The red carpet was rolled out in Dublin last night for one of the budget travel industry’s 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.

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, HOSCAR’s 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. Traveller’s House, Lisbon, Portugal 
2. Rossio Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal 
3. Lisbon Lounge, Lisbon, Portugal 
4. The Riverhouse Backpackers, Cardiff, Wales 

5. Greg-Tom Hostel, Krakow, Poland 

6. Sitting On The City Walls Courtyard House, Beijing, China 
7. Academy Hostel, Florence, Italy 
8. Goodnight Backpackers, Lisbon, Portugal 
9. Flamingo Hostel, Krakow, Poland
10. Mambo Tango Backpackers Hostel, Barcelona, Spain

Top Hostels by Continent: