Schulz Hotel, Berlin — Photo by a&o Hostels
  • The trio behind Schulz and leading hostel platform Meininger, Nizar Rokbani, Oskar Kan and Sascha Gechter, will remain part of the management team, while a&o explores new expansion opportunities
  • The acquisition includes the premium budget hotel Schulz Berlin, offering 1,000 beds, which will continue to operate under the Schulz brand.

a&o Hostels, Europe’s largest and fastest growing hostel chain with 30,000 beds under management, has acquired Berlin based Schulz Hotels.

With this step, a&o aims to further strengthen its position in core markets and expand its offering to accelerate European growth. The company is responding to clear market trends, including increasing inbound tourism, a growing number of price sensitive travellers and ongoing technological developments. The European hostel market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.8 percent between 2025 and 2030 (Grandview Research, 2025).

Schulz founders strengthen the a&o team
The founders of Schulz, Nizar Rokbani, Oskar Kan and Sacha Gechter, are joining a&o’s management and advisory team as the company works on expanding the brand and its offering. The trio previously founded Meininger, a European hotel hostel concept that today offers more than 20,000 beds.

Schulz Hotels is a premium budget concept with strong design, extensive amenities and an attractive F&B offering. It targets traditional hostel guests, as well as business travellers and individual guests who are looking for a bit more comfort. The company currently operates a single 1,000 bed hotel at Ostbahnhof in Berlin and is developing a second location in the new Heide Quarter in the German capital, close to the central station.

a&o continues to expand
a&o is successfully executing its growth strategy by bringing its budget friendly offering for families, school groups and backpackers to more European cities. Over the past 24 months, a&o has secured 8,500 beds across properties that are already operating, under development or being renovated.

Founded in 2000 by Oliver Winter, a&o has grown into one of the largest budget hostel chains in the world. In 2024, a&o Hostels welcomed a record 2.8 million guests and 6.2 million overnight stays. This growth continued in the first half of 2025, with 1.4 million guests, 3.1 million overnight stays and an average occupancy of 73 percent.

StepStone Group and Proprium Capital Partners supported the management led buyout of a&o at the end of 2023. Together, they have invested approximately 500 million euros over the past 18 months in expanding the platform. In addition to Schulz Hotels, a&o has acquired properties in London, Brighton, Brussels, Antwerp and Heidelberg. The company is also working on a growing pipeline of new acquisition opportunities in other major European cities.

A shared vision for the future
Oliver Winter, founder and CEO of a&o Hostels, said: “The combined expertise of a&o and Schulz equals one hundred years of hostel experience. That is the ideal foundation for dynamic and creative growth in prime locations in European cities. Since 2024 we have invested around 500 million euros in scaling the a&o Hostels platform. With a strong group of investors behind us and a market that offers attractive opportunities, we are very well positioned to maintain this momentum in a rapidly maturing sector that benefits from clear demographic and technological trends.”

We are delighted to join forces with a&o and take the growth of Schulz Hotels to the next level. Our collaboration is an excellent fit, as we share the same values, target audiences and ambitions. There are major synergies in purchasing, sales and technology, from which both brands will benefit. Sascha Gechter, co founder of Meininger and Schulz
The acquisition of Schulz Hotels by a&o Hostels is an important step in strengthening our strategic position in the most important European markets. The cooperation with the founders of Schulz, whom we have known for more than ten years, enables us to once again redefine what affordable travel can be.  Philipp Westermann, Partner at Proprium Capital Partners