The Ettelbruck youth hostel will feature 120 beds, parking for 60 bicycles, two large and several smaller meeting rooms, a new restaurant, and a rooftop panorama platform. The draft bill for the project was recently approved by MPs in the Chamber of Deputies, generating high expectations.
MP Fernand Etgen of the Democratic Party (DP), the bill’s rapporteur, believes the youth hostel will revitalise Ettelbruck station and enhance the neighbourhood’s appeal with various activities and meeting spaces, benefiting the local social life.
MP Yves Cruchten of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) shared his enthusiasm and praised Etgen’s presentation:
"[Mr Etgen], you did this so well, I think the government should send you to tourist fairs abroad to promote Luxembourg. I think we’d hardly be able to handle the tourists you’d attract.”
The project aims to draw tourists who will stay multiple nights in northern Luxembourg and support local businesses such as shops, restaurants, and bars.
Additionally, the hostel is expected to attract visitors from across the country, thanks to its stunning rooftop view. MP and Mayor of Diekirch Charel Weiler of the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) highlighted this feature:
“One of the main attractions will certainly be the panorama platform on the roof, from which you can almost see all the way to Diekirch. It will be accessible to those using the facilities, but also to people from the outside.”
In addition to its rooftop panorama platform, the new youth hostel in Ettelbruck will boast other remarkable features. MP Meris Šehović of the Green Party (déi gréng) highlighted the hostel’s innovative use of photovoltaic technology:
“There is a photovoltaic plant on the roof, which is not particularly innovative, but what’s much more innovative is that there are also plans for a photovoltaic plant on the façade. This is very innovative and very much to be welcomed.”
The Pirate Party also supports the project, although it initially expressed concern over the cost. MP Ben Polidori noted that the youth hostel will cost over €63 million:
“We addressed this in the committee, and the explanation we were given was that this does not only include the construction of the youth hostel, but also significant infrastructure works, which are necessary as tunnelling works will have to be carried out beneath the entire plot.”
MP Jeff Engelen of the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (adr) welcomed the addition of another youth hostel in northern Luxembourg, complementing the existing ones in Lultzhausen and Vianden. He also suggested that the area around Clervaux would be a suitable location for a similar project.
