Neighbors say man running hostel out of Conway area house

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Central Florida has hundreds of hotels for tourists, but Channel 9 has learned that there's one hot spot for travelers that's been operating for a year, under the radar, in a residential neighborhood.

The makeshift hostel is located on Simmons Road, right in the heart of the Conway area.

Channel 9's Karla Ray found out the business is about to be shut down by Orange County Code Enforcement.

Code enforcement was just at the house Wednesday.

The man running the house told Ray there are still guests inside right now.

He said that after a year of being in business he had no idea he was doing anything wrong.

A neighbor, who didn't wish to be identified, called code enforcement after finding out the home is rented out nightly to tourists.

"We found out it was an international hostel for young people," said the neighbor.

Manny Dume is renting the house, and renting out the rooms.

"Did it occur to you to go to code enforcement ahead of time and ask them if it's OK to run a hotel out of a home?" Ray asked Dume.

"It's not a hotel," said Dume.

Dume told said he charges $25 a night.

The house is described as a 'hostel-style sleeping arrangement' on the website hostels.com.

"Why is this listed on hostels.com?" Ray asked Dume.

"It's listed as a world united international house," said Dume.

The house is zoned as a single-family residence; it's not authorized for any business use.

Dume said he plans to cooperate with code enforcement, which means he'll have to shut down.

If the business is not shut down the county could fine him up to $1,000 per day.

WFTV