• The red carpet was rolled out in Dublin last night for one of the budget travel industrys most anticipated events of the year as the HOSCARS (HOStelworld Customer Annual Ratings) took place to recognise the best hostels in the world.

  The Portuguese city of Lisbon was the top location for hostels with Travellers House winning the coveted prize of number one hostel in the world while Rossio Hostel and Lisbon Lounge hostel giving the popular backpacking destination an impressive one, two, three. The Riverside BP, Cardiff secured fourth place and was also voted No.1 in the world for best staff.

   

  Watch the video from the night!

   

  More than 20,000 properties from across the globe, all featured on Hostelworld.com, were eligible for the awards. The winners were voted for by over 800,000 customers worldwide who booked their accommodation online and rated and reviewed the hostel on six criteria - character, security, location, staff, fun and cleanliness.

  Gonzalo Figueira, co-owner of the hostel was delighted with the award, saying, "We are very happy. It's been a successful year for us, so we thought we had a good chance of winning a HOSCAR"

  Manager of the hostel, Adriano Cardoso, said he believed the hostel was popular because guests were treated the way they would like to be treated when staying in a hostel. He said, "You have to be there for travellers and take care of them – know your guests and offer the things you know they need."

  Alongside those mentioned above, HOSCARs were also awarded for the top three hostels on each continent, and categories including "Best location", "Most fun", "Best character" and "Most improved". In a new category for this year, and proving that a backpacker's favourite pastime hasn't changed, the backpacker pub crawl in Dublin won the award for "Best tour".

   

• The winners of the coveted Hoscars were:
   
  1. 1. Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal 
  2. 2. Rossio Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal 
  3. 3. Lisbon Lounge, Lisbon, Portugal 
  4. 4. The Riverhouse Backpackers, Cardiff, Wales 
  5. 5. Greg-Tom Hostel, Krakow, Poland 
  6. 6. Sitting On The City Walls Courtyard House, Beijing, China 
  7. 7. Academy Hostel, Florence, Italy 
  8. 8. Goodnight Backpackers, Lisbon, Portugal 
  9. 9. Flamingo Hostel, Krakow, Poland 
  10. 10. Mambo Tango Backpackers Hostel, Barcelona, Spain 
  
  Top Hostels by Continent:
  
  North America 
  1. 1. Clarence Castle, Toronto, Canada 
  2. 2. Hostel Seattle, Seattle, USA 
  3. 3. Alexandrie-Montreal, Montreal, Canada 
  
  Latin America 
  1. 1. HI Patagonia Hostel Puerto Madryn, Puerto Madryn, Argentina 
  2. 2. Hostel Estoril, Buenos Aires, Argentina 
  3. 3. Hostel Lao, Mendoza, Argentina 
  
  Africa 
  1. 1. Equity Point, Marrakech, Morocco 
  2. 2. Hostel Essaouira, Essaouria, Morocco 
  3. 3. The Backpack & Africa Travel Centre, Cape Town, South Africa 
  
  Asia 
  1. 1. Sitting On The City Walls Courtyard House, Beijing, China 
  2. 2. Zhengjia International Youth Hostel, Pingyao, China 
  3. 3. Eight Elephants Hostel, Taipei, Taiwan 
  
  Oceania
  1. 1. YHA Rotorua Treks, Rotorua, New Zealand 
  2. 2. Dreamtime Travellers Rest, Cairns, Australia 
  3. 3. Jailhouse Accommodation, Christchurch, New Zealand 
  
  Special Category Awards were also given to the following hostels:
  1. Cleanest Hostel: Lisbon Lounge, Lisbon, Portugal 
  2. Most Secure Hostel: Budapest Bubble, Budapest, Hungary 
  3. Most Fun Hostel: Rossio Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal 
  4. Hostel with Best Location: Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal 
  5. Best Staff: The Riverhouse Backpackers, Cardiff, Wales 
  6. Hostel with Best Character: Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal 
  7. Best Small Hostel [Max 50 beds]: Rossio Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal 
  8. Best Large Hostel [Min 500 beds]: Wombats City Hostel, Berlin, Germany 
  9. Most Improved Hostel: Marlborough Hostel, Dublin, Ireland 
  
  Best Hostel Chain
  1. Wombats Austria and Germany
  2. Hatters Hostels, England
  3. St Christophers Hostels - Belgium, England, France, Netherlands, Scotland

By: Colm Hanratty