A&O HOTELS and HOSTELS, founded in 1999, has been operating 31 hostels in 19 cities and four countries (Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic) since 2000. A&O Hotels and Hostels is currently Europe's largest, independent hostel chain. The A&O Group offers travellers around 22,000 beds, recording more than 3.2 million overnight stays and generating a turnover of around EUR 97 million in 2015. The chain is currently experiencing growth of over 25 percent p.a., and plans to open more establishments. A&O is a combination of hostel (Book Orange) and hotel (Book Blue) under one roof. Meeting rooms, breakfast buffet, lobby and bars are available in both categories. Around 17,500 school trips per year use the chain's hostels and 70 percent of guests book their accommodation online. A&O's target audience includes leisure/urban tourism (30 percent), groups/school trips (55 percent) and business tourism (15 percent). The company offers vocational training at all its locations. A&O has been awarded 4 stars by QMJ and 2 stars by DEHOGA (the German Hotel & Catering Association), meets the T†V Youth Hostel Quality Standard", and has been awarded the youth travel quality label by Germany's Reisenetz (Association of Youth Travel). For the second year in a row, the A&O Group received the Double A rating by TREUGAST Solutions Group.