Our Story

Is Hobo a boutique hotel on Karl Johan in central Oslo, with unique design and a vibrant social scene? Yes, it is. But it’s also far more than that.

Hobo is our idea of community. A place where we live, work, create, learn, and have fun together. Traveling should be more than just a place to stay. It should be an immersive experience; something that connects you to the city and its culture, its local community. At Hobo, this philosophy has been our guiding light since day 1. This hotel was founded to be a home for the young at heart and the constantly curious. A conceptual hotel that retains its authenticity and remembers the importance of genuine hospitality.

Growing originally like a living creature, today's Hobo has evolved into several hotels and creative, local melting pots. In our Oslo hotel, you’ll find 181 hotel rooms for every taste, plus two restaurants, two bars, a whole floor of event spaces, our pop-up area SPACEby, and much, much more. You can already find Hobo in Stockholm, Helsinki, and Copenhagen.

The Hobo Hotel concept was founded in 2017 when we opened our first site: Hobo Stockholm. The home to this first iteration, Brunkebergstorg in Stockholm, was part of a completely new block, constructed in the heart of the city. The city's dormant, forgotten part was transformed into a vibrant square. 
Our concept has already spread to Finland's capital, Helsinki, and this year, we are opening both in Copenhagen and Oslo.

Since the start, one thing has been certain about our concept: it is ever-evolving, mirroring and growing together with its city. When standing at a crossroad, Hobo picks the unexpected route. This will never change.

The name was inspired by the traveling lifestyle of 1930s USA. The word “hobo” has been used since the 1930s to describe a person who enjoys traveling. The lifestyle involved an active choice to travel from town to town to find work; hobos had no fixed address. Instead, they preferred to travel, discover new places and to work wherever they arrived. Hobos followed strict rules, such as directing their own lives, respecting the locals, respecting the environment of the towns they traveled to – and, if you couldn’t find a job, you created one using your own talents.

For us, “hobo” means a thoughtful, socially-aware and curious person. Someone who sees themselves as a world-citizen. Though we’ve taken our name from history, we strive to be progressive, and are always mindful of the future being our greatest inspiration.