A New Year’s Gift – IWB Channel Manager

We have a New Year’s gift for you. We now offer channel management to our members.

This means you only have to manage your calendar once, and you can update all your booking sites. The advantage is incredible time savings and convenience. Eliminate many hours of work each month in managing calendars on multiple websites.

Even more incredible are the savings. HostelTraveler.com (Instant World Booking) is well known for providing services at a cost much cheaper than the competition. In fact, we are the first hostelling site, yes first, to offer channel management that updates all the other hostelling sites (including HostelWorld, HostelBookers.com, etc.), in an end-to-end solution, including a property management system. For less than $ 14 per month, submit your calendar to dozens of booking sites. At a price this low, there’s nothing to lose. Try it today.

Want to learn more about getting started? It’s easy. Just log in to your profile at our website. Then proceed to the Channel Manager page.

Manage your calendar on HostelWorld, HostelBookers.com, HostelsClub, HostelTraveler (IWB), Gomio, HIHostels, HostelTimes, and the rest, all from one interface. All hostelling sites are included in our base price. What about major sites like Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Priceline, and others? Yes, you can publish for bookings on these sites as well. In fact, Channel Manager enables you to submit your property and availability to more than 500 booking sites, including the Global Distribution System (GDS).

Don’t waste time with multiple calendars on multiple websites. Save money and get the exposure you really need. Log in at our website and sign up today.

To get started, simply log into your accommodation profile at our website.  Then proceed to the Channel Manager page.  If you’re not yet listed with HostelTraveler.com, list for free at:

http://www.hosteltraveler.com/listings/add_property.php

 


New Hostels in US to be opened by Billionaire

Billionaire Ronald Burkle, a private-equity investor and big Democratic fund raiser, is appealing to a new constituency: scruffy, 20-something backpack travelers who would rather not stay in a hotel.

His Yucaipa Cos. and the Sydell Group, a New York hotel developer and operator, have formed a partnership to roll out premium youth hostels in major U.S. cities.

The venture is looking to spend $250 million to acquire and renovate as many as 10 low-cost hotels over the next two years. It plans to reposition them as high-end youth hostels in places such as New York, San Francisco, Washington and Los Angeles.

Read more

 


Samui Island

Samui island was first inhabited about 15 centuries ago, settled by fishermen from the Malay Peninsula and Southern China. It appears on Chinese maps dating back to 1687, under the name Pulo Cornam. The name Samui is mysterious in itself. Perhaps it is an extension of the name of one of the native trees, mui, or from the Malay word Saboey, meaning “safe haven”. Ko is the Thai word for “island”

Until the late 20th century, Ko Samui was an isolated self-sufficient community, having little connection with the mainland of Thailand. The island was even without roads until the early 1970s, and the 15 km journey from one side of the island to the other involved a whole-day trek through the mountainous central jungles.

One of the finest beach of this island is known as Choeng Mon beach.


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Top 40 Places to Visit in Boston, Massachusetts

Visiting Boston, Massachusetts? Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial “Capital of New England” for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region.There are an endless array of exciting activities and places to visit.

Boston, Massachusetts 

Here are the top 40 places to visit and things to do in Boston, Massachusetts:

  1. Fenway Park
  2. Museum of Science
  3. Samuel Adams Brewery
  4. Museum of Fine Arts
  5. North End
  6. Boston Public Library
  7. Harpoon Brewery/Mass Bay Brewing Co.
  8. Trinity Church
  9. Copley Square
  10. USS Constitution Museum
  11. John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum & Library
  12. Boston Public Garden
  13. Castle Island
  14. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
  15. Boston Common
  16. Boston Children’s Museum
  17. New England Holocaust Memorial
  18. Mapparium
  19. Boston Harbor Islands National Park
  20. Opera House
  21. Beacon Hill
  22. The Boston Pops
  23. Improv Asylum
  24. Faneuil Hall Marketplace
  25. Old South Church
  26. Shear Madness
  27. Spectacle Island
  28. Wang Center for the Performing Arts
  29. Gibson House Museum
  30. Top of the Hub
  31. New England Aquarium
  32. Bunker Hill Monument
  33. Old North Church
  34. Skywalk Observatory
  35. Faneuil Hall
  36. Granary Burying Ground
  37. Blue Man Group
  38. New England Conservatory of Music
  39. The Black Rose
  40. Liberty Fleet of Tall Ships

Top 40 Places to Visit in Texas

Visiting Texas?  Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.  There are an endless array of exciting activities and places to visit. Texas has nearly as many cities as stars in the sky, as well as distinct regions that will take your breath away. Here are a few easy ways to find your destination.

Texas

Here are the top 40 places to visit and things to do in Texas:

  1. Trinity River Audubon Center
  2. Boulder Park
  3. Bath House Cultural Center
  4. America’s Ice Garden
  5. McFarlin Auditorium
  6. Plaza of the Americas
  7. AT&T Performing Arts Center
  8. Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue
  9. Highland Lakes
  10. Moonlight Towers
  11. Mary Quinlan Park
  12. Texas Performing Arts
  13. Millett Opera House
  14. Old State Capitol Building Ruins
  15. Pease Park
  16. SoCo Distric
  17. Austin Trolley Company
  18. Texas Sailing
  19. Sensorium
  20. Junior Arts Center
  21. El Paso Symphony Orchestra
  22. Jungle Jaks
  23. El Paso Museum of History
  24. Concordia Cemetery
  25. El Paso Firefighters Museum
  26. Alderette – Candelaria House
  27. Mercado Mayapan
  28. Railroad and Transportation Museum of El Paso
  29. Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Museum
  30. The El Paso Holocaust Museum
  31. Chamizal National Memorial
  32. National Border Patrol Museum
  33. Cohen Stadium
  34. The San Antonio Art Institute
  35. Tower Life Building
  36. Sterling Houston Theater at Jump-Start
  37. Aztec Theatre
  38. Milam Park
  39. Vietnam War Memorial
  40. Long Barracks Museum

Top 40 Places To Visit in Chicago, Illinois

Visiting Chicago, Illinois? Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous city in the USA, after New York City and Los Angeles.  There are an endless array of exciting activities and places to visit. Looking for some tips?

Chicago, Illinois

Here are the top 40 places to visit and things to do in Chicago, Illinois:

  1. Millennium Park
  2. John Hancock Center / Observatory
  3. Art Institute of Chicago
  4. Wrigley Field
  5. Supernatural Chicago
  6. Lincoln Park Zoo
  7. Oriental Institute Museum
  8. Cloud Gate
  9. Lookingglass Theatre Company
  10. Chicago Children’s Museum
  11. Shedd Aquarium
  12. Willis Tower
  13. Museum of Science and Industry
  14. Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier
  15. The Field Museum
  16. Blue Man Group
  17. Apollo Theater Chicago
  18. Marina City
  19. Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral
  20. US Cellular Field
  21. Michigan Avenue
  22. Navy Pier
  23. Lyric Opera of Chicago
  24. Lake Michigan
  25. United Center
  26. Chicago Cultural Center
  27. Garfield Park Conservatory
  28. The Magnificent Mile
  29. Lincoln Park Conservatory
  30. University of Chicago
  31. map| DirectionsOriental Theatre, Ford Center for the Performing Arts
  32. Chicago History Museum
  33. The Spirit of Chicago
  34. The Spa at Trump Chicago
  35. Tribune Tower
  36. Chicago Opera Theater
  37. The Newberry Library
  38. Arlington Park
  39. Buckingham Fountain
  40. Lincoln Monument

No. 1 Beach in America – Siesta Key Beach Florida

When it comes to white, powdery sand, nothing compares with Siesta Key, Florida. In fact, at the Great International Sand Challenge, held in 1987, the sand at Siesta Key’s Crescent Beach was rated “The World’s Finest, Whitest Sand,” beating out more than 30 other entrants, including those from the Bahamas and Grand Cayman. The competition was judged by Dr. David Aubrey, a beach expert and the Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Coastal Research Center.

Book Florida Accommodation

It’s clean, it’s dazzling white and it feels like confectioner’s sugar.

Why? It’s the quartz. A study of Siesta Key beach sand by Harvard University’s geology department found that the sand consists of 99 percent pure quartz grains, ultimately derived from the southern Appalachian Mountains. Over millennia, sand grains were carried by rivers into the Gulf and south along Florida’s coast. Those quartz grains are very fine, without any coral or shell fragments, which results in sand with a soft, flour-like texture.

Quartz sand comes from igneous rock, the kind of rock that once was molten. Quartz is a very hard substance, graded as seven on a hardness scale of one to ten. Diamonds are rated as ten on this scale. Minerals with a hardness grade of seven cannot be scratched with the point of a steel knife. The most common such substance is granite.

The fine sand has passed through one or more of what geologists refer to as “eolian cycles.” Those are periods when the sand grains were blown about by the wind. Such cycles tend to smoothen the sharp corners of the quartz grains and result in the somewhat angular grain structure of Crescent Beach sand.


Top 40 Things to Do in Krakow, Poland

Visiting Krakow, Poland?  Kraków  is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland’s most important economic centres.There are an endless array of exciting activities and places to visit . Looking for some tips?

Krakow, Poland

Here are the top 40 places to visit and things to do in Krakow, Poland:

  1. Main Market Square (Rynek Glowny)
  2. Oskar Schindler’s Factory
  3. Wawel Cathedral (Katedra Wawelska)
  4. Wawel Royal Castle (Zamek Krolewski)
  5. Jewish District (Kazimierz)
  6. Church of the Virgin Mary (Kosciol Mariacki)
  7. Cracow’s Historic Centre
  8. Franciscan Church (Kosciol Franciszkanow)
  9. Galicia Jewish Museum
  10. Reformed Tempel Synagogue (Synagoga Tempel)
  11. Polish Aviation Museum
  12. St. Mary’s Basilica
  13. Kosciuszko’s Mound (Kopiec Kosciuszki)
  14. Krakow Zoo (Ogrod Zoologiczny)
  15. Ulica Florianska
  16. Jagiellonian University – Collegium Maius
  17. Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)
  18. Smocza Jama (Dragon’s Cave)
  19. Old Town
  20. C.K. Browar
  21. Tram Party by Gmoods
  22. Ethnographic Museum (Muzeum Etnograficzne)
  23. St. Florian’s Gate (Brama Florianska)
  24. Czartoryski Palace (Muzeum Czartoryskich)
  25. National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe)
  26. Museum of Japanese Art and Technology
  27. The Barbican (Barbakan)
  28. Remuh Synagogue (Synagoga Remuh)
  29. Skalka Shrine
  30. Old Synagogue (Stara Synagoga)
  31. Grunwald Monument (Pomnik Grunwaldzki)
  32. The Planty
  33. Plaszow Concentration Camp
  34. New Jewish Cemetery
  35. Isaac Synagogue (Synagoga Izaaka)
  36. Town Hall Tower (Wieza Ratuszowa)
  37. Jagiellonian University – Collegium Juridicum
  38. Church of St. Andrew (Kosciol Swietogo Andrzeja)
  39. Corpus Christi Church (Kosciol Bozego Ciala)
  40. Rakowicki Cemetery

Top 40 Things to Do In Shanghai, China

Visiting Shanghai, China?  Shanghai is the most populous city in China. The city is located in eastern China, at the middle portion of the Chinese coast, and sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Due to its rapid growth in the last two decades, it has again become a global city, exerting influence over finance, commerce, fashion, and culture. There are an endless array of exciting activities and places to visit . Looking for some tips?

Shanghai, China

Here are the top 40 places to visit and things to do in Shanghai, China:

  1. Shanghai History Museum
  2. The Bund (Wai Tan)
  3. Tian Zi Fang
  4. Riverside Promenade (Bingjiang Da Dao)
  5. Madame Tussauds Shanghai
  6. Bund Valentine Wall
  7. Oriental Pearl Tower (Dongfang Mingzhu)
  8. Oriental Pearl TV Tower’s Entrance
  9. Garden of Contentment (Yu Yuan Garden)
  10. Oriental Pearl Tower Air Revolving Restaurant
  11. Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
  12. Expo 2010 Inner Mongolia Pavilion
  13. Jin Mao Tower
  14. Shanghai Ocean Aquarium
  15. Shanghai Temple Of the Town God (Chenghung Miao)
  16. Expo 2010 Sri Lanka Pavilion
  17. Shanghai Museum (Shanghai Bowuguan)
  18. Century Park
  19. Expo 2010 Shanghai Corporate Joint Pavilion
  20. Shanghai World Financial Center
  21. Shanghai Maglev
  22. Zhujiajiao Ancient Town
  23. Zhujiajiao Chenghuangmiao Temple
  24. Shanghai Wusong Ancient Fort
  25. Expo 2010 Cambodia Pavilion
  26. Shanghai Grand Theater
  27. Shanghai Feng Tianxing Stone Museum
  28. Expo 2010 Italy Pavilion
  29. New Spot(Xintiandi)
  30. Expo 2010 Thailand Pavilon
  31. Shanghai Acrobatic Dome
  32. Nanjing Lu (Nanjing Road)
  33. Yuyuan Bazaar
  34. Shanghai Art Museum (Shanghai Meishu Guan)
  35. Dino Beach
  36. Shanghai Wild Animal Park
  37. Memorial of 1st National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Shanghai
  38. Xujiahui Business Circle
  39. Huangpu River
  40. People’s Square (Renmin Guang Chang)