Hostelworld.com has reached a milestone in its history by announcing it has published its one millionth customer review!

The 1 millionth review was posted by a backpacker from England who stayed at the America del Sur Hostel in Argentina and wrote “This is the best hostel in the whole world. Ever. Fantastic, friendly helpful staff, comfortable rooms and a dream location. Fantastic.”

Hostel reviews were introduced in 2002 to allow customers express personal views of their stay in and to give fellow travellers unbiased opinions of hostels. The reviews are held in high regard by users as only customers who have booked and stayed at the hostels have an opportunity to review, unlike many other sites which are open to manipulation. The reviews also help give hostels on the site an average rating, something that has been compared to a hotels “star” rating.

Users are embracing the ease at which reviews can be posted on Hostelworld.com with a reminder sent to them directly after their stay. Customers are given the opportunity to rate and review their stay based on, but not limited to, the following criteria - character, security, location, staff, cleanliness and fun.

Hostelworld.com MD Niamh Ni Mhir commented “We are delighted to have reached this landmark of one million reviews. Recently Time magazine voted “you” as the 2006 person of the year, reflecting the power the user of today has attained. User generated content is becoming vital to sustaining a significant presence on the internet as people are becoming increasingly savvy. Our growth in customer ratings and reviews on Hostelworld.com reflects our transition into this next generation of users.”

Hostelworld.com’s customer ratings and reviews are used to determine the annual “Hoscar” winners, a coveted award presented to the best hostels of the year. The winners are announced at the Hostelworld.com hostel conference held in January of each year. Hostels take the awards very seriously, especially as stiff competition has lead to an increase in hostel standards year on year.

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