Hostelworld Press Room

• Hostelworld.com announces top hostels worldwide at 2007 Hostel Conference

  January 31, 2007

  Berlin's Jetpack City Hostel triumphs at the Hoscars scooping world's best hostel

  Forget the Oscars, its all about the Hoscars!

  Last night in Dublin Berlin's Jetpack City Hostel beat off stiff competition by becoming the world's number one hostel at Hostelworld.com's 5th annual Hoscars awards ceremony. The hostel also scooped awards for 'Best Staff' and 'Cleanest Hostel'.

  Over 500,000 hostel users voted, selecting the winning hostel from more than 12,000 worldwide properties featured on hostelworld.com. The customers, who booked their hostel stays online were surveyed after their stay and asked to grade their accommodation based on six different criteria; character, security, location, staff, fun and cleanliness.

  Neil Nadarajah the delighted owner of Jetpack City Hostel, who jetted into Dublin for the "Oscars of the hostelling world" said "I couldn't believe it" when he heard his hostel called out. "We expected nothing really. We were waiting for Naples to win everything!" he added.

  When asked why she thought Jetpak City Hostel was so popular, Neil's wife Gulnor and co-manager said "We are small, like a family, like a small community - this is why".

  Neil said because their hostel catered for the modern-day backpacker was also a contributing factor to the hostel's popularity. "We cater modern-day travellers that travel with their computers, and if they don't have computers they always have iPods, or a digital camera, and we service everything they travel with."

  Along with the top 10 hostels, awards were also presented to the most secure hostel, the cleanest hostel, the most fun hostel, and, not forgetting those hostels which don't have as many beds as others, the best small hostel.

  The awards were presented at a ceremony in the Village in Dublin and were attended by more than 300 hostel owners and managers from around the world.

  The coveted "Hoscar" award ceremony was a part of Hostelworld.com's 3rd annual Hostel Conference which was hosted in the Hilton Hotel, Dublin and featured speakers on a number of topics including the development in social media and Travel 2.0 technologies and their impact on the marketing and distribution in the travel industry.

  The full list of winners is as follows:
  Top 10 Worldwide
  1. Jetpak City Hostel, Berlin, Germany
  2. Hostel of the Sun, Naples, Italy
  3. La Chimba, Santiago, Chile
  4. Mamas Hostel, Krakow, Poland
  5. Wombats City Hostel (The Lounge), Vienna, Austria
  6. Friendly Fun Franks Backpackers Hostel, Riga, Latvia
  7. EastSeven Berlin Hostel, Berlin, Germany
  8. Argonaut Backpackers, Riga, Latvia
  9. Oasis Backpackers Hostel, Granada, Spain
  10. Oki Doki Hostel, Warsaw, Poland

  The Hoscars also recognize several other categories important to travelers. These winners include:
  • Cleanest Hostel - Jetpak City Hostel, Berlin, Germany
  • Best Staff - Jetpak City Hostel, Berlin, Germany
  • Most Secure Hostel - Albergue Miraflores House, Lima, Peru
  • Best Location - Flamingo Hostel, Krakow, Poland
  • Best Character - Oasis Backpackers Mansion Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Most Fun - Mostel Hostel, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • Best Large Hostel (min 500 beds) - HI Chicago, Chicago, USA
  • Best Small Hostel (max 50 beds) - Mostel Hostel, Sofia, Bulgaria

  All winning hostels received the prestigious 'Hoscar,' a gold-plated statuette of a seasoned backpacker.

  About Hostelworld.com
  Hostelworld.com is a leading provider of online reservations to the budget, independent and youth travel market. It offers confirmed online reservations for over 12,000 hostels and budget hotels in 165 countries worldwide. The site also offers budget travellers free podcasts, customised city guides, a travel social network and more. Hostelworld.com is headquartered in Dublin and is fully owned and operated by Web Reservations International Ltd (WRI).

previous article next article