” Yash proudly expressed.

When talking about reopening for THE LOCALS as LOCOMO has been purely Backpackers-Traveler centric property, Yash happened to tell a few points that will surely lure you to the LOCOMO Hostels in Vile Parle.

  • A 4000 Square Feet Rooftop

  • Common Area of 500 square feet which is Air Conditioned and has a Wi-Fi
  • Co-working friendly rooms that let you sit in the bean bags and work on the laptop
  • A rooftop cafĂŠ that is pocket friendly for all
  • A Pet friendly area
  • Regular Value added events from 5PM to 9 PM
  • Workshops or Pop-Ups or a Dog Meetup
  • Meets of absolute strangers but like-minded people
  • Absolutely Gender friendly property
  • Initiating event where every evening Industry experts will be coming in and talking about their skills
  • Flea markets and Informational evenings
  • Homely Atmosphere
  • You can drop by just for an Event or for a stay or just for coffee or even for all of this along with some Work.
  • A ‘Be By Yourself’ Spot 

  • An overall Comfy place
  • And, A Peaceful Realm of yours!

“I am a Sound Engineer as well but my passion has always driven me to Hospitality and Travel. I took a ‘Work Intended’ trip to Udaipur during my Final Year of Graduation and  I made a lot of friends and roamed all over Udaipur with them and told them things about India and that is when I realized that Hostels are such a beautiful set-up and if it was not for this, I wouldn’t have made friends and that is when the seed of starting a Hostel was sown in my mind,” Yash told when in conversation with INN about his plan of starting a Hostel out of all businesses.

When Yash’s solo trip to Manali which was again purely for getting work experience, was the start of his Hostel business idea. He stayed at a Hostel, learning new things, his trip back to Rajasthan was his another learning segment where the owners sent him to Agra, Delhi, Udaipur and many more places. “The beginning of my entrepreneurship was when I came to Mumbai after analyzing the Hostel market here and then along with a few partners I started ‘Basti Hostel’ in June 2017. Then I started LOCOMO Jodhpur that is built inside a building that was constructed by my Great Grandfather a century ago and then LOCOMO Mumbai!” the young entrepreneur communicated his story to INN.

Feeling great about opening up for a varied crowd this year, Yash says that he owed it to the youth of Mumbai as the LOCOMO Hostels has an extremely beautiful surrounding and ambience. LOCOMO Hostels Jodhpur and Mumbai, both have hosted people from 150+ countries and saying that it was a good experience, Yash tells that he and his team are ready for the Millennials to come and visit the Covid-19 Safe LOCOMO Hostels in Vile Parle. 

With plans of expanding the LOCOMO brand in almost all the major cities of the country, Yash very ambitiously tells INN that his motive is to ‘uplift the face of Youth Hospitality in the country’ and to also ‘get rid of the stigma of Hostels in India’ by standing out as a safe and a richly ambient place. Terming it as a brand, Yash told his Pandemic started sub-brands under LOCOMO like LOCO-exist that is a ‘non-profit baby’ dedicated completely for Animal Welfare by selling t-shirts and travel merchandise physically at LOCOMO properties as well as online. “Whatever resources and platform that I have, I want to use it for Animal Welfare as I happen to be an Animal lover,” said Yash. LOCO-Kitchen is the CafĂŠ brand of LOCOMO that is already existing and guess who runs it? Yash’s Mother!

She herself cooks deliciously home-like food for the guests that visit LOCOMO. ‘Maa ke Haath ka Khana’ at such a homestyle place; LOCOMO is surely a complete package for youths! Apart from this, “LOCO-Living that happens to be a co-living idea for people to work in and stay in that may exist in the already functional LOCOMOs or dedicating a whole new building for it,” says Yash. LOCO-Stays is another concept that happens to be a surprise for the audience as of now. “360 degree Youth Lifestyle-Hospitality-Travel and Work brand” is what Yash Bohra, the founder of LOCOMO wants his Hostels to be like. 

“Emphasizing on the fact that LOCOMO Mumbai is an accessible interactive place for the Youth of Mumbai. You can come, work with us, interact with us, attend events with us. We are a Pet friendly place too, so you can get your pet and sit at the rooftop too,” the founder reached this message to the Youth in search of a place like this.

So, what are you waiting for? Pack that laptop bag with a pair of jeans and head to Vile Parle to LOCOMO Hostels for a Safe, Peaceful and a Productive week!

Where to find LOCOMO?

The official website of the Brand: LOCOMO WORLD

Check out LOCOMOs Instagram Handle: LOCOMO

And to interact with the Founder, here you go: YASH BOHRA

Renu Valke

Renu Valke

See author's posts