Hostel Conference in Dublin

I've just returned from the yearly conference hosted by Hostelworld.com. I missed the conference in 2008, so it was great catching up with other hostel operators that I hadn't seen in 2 years, as well as making new acquaintances. Apple Hostels was represented by Dennis, Ines and myself. Craig from Samesun hostels in western Canada was there for the first time, as well as Sandra from the Canadiana hostel in Toronto. In all, there were 6 North American hostel companies represented at the conference, up from just the two of us (Pablo from Jazz Hostels and myself) at the first conference in 2005.

It's a shame that more North American hostel owners and managers don't attend, as there are always some very excellent speakers covering a wide range of topics. I suppose it's indicative of the poor quality of hostels in North America. One of the interresting topics of the conference was the growing number of travelers from China. Paloma Meng's presentation pinpointed some things that can really help the average Chinese traveler enjoy their stay. Last month, a huge portion of our guests were from China and many of them were not as happy with our hostel as our other guests. I think we've identified the problems now, especially after listening to Paloma Meng, so I'm hoping that everyone will be much happier now.

A big part of the conference is what's called the "Hoscars Ceremony", where Hostelworld.com announces the winners of the best hostels by continent. Unfortunately, we just missed making it into the top 3 for North America, but it seems that we were number 4! We're just waiting for confirmation from Carmel at Hostelworld. That would also make us number 2 in the USA, since number 1 and 3 were from Toronto and Montreal respectively. Number 2 for North America (number 1 in the USA) was Hostel Seattle. That would also make us the highest rated Hostelling International hostel in North America. Anyway, we'll wait and see what Carmel says before we do any celebrating.