Milwaukee’s first hostel, Cream City Hostel, will open in May 2019 in the Riverwest neighborhood.

A groundbreaking event will be held Sunday, Nov. 18 at the hostel, 500 E. Center St., at 1 p.m. Soup and bread will be served in the backyard until 3 p.m. and the public is welcome. Tours of the building will also be available.

Hostels are affordable lodging options which often provide a unique social experience. They are accessed primarily, but not solely, by young travelers throughout the United States as well as around the world and usually include shared living/sleeping space with bunk-beds.

"A hostel is where you can play a game of cribbage with someone from England, California, U.S. and Australia in the same room, share a meal you cook together that night and go out for drinks at a local bar," says Carolyn Weber, who owns the hostel along with Wendy Mesich and developer Juli Kaufmann.

Cream City Hostel will have eight rooms and a total of 50 beds, sleeping one to 12 per room. The price will range from $25 to $70 per night.

Cream City Bikes, a bike rental and clinic, will also be located in the building, which was originally the Holton Street Bank and after the Centro del Nino.

Hostels started in Germany before World War I and were popularized in the United States in the 1960s. They exist in Chicago, Madison, Minneapolis and Detroit, and Weber says international travelers often skip Milwaukee when traveling through the Midwest because of the lack of inexpensive lodging here.

But not for long.

"One of the best things about hosteling is that you get to meet people – so many different kinds of people – from all over the world. You never know who you’ll meet while staying in a hostel, which adds an element of excitement that’s hard to get if you’re holed up by yourself in a hotel room," says Weber.

Go here to view the Facebook event.