Mastering the art of bartering

I was out at the stalls today in Marrakech. Before leaving Jose at Equity Point where I'm staying gave me a quick heads up. Basically, whatever you're quoted knock 50%-60% off that.

So I was looking for a tracksuit top as it can get chilly here at night. I was quoted 500DHS (dirhams) first of all. Eh, forget about it! Told him the most I was going to pay was 200. He then said 250. I've since been told by Zac here at the hostel that the most I should be paying is 150. So now I'm going to go back into the souks again to find this top.

Also, another thing...getting lost in Marrakech's souks is almost inevitable. If you're approaced by people looking to bring you to where you're going, chances are they're going to look for something at the end of it. I gave this young guy the beneift of the doubt earlier, only to have to fork over 30DHS when we came to my final destination. And he was looking for between 50-100!

Manic Marrakech

I've been to many places in my lifetime, but nothing quite like Marrakech. It is manic. Plain and simple.

Arrived yesterday morning at the hostel where I'm staying, Equity Point. I'm not sure if I've ever stayed in a hostel this swish to be honest. Check out my bathroom! It's amazing.If all hostels in Marrakech are this nice, I highly recommennd you come visit.

I hit the streets at 2pm. One of the first places I came across was Djemaa El-Fna. It's crazy. Absolutely crazy. All you can hear are drums beatings and the instruments of snake charmers. Bit of a shock to the senses, but you get used to it. I'll put up some pictures later.

Colm
Hostelworld.com

Back in wonderful Paris

Made it to the French capital last night for the first time in years. The hostel I'm staying here in Paris is St Christopher's Paris. It's a great hostel - easy to get to via Metro, has a bar (even a nightclub) and free WiFi and breakfast. Staff are cool too.

I'm back in Paris to shoot our next city guide video, "10 Things You Need To Know About Paris". It will be full of tips for all those people who stay in hostels in Paris ie backpackers, but it will appeal to other travellers also. But now it's off to the streets with my camcorder and tripod...

Colm
Hostelworld.com

Help us win a Webby Award!

Hi,
Have you seen our city guide videos? If not you can watch them by clicking here. We've got videos for Dublin, London, New York City and Prague. Rome is next, then Paris. They're full of tips so you should enjoy them.

Anyway, re the Webby Awards, the videos have been nominated for one! You can vote for us here:

http://pv.webbyawards.com

To vote simply register there, then once you're logged in choose the online film and video section, and then 'travel.

Hope you like the videos.

Colm
Hostelworld.com

Hoscar Winners Announced!

Hi,
The winners of this year's coveted Hoscars have been announced! Congratulations to Travellers House in Lisbon (pictured below collecting their award) who have won the award of world's top hostel.



Upon winning the award, Gonzalo Figueira, co-owner of the hostel said “We are very happy. It’s been a successful year for us, so we thought we had a good chance of winning a HOSCAR."

Other hostels who won awards were from Lisbon, Cardiff and Beijing. For the full list visit www.hostelworld.com

Colm
Hostelworld.com

January customer newsletter

Hey,
Do you subscribe to Hostelworld's customer newsletter? If not, want to have a look anyway? You see the January '09 one here:

http://is.gd/g1Ky

As well as wishing all our customers a happy new year, it's got info on how to subscribe to our brand new RSS feeds, and a competition for a prize to Florence.

Enjoy!

Colm
Hostelworld.com

New competition!

Didn't enter our competition for a holiday in Canada? Don't worry - we've got a new competition to enter! Check it out at www.hostelworld.com/competitions