Lisbon: hostel capital of the world

From Times Online

April 29, 2009

The Portuguese capital can lay claim to having the world's best hostels. They're more like boutique hotels than bunkhouses, says Ginny McGrath

Ginny McGrath

When 800,000 backpackers and budget travellers voted for their favourite hostels around the world, there was one clear winner: Lisbon.

The Portuguese capital is home to three of the top ten hostels in the Hostelworld.com awards, including the eventual winner, Travellers House. Second in the listings was Rossio Hotel and third was Lisbon Lounge.

It's not the first plaudit for the city's budget bolt holes - Lisbon Lounge was one of the ten top-rated boutique hostels in Europe according to users of the rival hostel booking website, HostelBookers.com. And sister property Lisbon Living Lounge featured in The Sunday Times pick of Europe's best boutique hostels.

Sounds like a fix? We thought so too - so I went to Lisbon to see for myself, and took a video camera with me (watch my film above).

I checked out three of the city's best hostels, including Hostelworld winner, Travellers House, Hostelbookers favourite Lisbon Lounge, and The Sunday Times' pick, Living Lounge.

I have to admit, I haven't stayed in a hostel since 1997. Six months of bunk beds and shower queues, including a low point in Cairns when 50 of us were herded into a school gym and fumigated for bed bugs, ensured I never wanted to stay in one again.

Much has changed since then - I visited YHA's London Central hostel last year and was blown away by the trendy decor, comfortable bed-bug free beds, and internet cafe. When that property didn't feature in Hostelworld's top ten, I know the Lisbon properties had to be something special.

And they were. First, all three hostels are central, and I mean right in the heart of Baixa, the elegant central district of pedestrianised, mosaic streets sandwiched between two of the city's seven hills.

Second, they're clean, trendy, and wired up with internet access. Every one had a notice board advertising services like cheap city tours, Portuguese food and drink evenings and quiz nights.

Where Travellers House had a more quirky, informal feel, Lisbon Lounge and Living Lounge were a little more modern. The latter has 23 rooms, individually designed by Portuguese artists, while at Lisbon Lounge the breakfast and internet is free.

Hostelworld.com editor, Colm Hanratty says of his website's top-rated Europe hostel, "Traveller’s House is exactly that – a house run by travellers for travellers. The guys who run it are backpackers themselves so they know exactly what other backpackers are looking for."

Hanratty says Lisbon's hostels stand out for their cleanliness, locations, free wifi and breakfast, and adds: "what I think really separates them from the rest of the world’s hostels is the attention to decor in the hostels. Some are retro, some are boutique, while others are quite modern."

The have also impressed David Smith, chief operating officer at HostelBookers. He says of the award-winning hostels: “It’s fantastic that three excellent boutique hostels have opened up in Lisbon to cater to the kind of young, contemporary independent travellers who want to see this city.

"Lisbon truly defines what modern budget travel is all about; cheap accommodation doesn’t mean going without style and comfort.”

p/s: I reckon Porto's hostel too, are world-class as the Oporto Poet's Hostel II was voted #7 on Hostelbooker's Worldwide Hostels of the Year 2005!