Ron Knowles opened his first off-licence in Battersea in 1958. His son Keith took over in 1982, built Belushi’s in Covent Garden, then had a thought that would change hostel accommodation across Europe. What if the people drinking downstairs could sleep upstairs too?
Three decades on, the Beds and Bars family spans nine European cities: London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Bruges, Vienna and Newquay, with 3,308 beds across 16 properties. Every St Christopher’s hostel still has a real bar downstairs. The kind of bar worth going out for, without going anywhere at all.
