1. The Good Hotel Guide has launched a website that carries the 850 hotels and B&Bs that it has hand-picked in Great Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands. The guide, which launched 31 years ago, is praised for its neutral stance – it receives no payments, hosting or advertising from properties. There are 80 new properties in this year’s selection and a similar number were dropped from last year so the guide remains fresh. Its easy to navigate and search, with map and preference functions, and all entries come with photos and description – you need to register though to read the full review.

2. A canny company has snapped up the travel.co.uk url and is due to launch on June 1. Creators of the site have made the audacious claim that it’s different from any other travel website because of its comprehensive offering. Users can search for package holidays, short breaks or put a holiday together from a choice of flights and hotels. The companies featured on the site include big names like Thomas Cook and easyJet, plus there’s hotel reviews from Tripadvisor.com and extra information such as photos and videos. The holidays can be searched by destination and dates but also price and even weather. Let’s hope it lives up to the hype…

3. Another website to boldly launch in an already crowded market is www.theweekenders.co.uk. The attractive site offers a directory of hand-picked hotels around the UK. Sound rather similar to our number 1 entry? What makes it stand apart is the clever icons next to each listing which help you to filter out the right hotel for you – for example, baby friendly, breakfast included, railway station within ten miles, and so on. Entries come with map, pictures and descriptions and, unusually, a link to the hotel’s own website. There are also local guides to help plan the weekend once you’ve found your perfect hotel.

4. Travel blogs are all very well for keeping your friends and family in touch with your latest adventures, but nothing can replace the sentimental value of the moth-eared travel journal that you can pick up and flick through when you want to reminisce… To save you compiling two versions of your adventure, www.lulu.com will let you publish your memoirs for less than £5 in some cases. There’s a choice of binding options, colours, sizes and finishes and you can even offer it up for sale as a travel guide if you get really cocky.

BACKGROUND

• The 10 hottest travel websites to watch

• 10 travel websites to watch: July

• 10 travel websites to watch: June

• 10 travel websites to watch: May

• 10 travel websites to watch: April

50 best travel websites of 2007

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5. Uptake.com launched only a week or so ago but it’s got the online travel community all a Twitter, if you’ll excuse the nerdy pun. The site avoids billing itself as a “Google for travel” but that’s the quick explanation. It’s a travel search application, formerly known as Kango, that aims to help travellers plan a trip by pooling information and deals from commercial and user-generated content websites. The idea is that you don’t need to go to multiple sites to plan and book your trip – yes we have heard that before somewhere… There’s still a long way to go – destination searches are yet to launch, and the content is US-biased but the stellar team behind this site is what’s causing the stir.

6. Travelodge has relaunched its website and although it still doesn’t look very sexy, the technology is natty. The search facility has been expanded to allow leisure travellers to search for hotels by attractions, events or proximity to friends and family. It’s all under the “Explore the UK” tab, which opens an interactive map. From there users can compare the rates at different Travelodge properties nearby and, like a low cost airline, add extra like discounted meals or wi-fi.

7. Insurance4carhire.com is a company that is oft-cited for its handy annual insurance that protects against excess charges in the event of insurance claims relating to car. The recent useful addition to its website is a downloadable car hire guide, which has tips about how to avoid the pitfalls of car hire, from explaining the jargon to inspecting the car fully before and after the hire. It may sound obvious, but it’s handy stuff in an industry rife with over-charging and customer complaints.

8. If curling up on a sunlounger with a trashy novel sounds too much like hard work, lounge-potatoes should check out Audible.co.uk before jetting off to sunny climes. The site offers fiction and non-fiction that you can download to your MP3 player and listen to on the plane or beach without lumping a book around… The site has a range of new titles including Marian Keyes’ new book, sure to be a pool-side favourite, or Devil May Care, the latest James Bond book written by Sebastian Faulks. For the more learned there are a range of Michel Thomas Method language courses, including Arabic.

9. Not to be outdone by its Web 2.0 mapping rivals, ViaMichelin has relaunched its website. The new www.ViaMichelin.com site looks more interactive, with inviting boxes and tools that almost look like an iGoogle page. New features include increased social networking functionality to allow users to share maps and other travel information in a customised “Travel Book”. Maps have also been improved with road map and Microsoft Virtual Earth satellite photography hybrids, and interactive maps that will show hotels, resturants and points of interest along your specified route.

10. Climate Care has made its first big announcement since being taken over by city big boy, JP Morgan: the carbon offsetting company has relaunched its website. It hasn’t changed much aesthetically, but new features include a more detailed carbon calculator, which considers a greater range of airports, instead of just destinations, but sadly still no train calculator. There’s also some offset gifts it you’ve got a green wedding or birthday coming up, and there’s a section with information about climate change.

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