Official TFTHostels Blog

This post brakes down the 10 best features you can find on TFTHostels.com beta release. If you like some more details just click on an image below. Here is the list.

1. Searching made easy, we offer 3 options:
   
   

   Enter a city, Browse by country or Browse on a map.

   

   Enter a few letters off the city you want to visit, and select the city from the list.

   

   Easy hostel directory browsing with a tag cloud

   

   Browse for Hostels on a map.

2. We are the first Hostel Search Engine.
   We just started with all hostels from Hostelworld, Hostelbookers and Hostelsclub. And we have an enormous hostel database. More then 30.000 hostels on 1 site. (We are adding other sites later this year.)
3. Search for a hostel where you want to go!
   

   Search for hostels near bars, Train stations, Musea, Famous buildings. This mashup with Google maps is great. Try it out on the site

4. Add your own videos and info from the hostel
   
   
   You can add video’s and direct contact info to the hostel.
5. Easy to sort and narrow down the results
   
   

   Sometimes you get more then 200 hostels in 1 city. So we made an easy narrow down your search bar next by the results.

6. Different rates, different Hostel Booking sites
   
   
7. Different rooms, same property
   
   
8. All the Best Booking sites on 1 site.
   
   
9. Availability check for all hostel booking sites
   
   
   
10. Direct Links to the Hostel booking sites, where you can book your stay!

We are working around the clock to improve our site. We hope that you like our efforts too make this site better every day. More features coming up

Hostelbookers and Hostelworld are the favorite hostelbooking sites on the web for Linda and Craig from The Indie travel podcast. In 2007 the favorite hostel booking website was hostelbookers.com.

If you do not know which hostel booking site to choose check out the podcast. Hostelmania and Hostelsclub are not mentioned so you could check them out by yourself, because does sites are doing a great job in trying to be better then Hostelworld and Hostelbookers.

When planning a trip I suggest book your first night(s) and the last night before you leave. If you have multiple flights you could book the nights around your flights and if you have certain dates that you have to be somewhere book those hostels or hotels as well.

It is so much more fun that you can choose where you want to go and when, then that you have to leave early. Just when you want to stay longer. It happened to me many times that other travelers have to rush to go to the next destination. I try to spend 1-2 month in 1 country so it is possible to stay somewhere for a week or 2 without feeling to be in a hurry.

If you are traveling off season, do not bother on booking all hostels/hotels before. It is normally no problem to arrange something on arrival. It is quit easy to book 2 days before arrival and. Prices can drop if you book online in the last days, because the hostels like to get the rooms full. If nothing available you could stay a day longer or try to contact the hostels directly. In most cases the hostels can find a spot for 1-2 backpackers.

If you use my site TFTHostels.com we combine all availability from all hostel booking sites, so it is the easiest way to find a place to stay last minute. Unfortunately it is not possible to book the same night that you want to go to a hostel. I hope we can make that possible in the future.

So keep your travel plan flexible. Do not book every hostel on your trip!

In 2002 the WYSE Travel Confederation did a study about youth travel. In 2007 they did the same study again with great results.

Which main factors influence travellers on their last trip:

• 94,3 % - The price
• 37,6 % - Quality of Information
• 33,1 % - Reputation of the travel products
• 30,7 % - Flexibility to change plans after purchase
• 29,6 % - Ability to book online

Method of booking accommodation for the last trip:

• 63,5 % - Made bookings online in 2007
• 15,0 % - Made bookings online in 2002

What feature should be available on a website for making a travel arrangement:

• 80 % - Website compares prices from different companies
• 80 % - Information about the destination
• 50 % - Book entire trip on 1 site

Factors that are identified as important when planning treir last trip

• 81 % - Travel as cheaply as possible
• 80 % - Widely explore the destination
• 78 % - Feeling safe in the destination

How does this report reflect on TFTHostels.com

• It is possible to book your hostel online
• It is possible to find the cheapest places to stay
• It is possible to compare the prices from the different companies

Here is the full report from WYSE:

New Horizons II - 2007 Global Study of Young Travellers
The highly anticipated release of New Horizons II report provides fresh insights and trend data about one of the world’s fastest growing niche travel markets. Drawing on survey responses from 8500+ young independent travellers, New Horizons II 2007 updates a benchmark study conducted in 2002 which identified the motivations and unique travel characteristics of the millions strong global movement of young travellers. Through this study, WYSE Travel Confederation endeavours to further advance an understanding of the unique travel motivations, activities, booking and spending habits of young travellers. This report has been selected for inclusion in a compendium of research on the student and youth travel market - to be published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization in November 2007.

Download Full Report (PDF)

Hotel and Hostel booking on the internet is hot. The enormous growth for online bookings is not yet to be stopt. In de quote below it is clear that in America the growth will continue.

In 2008, 60% of all travel bookings and up to 40% of all hotel bookings in North America will be generated from the Internet (PhoCusWright, HeBS), which represents a 15%-16% growth over 2007. Another 25-30% of hotel bookings will be directly influenced by online research, but booked offline. By 2010 the Internet will contribute over 45% of all hotel bookings in North America. Source

He guys to make it easy for you to book the crazy Party Hostels online ;). I searched all the urls from the 20 hostels.

Check them out and party on:
Surf_n_Sun_Beachside_Backpackers.html
Clown_and_Bard.html
The_Flying_Pig_Downtown_Hostel.html
Base_St_Kilda.html
#11 Happy Guesthouse not available at Hostelworld, Hostelbookers and Hostelsclub
Three guesthouses in London
Loki_Backpackers_Cusco.html
Loki_Backpackers_Cusco.html
The_Pink_Palace.html
The Treehouse is not available at Hostelworld, Hostelbookers and Hostelsclub
Yellow_House.html
Ostello_Archi_Rossi.html
Wombats_City_Hostel_Berlin.html
Jazz_on_South_Beach_Hostel.html
Carnival_Court.html
Milhouse_Hostel.html
Base_Auckland_Central_Backpackers.html
India_House_Backpackers_Hostel.html
Tina’s Backpackers is not available at Hostelworld, Hostelbookers and Hostelsclub

You can find the original post here:
http://matadornights.com/20-craziest-party-hostels-around-the-world/

Happy Party Travels.

I love to travel. I’ve spent a couple of years living out of a backpack, and I must say: it’s become a lot easier and more fun in the last decade. The single most important reason for this is, of course, the emergence of this pretty brilliant thing called the World Wide Web. The internet is great for travelers: you can find things to do, places to go, friends to meet, flights to book - and, obviously, hostels to sleep in as well. And that’s where I come in.

I think there are a few things every backpack traveler truly hates. Staying in overpriced, boring hotels without interesting people to meet is definitely one of them. But spending the whole day in an freezing cold or baking hot internet cafe, trying to find a good hostel on an ancient PC with a terribly slow internet connection isn’t a lot of fun, either.

But still, in the past 5 years quite a few hostel booking websites popped up on the internet: there’s hostelbookers, hostelsclub, hostelmania, hostelz and what have you. All of ‘em are reasonably OK: they’re offering quite a few hostels from all over the world. But if you really want a good deal, you’ve got to visit all of these websites and compare reviews, prices and availability. This is incredibly tedious and time consuming.

Long story short: I simply thought, I could do this thing better. I dreamt of creating a service that does exactly what I want: to search, compare and check availability of the largest possible number of hostels, by combining all major hostel booking sites. And I did exactly that. Travelers and people working in the hostel business I talked to loved the idea, so I started working. Fast forward 1 year, and here we are: TFTHostels is ready to launch, June 4th. Almost ready. Yee-haw!