The Travel Blog by TravelPod

There are all kinds of hostels to choose from around the world. Some of them are great, others are terrible. How do you know the one you are going to is a good one before you get there? Hostelworld.com puts together a list of the 10 best hostels every month. For some reason, most of them are in Portugal. Anyone know why that might be?

Anywho, here’s their list for this month:

1. Travellers House, Lisbon, Portugal

Travellers House is rated the #1 hostel in the world! The hostel is right smack in the middle of the best neighborhood in Lisbon, the Baixa neighborhood! After a warm welcome by the hostel staff, I was asked if I wanted to join one of the staff, Jeoarme, for a traditional Portuguese expresso, Bica, and the famouse Portuguese pastry, Pasteis, which is AWESOME! – Jcharwell

2. Rossio Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal

Good food, friendly people and the best little pastry in the world! Its called a Creme du Belem. Its a little creme brulee tart. – Pongpingjl

3. Boomerang Hostel & Apartments, Budapest, Hungary

The Boomerang Hostel was brilliant. We were advised before booking not to let the name put us off, and contrary to what you’re probably thinking now there were no other Australians, it was run by an American and a Ukrainian. They gave us a city map when we arrived and described all the tourist attractions, dinner options, and were really so helpful. – Promking22

4. Gold Coast Hostel, Lagos, Portugal

Food is cheap and delicious (we each ate a whole chicken, rice, and a liter of soda for only 8 euro each). The Beaches are gorgeous, the water isn’t too too cold, and everyone we have met here has been friendly and helpful. We highly recommend it! – Ryanandpatti

5. Living Lounge Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal

My friends and I set out on this journey in order to celebrate the birthday of my good friend Amanda Glanz. We were rolling deep: 8 of us from Madrid and 1 kid named Nolan in London, a good friend of mine from Wash U. And we were all staying in the same hostel, which was just exquisite. It was sort of elegant in an excellent location but with a fun atmosphere and an international crowd. – Jakester21

6. Academy Hostel, Florence, Italy

Love this country! – Russza

7. Hostel Majdas, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mostar has a lot of history and interesting buildings, but to me, its main attraction is its friendly citizens.

They were everywhere: The staff in the hostel who took my luggage to my room and let me sample her dinner; the shopkeeper who rendered service with a genuine, heart-felt smile, the waitress who looked for me to return my money when I paid her too much; the brother of the hostel owner who gave me a free ride to the nearby village after I missed the bus, and then took me to a café there to show the proper way to drink Bosnian coffee; the Serb who gave me a ride back to the city when he saw me waiting at the bus stop. – Chan_hc

8. Goodnight Backpacker’s Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal

Love the old town feel of the city. Love it even more that everyone speaks Portuguese with – duh! – a Portuguese accent. It almost feels like they are pretending and putting up an accent to fool us all. – Shb103

9. Riverhouse Backpackers, Cardiff, UK

(Sorry no blog available!)

10. Lisbon Lounge Hostel, Lisbon, Portugal

We stayed in a lovely hostel and had dinner with awful fellow tourists- one an avid Freddie Mercury fan who I offended deeply at the dinner table throwing out words like gaudy, cheesy, funny, very “Freddie Mercury” at his favorite musical, “We Will Rock You.” – Kaylashoe