Jetpak City Hostel, one of the German capital’s most popular hostels, has won the much coveted award of ‘Best Hostel of 2006’ at Hostelworld.com’s 5th Annual Hoscars Awards ceremony.

Jetpak City Hostel Manager Neil Nadarajah 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 the fact that 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.”

More than 500,000 Hostelworld.com customers selected the winning hostels from more than 12,000 properties featured on the site. The customers were surveyed after their stay and asked to grade their hostel based on six different criteria: character, security, location, staff, fun and cleanliness.

The coveted “Hoscar” Awards ceremony was part of Hostelworld.com’s 3nd annual Hostel Conference which was hosted in the Hilton Hotel, Dublin and was themed ‘Travel 2.0 in the Hostelling World’, showcasing the importance of new technology for hostels and their sites.

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

The winners of the coveted Hoscars were:

1. Jetpak City Hostel, Berlin, German
   
2. Hostel of the Sun, Naples, Italy
   
3. La Chimba Hostel, Santiago, Chile
   
4. Mama’s Hostel, Krakow, Poland
   
5. Wombat’s City Hostel Vienna – The Lounge, Vienna, Austria
   
6. Friendly Fun Frank’s Backpacker Hostel, Riga, Latvia
   
7. EastSeven Berlin Hostel, Berlin, Germany
   
8. Argonaut Backpackers, Riga, Latvia
   
9. Oasis Backpacker Hostel, Granada, Spain
   
10. Oki Doki Hostel, Warsaw, Poland
    

Top Hostels by Continent:


North America

1. San Francisco Backpacker Hostel – Pacific Tradewinds, San Francisco, USA
   
2. H.I. Seattle, Seattle, USA
   
3. Canadiana Backpackers Inn, Toronto, Canada
   

Latin America

1. La Chimba Hostel, Santiago, Chile
   
2. Arthy’s Guesthouse, La Paz, Bolivia
   
3. America del Sur Hostel, El Calafate, Argentina
   

Africa

1. Cape Town Backpackers, Cape Town, South Africa
   
2. Desert Safary Hostel, Cairo, Egypt
   
3. Meramees Hostel, Cairo, Egypt
   

Asia

1. Red Palm, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
   
2. Backpackers Hostel K’s House, Tokyo, Japan
   
3. Sakura Hostel Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan
   

Oceania

1. YHA Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand
   
2. Gilligan’s Backpacker Hotel and Resort, Cairns, Australia
   
3. Urban Central, Melbourne, Australia
   

Special Category Awards were also given to the following hostels:

1. Cleanest Hostel: Jetpak City Hostel, Berlin, Germany
   
2. Most Secure Hostel: Albergue Miraflores House, Lima, Peru
   
3. Most Fun Hostel: Mostel Hostel, Sofia, Bulgaria
   
4. Hostel with Best Location: Flamingo’s Hostel, Krakow, Poland
   
5. Best Staff: Jetpak City Hostel, Berlin, Germany
   
6. Hostel with Best Character: Oasis Backpackers Mansion Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
   
7. Best Small Hostel [Max 50 beds]: Mostel Hostel, Sofia, Bulgaria
   
8. Best Large Hostel [Min 500 beds]: H.I. Chicago, Chicago, USA
   

Most Improved Hostel

1. Argonaut Backpackers, Riga, Latvia
   
2. Inner Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
   
3. David Inn, Florence, Italy
   

Best Hostel Chain

1. Wombats, Austria and Germany
   
2. Oasis Hostels, Spain and Portugal
   
3. Ciaro Hostels, Mexico
   

By Colm Hanratty