Together instead of lonely: How community strengthens families

Community · 18 February 2026

When the Brunner family arrived for the first time, they were sceptical. 'Strangers in a shared kitchen? With three children?' Two weeks later the kids didn't want to go home. The Brunners have come back every year since – and now have firm holiday friends.

This is no isolated case. We watch again and again how quickly families find each other here. At the dinner table, while cooking together, on the playground. The children make the first move, the parents follow. After two days it feels like one big shared flat – in the best sense.

The Meier family from Zurich describes it like this: 'We live in the city, barely know our neighbours. Here at the hostel our daughter experienced for the first time what it means to be part of a real community. She still talks about it today.'

How community comes to life

What makes this community so special is that it's voluntary and unpressured. Nobody has to join in, but everyone can. There's no fixed programme, no group pressure. Some families cook together, others enjoy their quiet. Both are fine.

Some of our regular guests have formed close-knit groups and book together. Real friendships have grown from this that go far beyond the holidays. For us that's the most beautiful compliment.

What makes the difference is the architecture of daily life. A large communal kitchen, long shared tables, no single-room mentality. When you have breakfast together in the morning and cook together in the evening, connection happens almost by itself. You don't need to organise it – you just need to not prevent it.

What community practically offers

For children, this is particularly valuable. In a world where playdates need to be scheduled and neighbourhood kids are often strangers, they experience something rare here: spontaneous friendship. Just step outside and someone is there. That sounds trivial – but it no longer is.

Parents often say they feel strangely lonely in regular family hotels. Everyone eats at separate tables, exchanges polite greetings, but it stays at surface level. At the Family Hostel it's different. The shared kitchen makes conversations unavoidable – and from conversations come evenings, from evenings come friendships.

Of course this doesn't work instantly for everyone. Some families need two days before they open up. That's completely normal. We don't force anyone. But we observe that it almost always happens – because the longing for genuine connection is greater than the threshold of asking the first question.

Why this applies to you too

Family holidays can be very lonely – even when you're a group of three or four. What we offer at the Family Hostel isn't a programme, but a framework. A framework in which connection becomes possible. How much of that each family takes up is always up to them.