Morty Rich Hostel At 6500 South Main St.

[Highrise Tower]

Found this in the book Hostels U.S.A. The only comprehensive, unofficial, opinionated guide. Publication date 1998.

Morty Rich Hostel (NR)
6500 South Main Street, Houston, TX 77030
(713) 522-1096
Rates: $13.50 per Hostelling International Member
Season: July 1 to August 31
Beds: 20
Private rooms: Yes
Affiliation: Hostelling International
Office hours: 8:00 A.M. to 9:45 P.M.

Extras: Pool, laundry, parking, cafeteria access, computer access, game room, pool table.

This summer-only hostel owest its life to Morty Rich, a longtime hosteller and hostel supporter who bequeathed money for a hostel near his alma mater of Rice University south of downtown Houston. When Rich tragically died in a plane crash a few years back, the hostel came to be. 

The neighborhood is especially nice. Rice is one of the Southwest’s strongest academic schools- think Ivy League meets Texas oil boom and you’re getting the idea—and its research medical center is the largest such complex in the world. In other words, this is a great place to come down with the flu.

Seriously, though, the hostel occupies Rice dorms and as such is probably a better pick, especially for families and other business travelers, than the other hostel in town. For entertainment there’s shopping complex father to the north. Only problem? This hostel’s future is said to be uncertain. Will it still be around by the time this book hits print, or in the summers? Who knows? Only time will tell.

[mkultra25]

6500 Main was the site of the Tidelands motel, which was converted to Rice graduate student housing and rechristened "The Graduate House" in 1984. Can't remember when the Graduate House closed, but construction of the Bioscience Research Collaborative building that currently occupies the site began in 2006. 

This is the first I've heard of the Graduate House hosting a seasonal hostel, but I guess it was an obvious way for what was already a former motel to generate some extra revenue in between semesters when demand for student housing would have been lower.