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Jan 29, 2008
Krakow’s Flamingo Hostel Takes Top Honour as World’s Best Hostel
Some famous Hollywood awards ceremonies may have lost some of their luster this year due to the writers’ strike, but the HOStelworld Customers Annual Ratings or Hoscars took center stage in Dublin last night.
The Flamingo Hostel in Krakow, Poland was the overall winner this year, distinguishing itself as the world’s best hostel, according to more than 600,000 hostelworld.com users worldwide. The average individual ratings from all users combine to give the Hoscars.
More than 15,000 worldwide properties featured on hostelworld.com were eligible for Hoscars. Voting 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.
Pawel Wawro from the winning hostel said “It’s amazing! We are really proud, we didn’t expect it. We are doing everything that we can for guests who are coming to Krakow.” When asked what makes a good hostel Pawel stated “The most important thing is having the best place, second is atmosphere - that is the best thing you can offer to the customer, to the guest, really”.
Pawel added he believed the atmosphere is one of the main reasons his hostel is so popular when he said “I think the best thing about Flamingo Hostel is the atmosphere. It’s difficult to describe in words. You must come to Krakow to see what the atmosphere is like in Flamingo Hostel.”
In addition to top ten overall awards, 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.
Top 10 Worldwide Hostels
1. Flamingo Hostel Krakow, Poland
2. Mama’s Hostel- Krakow, Poland
3. Clarence Castle- Toronto, Canada
4. Jetpak City hostel- Berlin (last years winner)
5. Hostel Estoril- Buenos Aires, Argentina
6. Hilux Valencia Feetup Hostels, Valencia, Spain
7. Hostel of the Sun, Naples, Italy
8. Travellers House-Lisbon, Portugal
9. Backpacker Hostel K’s house Tokyo, Japan
10. East Seven Berlin Hostel-Berlin, Germany
The awards took place in Temple Bar’s Button Factory in Dublin and were attended by more than 300 hostel owners and managers from around the world. The Hoscar’s award ceremony is a part of Hostelworld.com’s 4th annual Hostel Conference which was hosted in the Hilton Hotel, Dublin. This year’s theme of “Engaging the online customer-the social web and you” featured key speakers and backpacker panel on the highly topical subject of user generated content, social networking and online reviews.
Full list of winners:
Top Hostels by Continent
North America
1. Clarence Castle, Toronto, Canada
2. Pacific Tradewinds Backpacker Hostel, San Francisco, USA
3. HI Buffalo Niagara, Buffalo, USA,
Latin America
1. Hostel Estoril, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2. Hostel Lao, Mendoza, Argentina
3. La Chimba Hostel, Mendoza, Chile
Oceania
1. YHA Wellington City- Wellington, New Zealand
2. Jailhouse Accommodation, Christchurch, New Zealand
3. Backpack Oz, Adelaide, Australia
Africa
1. Cape Town Backpackers, Cape Town, South Africa (winner last year)
2. The Backpack and Africa Travel Centre, Cape Town, South Africa
3. Ashanti Lodge, Cape Town, South Africa
Asia
1. Backpackers Hostel K’s House Tokyo (# 2 last year)
2. Spicy Thai Backpackers, Chiang Mai, Thailand
3. Red Palm, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (last years winner)
Special Awards
Cleanest Hostel: Jetpak City Hostel, Berlin, Germany
Best Staff: Hostel of the Sun, Naples, Italy
Most Secure Hostel: Greg-Tom Hostel, Krakow, Poland
Best Location: Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal
Best Character: Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal
Most Fun: Giovannis Home, Naples, Italy
Best Large Hostel (min 500 beds): HI Chicago
Best Small Hostel (max 50 beds): Greg - Tom Hostel, Krakow, Poland
Most Improved Hostels:
Hostel Beautiful 2-Rome
Legends hostel-Rome
Sandy Hostel-Rome
Best Hostel Chain
Wombats
USA Hostels
Sant Jordi
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 15,000 hostels and budget hotels in 166 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).
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