Hostelworld Best Hostels 2010

The annual Hostelworld Hoscars have been awarded: over 1,000,000 Hostelworld.com reviews rated more than 20,000 hostels over the last year, and the results are Hostelworld's ten top rated hostels worldwide from 2010, awarded in February 2011. Hostels winning the 2010 Hoscars are all in Europe, as (is often) usual -- though sometimes other continents do sneak onto the list, European hostelers really do do it well. (Interestingly, most hostels at the tops of the best hostels lists are the new breed of boutique hostels... and in Lisbon.)

See how these best Hostelworld.com hostels are picked (and more about that) below the list...and the Hoscars go to:

Best Hostels Worldwide

• 1. Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal -- Friendly and fun, central and safe, and clean to boot: that's everything a backpacker can hope for in a hostel, and that's what you get in the Travellers House Hostel in Lisbon, Portugal. Consistently highly rated by backpackers, the Travellers House hostel has private rooms for flashpackers and older travelers, too -- but the scene, often including a staff-organized pub crawl, is plenty frisky. Read more on the Lisbon Travellers House hostel specifics....

• 2. Lisbon Lounge Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal -- One of the new breed of upscale boutique hostels, the Lisbon Lounge Hostel is trendy and wildly hip, spacious, spotless, and near the nightlife (Bairro Alto). Know that boutique hostels come at boutique prices, but if you're willing to pony up the pesos, you'll find pretty awesome private rooms and ritzy amenities galore. Read more on the Lisbon Lounge Hostel specifics...

• 3. Living Lounge Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal -- Like its sister hostel, the Lisbon Lounge Hostel, Lisbon's Living Lounge Hostel is another of the trendy new trend in hip hostelling: boutique hostels with upscale decor and upscale prices. Along with the same artists-cum-owners, the two Lisbon hostels share pluses like pleasant spaces with a Swedishly spare aesthetic (and distinct lack of funkiness), comfort, safety, superb locales and a common area you could entertain Mom in... if she's not already staying there (yeah, well-heeled geezers can be glimpsed in boutique hostels). Willing to pay? Lisbon's Living Lounge Hostel may be your palatial place. Read more on the Living Lounge Hostel specifics...

_{See the rest of the list.}

Best Large Hostels

• 1. Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal
• 2. Living Lounge Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal
• 3. Yes! Lisbon Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal

_{See the rest of the list.}

Best Small Hostels

• 1. Lisbon Lounge Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal
• 2. Rossio Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal
• 3. Greg and Tom Hostel, Krakow, Poland

_{See the rest of the list.}

This and That

Voters also choose hostels with a little something extra when they write reviews at Hostelworld.com, and other awards handed out at the Hoscars reflect those plus-size bits of extra attention to detail from hostel owners and managers, like cleanest and friendliest. Hoscar awards by continent are also presented; winning hostels have to receive at least 100 reviews by Hostelworld users before moving into contention for the top three hostels by largeish land mass.

• Lifetime Achievement Award - Wombats, Austria (chain)
• Most Secure Hostel: Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal
• Best Hostel for Groups - The Naughty Squirrel Hostel

See the rest of the info from Hostelworld: Hostelworld Hoscars 2011

How The Hostels Are Chosen, and More Hostel Reading

After a traveler's booked through Hostelworld.com and the date of the stay has passed, the traveler receives a Hostelworld invite to rate the joint according to six criteria (character, security, location, staff, fun and cleanliness). Do read the reviews associated with properties which have massive, perfect scores -- there exists an apprehension among some in the biz that others pad these reviews (some of the reviews themselves sometimes state clearly that the desk clerk is asking the review to be written, for instance). And, of course, some of the comments are totally real, given unprompted from other travelers just like you.

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