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.
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.
Browse
travel offers at Times Selects
If you're looking for a website which helps you organise a group of people for a weekend away or a summer holiday, etc, you can also use www.wigadoo.com which helps to give ideas on where to go and also, manges the money for you so you don't land up out of pocket!
Lishai Oz, London, UK
Sicily is the place to go, where else can you relax on the beach, climb a volcano, take a trip to the Islands, visit the historical sites and then dine in some of the finest restaurants with the greatest produce in the Mediterranean.
Try www.siciliangems.com for info.
Rob. Cefalu, Sicily.
Rob Salmon, Cefalu, Sicily
There is a great travel network which has been set up by students from the University of Bath. They have developed a travel network with each site being owned and operated by local expats filled with all their local knowledge. <a href="http://www.mydestinationinfo.com/>mydestinationinfo.com</a>
Neil Waller, Bath, UK
Marrakech is the place to go, exotic,sunshine all year and cheap. try www.marrakech-apartments for brilliant accomodation - I did, and fell in love with Morocco.
DK, Cardiff, UK
Web sites that were designed for overseas visitors can often help you see your own area or country in a new way. www.the-cotswolds.org is one example
Jim
Jim, Stow, UK
I've stumbled upon a site called GoRover.com. They boast a forthcoming travel social network, targeted to adventure travelers. Looks like they have SkiRover, ClimbRover, SurfRover, BikeRover, and PaddleRover. Doesn't look like they have completely launched yet.
Ben Rudolph, Yampa, USA
I gave up on hotels a long time ago, have you tried www.holidaylettings.co.uk? I've booked a villa on the beach and a nice country cottage at Christmas with them and it is much more relaxing
Lucy Gillies, Lichfield,
What about good honest, inspirational travel websites? This lot are just a load of short-term gimmicks. I've just booked with the excellent www.selectiveasia.com. There are tons of detailed destination guides (beach by beach in some cases), weather pages and the photos are exceptional.
Phil Johnson, Brighton, UK
Have you seen http://video.travelwizard.com ?
they already have 100's of instant loading, HD luxury travel destinations, cruises and luxury hotels around the world.
Bob Mc Millen, San Rafael , CA, USA