Private equity giants including Brookfield and Apollo have made major investments in Europe's hostel industry over the past 18 months, pushing the long-overlooked travel niche toward standardization and premiumization. According to Sina Finance, the sector is growing faster than mainstream hotels and drawing market attention.

Brookfield, which manages about $1 trillion in assets, bought the London-based European business of Generator Hostels last year for 776 million euros. L&G Proprium acquired another European chain, A&O Hostels, in 2023, and A&O received 874 million euros in financing from Apollo in April this year. Both A&O and Generator plan to double in size.