DETROIT, MI – A travel website recently said there are "5 Reasons You Should Visit Detroit Right Now."

The people behind Detroit’s only hostel would say that number should be multiplied by 10.

"People get here and they thought there were maybe three to five things Detroit has to see, and then they realize there are 50 things," said Emily Doerr, who helped found Hostel Detroit in April 2011.

That means, Doerr said, that on many occasions, guests who booked just one night in Detroit as a novelty stop between Toronto and Chicago will often book additional nights to see more of the Motor City.

This lies at the heart of Hostel Detroit’s mission: Get as many intrepid travelers to see as much of Detroit as possible.

Kevin Ward, who runs the hostel’s “Ambassador Program,” said he sees Hostel Detroit as part of the city’s “creative re-purposing.”

The Ambassador Program in and of itself is what is unique about Hostel Detroit, aside from the fact that Hostel Detroit is the city’s only hostel. With the program, which uses volunteers to drive hostel guests to various sights and sounds around the city, visitors can come and see the city through “local eyes,” Ward said.

This effort is not just a matter of being an ambassador of Detroit. It is also an issue of practicality.

"Until we have good mass transit, we need the Ambassador Program," Doerr said.

The program and the hostel itself rely heavily on goodwill. A 501c3 non-profit since August 2012, Hostel Detroit has a $75,000 annual operating budget, Doerr said. "Our margins are tight," she said. "We get a lot of volunteer help, and we get a lot of donations."

A view of Detroit's iconic Michigan Central Station from one of Hostel Detroit's windows.

The group said that they have been getting an average of five reservations each day in August, and have already doubled the amount of reservations they took in during August 2012. Since opening in April 2011, Hostel Detroit has had 2,500 reservations and guests coming from 25 different countries.

One of its first guests, Deveri Gifford, is an example of what they would like to see more of. Gifford and her husband stayed at the hostel about a week after it opened. Today, they are the owners of the popular Brooklyn Street Local eatery in Corktown.

They opened it after deciding to permanently move from Toronto to Detroit. “That actually led us to the building that is now the restaurant,” Gifford said of her and her husband’s stay at the hostel, adding that they were able to network and make connections in the city almost immediately.

A browsing of travel and consumer rating sites such as TripAdvisor and Yelp, and Hostel Detroit gets mostly glowing reviews. Some travelers said the accommodations were dirty, which begs the question as to what they were hoping for when the room rates start at $27 for a single bunk to $52 for a two-person private room for a hostel - in Detroit.

Others considered the 4-bathroom, 3-kitchen space homey and cozy, and several travelers enjoyed the Detroit-centric décor (check out our photo gallery above – the Hostel Detroit crew has been decorating each room with a different neighborhood theme).

One other gripe that Doerr said some travelers who have reviewed their stay is with the keypad set-up the hostel uses. The door to the hostel is permanently locked, so when a new reservation is made – and the money must be paid up front – the hostel management sends the guest a code that is good for the period of time of their reservation.

One unfortunate traveler from the Netherlands apparently was unable to retrieve the code before arriving in the middle of the night, and in the rain. He was not happy.

These instances are few and far between, Doerr said. Most travelers are thrilled with the hostel, and with the mere fact that there’s a cheap place to stay in Detroit that helps immerse them in the culture of the city.

The "Corktown" common room in Hostel Detroit.

“Every world-class city has a hostel,” she said. “And Detroit is a world-class city.”

Ward said he gets asked about safety issues a lot. Relative to Detroit, North Corktown is not a “dangerous” place, but is also not immune to the occasional mugging, though so far that has not befallen any Hostel Detroit guests.

However, Ward said, “The biggest problem we have, and the biggest problem our guests have, is transportation.”

The only way that could be remedied – and again, the remedy would be relative to Detroit – is for the hostel to relocate to the downtown core, something Hostel Detroit has considered, Doerr said. The non-profit currently leases its space from well-known North Corktown landlord Jerry Esters.

Transportation aside, Doerr said a move downtown would at least increase the number of people walking past the hostel.

“There’s not enough walking traffic yet,” Doerr said of the North Corktown location. “ But Detroit will get there.”

David Muller is the business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.