Travel Review - Book Hotels in Limassol, Cyprus

Traveling to Cyprus or another Greek isle? Here's a site offering you lots of information, tips and guidance about a Greek island vacation and hotels in Limassol, Cyprus. The Louis Hotels site offers accommodation information and booking for hotels in Cyprus as well as useful travel tools for planning your vacation. You can find out about getting married in Cyprus or having a conference in Cyprus. The Louis Hotels site is bright, has plenty of photos and is easy to navigate, its also available in 6 languages!

Use some of the travel tools offered on the Louis Hotel's site like finding the best beaches in Cyprus or seeing what the weather is like at your travel destination. Another useful feature is the map of hotels in the Greek isles. You can really get an idea as to where you'll be staying in relation to the airport and attractions. One of my favorite features when looking for holiday accommodation is the option to search according to the type of holiday you want to have – active, family, all-inclusive, wedding, business or relaxing. This avoids the nightmare of arriving at your hotel for a romantic getaway only to find it overrun with screaming kids! Or getting there with the kids and there is nothing for them to do! The site has a recently added feature where you can also search for flights directly from the hotel booking page.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the Louis Hotels site is the list of discounts on the right hand side of the landing page.  To give you an idea of the offers they have there is a 15% discount on 3 nights in one of their hotels and "book 7 nights pay for 6" for September and October. You can get even more discounts on hotels in Limassol by joining the Louis Hotels loyalty scheme.

Review: Garden Inn & Suites, JFK, New York

The Garden Inn and Suites is located in Jamaica, Queens, New York just 2.5 miles from JFK Airport and conveniently located within 3 miles of Resort World Casino, Green Acres Mall and the train station to New York City. It is also 7.5 miles from LaGuardia Airport and 5 miles from Gateway Shopping Center.

The Garden Inn website is extremely helpful with guides about the surrounding area, things to see and do as well as recommended restaurants in the area. You can use the Garden Inn's website to plan your spare time while staying at this great inn.

The Garden Inn & Suites has several outstanding features especially for business people:

·         The convenient location both close to the airport and close enough to the city center to reach it easily.

·         The hotel provides a complimentary shuttle from JFK Airport.

·         The Garden Inn is pet friendly.

·         The hotel location means you have easy access to entertainment and restaurants.

·         The hotel rooms are elegantly furnished.

·         The hotel newsletter Full Bloom (sign up on the website) will provide you with updates and promotional deals.

·         There is free wireless access throughout the hotel.

·         The fitness room is open 24/7 which is perfect for business people on the go.

·         The business center is open 24/7.

·         There is an ATM and a gift shop in the hotel.

For those just stopping briefly in New York the Garden Inn's airport shuttle, location minutes from the airport and business amenities make it an easy choice for business people as well as those looking for a quiet haven in the Big Apple.

Check out the Garden Inn JFK.

Book Hotels in Thailand

As I've mentioned before when choosing a website for travel services it is much better to choose one which specializes in a particular destination or service, this is the case with Bangkok Asia Hotels. Bangkok Asia Hotels is a hotel booking site which covers specifically booking hotels in Thailand including:  Koh, Lipe; Koh Mook; Koh Ngai; Koh Lanta; Paradise Islands; beaches in Asia; Krabi; Phang Nga; Phi Phi and Phuket.

The site is easy to navigate, has ample bright, well taken photos of the hotels, there is plenty of information provided about each hotel and a huge choice of Thailand hotels both big and small. The site is a "fully bonded travel agency with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and affiliated with the Pan Pacific Travel Association." They are also registered with the Thailand Department of Commerce.

Great Features

·         If you are looking for accommodation on a specific Paradise Island then you can search by each individual island.

·         In the same way you can search for hotels close to a number of beaches. So if your friends have told you that such-and-such a beach is paradise you can search for hotels close to that beach.

·         Bangkok Asia Hotels discount rewards program. You can get 3%-10% discounts when you book hotels in Thailand by joining the My Rewards program for free.

·         You can search and book hotels in Thailand in any of over 60 languages and the site will automatically appear in your language (according to your present location) when you visit the site.

·         The rates on this site are 50%-75% lower than if you tried to book hotels in Thailand directly through the hotel.

·         If you book over 50,000THB you get a free airport transfer! The site also has other specials and Asia hotel discounts.

In short before booking a hotel in Thailand visit this website.

Where to Find Cheap London Hotels

Here is another example of a hotel booking site which automatically focuses on the type of hotel that interests you. Why go through hotel booking sites which list luxury hotels in Hong Kong when you can go straight to cheap London hotels. Trying to wade through irrelevant hotels is no longer necessary, on Cheap London Hotels you can even find London hotels at half price.

Cheap London Hotels offers you a selection of hundreds of cheap London hotels as well as listing the most popular and newest listings. A useful addition to this site is the "Top 5 Tips" to save on London hotels and a guide about how and where to find cheap hotels online. The guide includes the names of good websites worth checking out.

Just because you don't want to pay a fortune it doesn't mean you can't stay in a luxury or boutique hotel, it just means you need to know where to look! Cheap London Hotels offers you 54 boutique hotels (as low as ₤ 89) and just as many luxury hotels (as low as ₤121.38).

First there were sites like Booking.com which display all hotel results, then came the hotel search engines showing all hotels and where to find them online and now the industry has been redefined again by sites like these which are also search engines but for a specific type of hotel in a specific location.

Cheap London Hotels works in conjunction with LateRooms.com which displays hotel rooms that are going cheap either because the booking date is last minute, in advance or because the hotel simply wants to make sure it gets fully booked. When you have selected your cheap hotel in London you are given an expansive amount of information about the hotel's location, facilities, guest reviews, photos and even a location map.

If you want a cheap hotel in London, England look no further, here you can literally get London hotels at half price!

How to find a spa hotel in the UK?

When you want to find a spa hotel you usually have to go through a hotel booking site and filter the search results, this takes time, now you have another option. If you are specifically looking for a spa hotel in the UK then you can use Spa Hotels UK.

Reasons Spa Hotels UK will give you better results when trying to find a spa hotel in the UK:

Other sites require that you first filter the countries, Spa Hotels UK only deals with the UK.

Other sites offer you spa hotels, resorts, all-inclusive hotels, boutique hotels, hostels, inns and hotels from 3-5 stars. Spa Hotels UK gives you only spa hotels.

Because of these reasons the service and information you get on Spa Hotels UK is much more specific and your choice of spa hotels is much broader. Like in any field when the site specializes in a particular product the product you get is of a higher quality.

How does Spa Hotels UK help you find a spa hotel?

You can search for a spa hotel by Luxury Spa Hotels, Cheap Spa Hotels, London, Bath, Scotland, Lake District or by the name of the city or town you are interested in staying in. On the home page you also get a list of the newest spas and the most popular UK spas. If you are new to the concept of spa hotels there is also a write-up of what to expect and what is normally offered at spa hotels.

Once you have selected the hotel you are interested in you can see an image of the spa, the spa's address, a map, and most importantly the price of the hotel. In order to get further details you need to click on "Book Now". Don't worry this doesn't mean you are going to go straight to filling in details. Instead you will be redirected to a page will more information about the spa hotel.

Spa Hotels UK works with LateRooms.com to give you an extensive description of the hotel including facilities, map and directions, guest reviews and a lot of photos of the hotel. By the time you get through all the information provided you will know exactly where you are going and what you will get for your money. On this page the rates are shown in your country's currency (on the main page of Spa Hotels UK the rate appears in UK pounds).

When you want to find a spa hotel in the UK use Spa Hotels UK to get a service focused specifically on spa hotels in the UK and for plenty of detailed information.

Tavira House - Algrave's Small Luxurous Town House

If you are looking for vacation accommodation in the Eastern Algrave look no further than the pretty town of Tavira and the luxurious boutique hotel Algrave - Tavira House.

Location
Tavira House is in the town of Tavira which has a rich history going back to 2000BC. The town's port played an important role in the 17th century and the town itself has many historic 18th century buildings. The Gilao River runs through the town which has a charming old world Portuguese fell. The surrounding area is mostly rural and close by are gold courses, horse riding stables, Ria Formos Nature Reserve and even a secret waterfall. The local cuisine is centered on the fresh sea food and fish caught right off the shores of the Algrave. You can take a boat out to Tavira Island to enjoy the best beaches in the area and see the flamingos and other birds that make this island their home.

Tavira House amenities, rooms and facilities
The house was built in 1860 and since then has undergone extensive preservation and renovation, the house is a listed historic property and as such has protected status. A lot of love was put into bringing the house back to its former glory with many of the original features like ceiling mouldings in the ballroom and bohemian glass chandeliers. Each of the 9 rooms has its own personal touches and the décor has been inspired by local flowers. It is possible to add cots or single beds to the rooms for families and one of the rooms has a bath where as the others have standing showers. Apart from the classic furnishings the hotel has the modern amenities like a sound system for MP3 players in each room. You can also enjoy the bar, roof garden, plunge pool and the ballroom lounge.
Rates
The rates at TaviraHouse range from €100 to €180 depending on the room and season. The price
includes breakfast and double occupancy.

Take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and enjoy the intimate and luxurious Tavira town house hotel a boutique B&B.

Hotel Last Minute Deals!!

Hotel Last Minute Deals.com is a hotel booking site with several useful
features which may suit you. Like all
hotel booking sites you can search for a hotel by location (worldwide) and then
be presented with a list of options to choose from. The site is straight
forward and smoothly runs from search to results without any unnecessary
information. The search results are also presented in a simple way so that you don't
have to wade through tons of text before selecting a hotel. Only after you have
selected your hotel you can read as much as you like about that property. The hotel
details are comprehensive and include photos.

This is not a hotel search engine which forwards your inquiry to
another booking site, it is a booking site itself. So you know who you are
dealing with.

There are a few features that may appeal to you:
§ On the landing page there is a poll asking users what destinations they are interested in receiving special deals for. "For which destination do you want us to negotiate deals?"
§ Also on the landing page you can fill in your details to receive a Hotel Deal Newsletter.
§ There are "Top Hotel Deals Categories" like cheap Disney hotels, cheap luxury hotels, cheap Cancun resorts etc.
§ You can make group bookings on Hotel Last Minute Deals.com.
§ There is a toll free number not only for US and Canadian users but also for international callers which is not a common feature on hotel booking sites.
§ In addition to the toll free numbers you can use a Promotion Code to get further online discounts.

Give this site a try, you may be pleasantly surprised by the low rates on the best hotels.
Check out the site at: http://hotellastminutedeals.com/

Booking Hotels Online

When you Google a hotel name withthe intent of booking it the top results in Google are usually not the actual hotel's site which is a bit irritating. It seems logical that the actual name of the place would be top of the list, but it's not! Trip Advisor gets a lot of the top of the Google search result spots. So to find the actual hotel site scroll down the search results and read the URL address until you find one that just names the hotel.

Compare the rates offered on the hotel site with those offered on HotelsCombined. HotelsCombined is the best hotel search engine I have come across, it brings you the rates offered on all the hotel booking sites for each hotel in an easy to understand list.

Only then decide where you are going to book.

Site Review: WelcomeRural.net - Portugal

WelcomeRural.net is a rental booking site for properties in the rural regions of Portugal, they provide rental homes, small rural hotels and guesthouses. The site is most useful to Portuguese speakers but there is enough English for you to understand what the properties offer. Searching for your ideal rural vacation accommodation is done by region, there are not that many properties on this site but each one seems to be very special. There are rustic historic houses, homes built in the traditional regional styles and small comfortable hotels. Once you have selected the vacation accommodation you want you can then fill in a form to contact the owner of the property directly.

Don't let the fact that this site seems to have a mix of English and Portuguese put you off, WelcomeRural.net does provide English when it's needed most, when you are choosing the actually rental property you want. For rural accommodation rentals in Portugal you will find on WelcomeRural.net a select variety with descriptions of what you will be getting for your money. You probably won't find these rural properties on many other rental sites, they seem to be unique. For example the description of Casa do Foral in Santarem tells the story of where the property got its name and also details of the building itself " ...of the Ribatejo region of the late 19th century. Its architecture and rustic, highlights its wide walls whitewashed and covered with ivy…".

Who should use WelcomeRural.net

WelcomeRUral.net is primarily useful to Portuguese speakers although English, Spanish, French and German is also provided. Anyone looking for small intimate rustic hotels and guesthouses in Portugal where you can be close to nature will find this site useful. Perfect for a romantic getaway or even to hire for a company weekend, families will also find this form of accommodation economical as a house can be rented for the whole family.

About WelcomRural.net:

• There are large color photos of each hotel or guesthouse.

• Many of the properties welcome pets.

• The hotels, guesthouses and rentals are rated with a star system to help you select your accommodation.

• WelcomeRural.net covers: Acores, Alentejo, Algrave, Centro, Douro, Lisboa, Madeira, Norte and Porto.

• The style and price of rural accommodation vary from hostels for 30Euros to hotel rooms for approximately 125Euro.

• You can choose to see room rates in any of from several currencies.

There is room for improvement on this site in the English grammar and small amount of properties but it will be useful for those looking for something specific in this region. If you need good quality rural accommodation in Portugal checkout WelcomeRural.net for some really unique and special vacation rentals and rustic hotels.

Low cost accommodation in Switzerland

There is no question that travel in Switzerland is pricey and most travelers on a budget have to make a quick in and out visit to avoid paying for an over night stay. Well if you're up for an adventure try sleeping in a bed of hay on a Swiss farm. Schlaf im Stroh is a Swiss organization which regulates over 200 farms which offer camping, dorm and hay stays. The prices are more than reasonable at 20-30 SF a night and breakfast is included. Check out their site for more details:
Schlaf im Stroh

Cheeky Monkey Guesthouse in Phnom Penh Cambodia

The Cheeky Monkey Guesthouse Phnom Penh, Cambodia has an ideal location as well as home comforts and service from the English speaking owners. Here you get short or long term accommodation of a higher standard than you wouldn't expect for such reasonable rates.



Facilities:
All the rooms in the Cheeky Monkey have AC, T.V. and bathroom facilities (2 rooms have en-suite bathrooms). Of course there is a room cleaning service daily and clean towels and sheets available. On the top floor is an art studio open to all who feel like painting and painting materials are included in your hotel fee. There is also a book exchange, bar and communal area where you can socialize with the other guests.


Perhaps the best feature of this Phnom Penh guesthouse is the breathtaking view from the top floor. Not only is the guesthouse located next to a Buddhist temple but from the balcony you can see the Mekong River and the Royal Palace.

Continental breakfast is included in your room rate and evening meals can be ordered in from The Mad Monkey – the guesthouse's sister accommodation. All the food is free range and organic.

No need to concern yourself with safety issues here as each room can be locked and the guesthouse is locked at night with each guest having their own set of keys to get in whenever they choose.

Rates:
The room rates at the Cheeky Monkey Guesthouse in Phnom Penh range from $26 to $18 and include a continental breakfast. For this price you get a central location and friendly English speaking service in basic but comfortable accommodation.
The Cheeky Monkey Guesthouse Offers:

The Cheeky Monkey is a socially and environmentally conscious establishment, bottles and plastic are recycled and the Cheeky Monkey is eco-friendly. 10% of the profits are invested in the local community and social projects and local employees have social benefits and are paid well.

The staff also provides travel advice and services including visa processing services for Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. You can arrange boat trips and other excursions from the guesthouse.

This guesthouse offers the friendly hospitality of a traditional "homestay" where you are taken into a local home, coupled with the comforts of hotel services.

Children are not allowed at the guesthouse due to safety concerns as the guesthouse is on a high level.

There is free Wi-Fi and a computer for guest use.

Guests can use the guesthouse fridge.

Same day laundry service is also available at reasonable rates.

To book a room at the Cheeky Monkey in Phnom Penh go to the Cheeky Monkey website.

Site Review: Beacon Hill Farm

Beacon Hill Farm in Northumberland, England can be a perfect choice of vacation accommodation if you want to get out of the big cities, enjoy the British countryside and at the same time not compromise on luxury and style. These are not ordinary cottages; they are all furnished with top quality items and designed to feel like a country home including books on the bookshelves and a well equipped kitchen. There is even a washer and dryer!

The concept is that you get your own home away from home in the gorgeous Northumberland countryside where you can cater for yourself but at the same time have maid service and spa amenities usually only found in hotels.

There are 15 self-catering 4 and 5 star luxury cottages at Beacon Hill Farm each with an individual character. There are cottages suited to 6, 4 and 2 people.

The Beacon Hill Farm Spa
On the farm a short walk from the cottages is a fully equipped spa offering spa treatments and facilities such as Jacuzzi, steam room, pool and gym. All the amenities are included in the price of your stay. The spa has large glass windows facing the beautiful English countryside. This is really a top of the line spa facility and an unusual feature to get when staying in a country cottage. You get the best of both worlds, the secluded independent cottage with the luxurious and pampering spa.

Beacon Hill Awards
Beacon Hill Farm has won several awards: England's self-catering holiday of the year (twice); North-East England's self-catering holiday of the year; Green Tourism Silver Award; Pride of Northumberland (three times) and Country Landowner's Farm and Country Buildings Award.

The Beacon Hill Site
The site meets a good balance of informative text with pleasant graphics, there is a lot of information but it is not overwhelming as with some other travel sites partly because the info is sectioned off onto separate pages.

The site seems to have thought of everything, when going through the site I had no unanswered questions. Your every wish and query has been preempted: order pre-cooked meals; no pets allowed; no smoking; some cottages have wheelchair access; there is WiFi in the cottages and computers in the reception; there is a gym, beautician and spa facilities; plenty of outdoor activities in the area including fly fishing. This site will leave you fully prepared for your stay at Beacon Hill Farm.

Cancelation and Payment Methods
Their payment method and cancelation policy seem a little tough, this is normally the case when dealing with smaller companies as they can't take on the loss of a broken contract or a cottage standing empty when canceled. Full payment is due 8 weeks before arrival and if the booking is within 8 weeks of the stay you need to pay the whole amount up front. Cancellation also comes at a price. It is worth taking up the Rent Waiver of 5% which will cover fees if you cancel.
It is also not possible to book for less than a week in several of the cottages and during the peak tourist season. Rates range roughly from 255 GBP a night to 1845 GBP a week. It is hard to name an average price as the prices vary through the year and for each cottage.

Who does Beacon Hill Farm Suit
Travelers who prefer rural settings to big city life and who have rented a car can then reach the farm easily and explore the surrounding villages, national parks and coastline. This vacation location would best suit older travelers, those on an active hiking, cycling, riding or climbing holiday and couples looking for a romantic getaway, as well as families who want to self-cater. Younger travelers looking for night life and action should look else were, this is more of a sleepy hollow.

The prices could be economically viable for groups or families but for couples they may seem
steep. One also needs to consider the cancellation and payment method as discussed above.

If you've had enough of London and want to see another side of British life and enjoy the spectacular countryside as well as pamper yourself Beacon Hill Farm could be the place for you.

Site Review: Thehotelhunter.com

There is no doubt that using a hotel search engine is THE best way to locate the lowest hotel rates online in the shortest possible time, thehotelhunter.com is one these hotel search engines. thehotelhunter.com scans the web searching all the booking sites and hotel sites looking for the hotel you are interested in. thehotelhunter then compiles a list of the best deals online for the hotel in question in descending order from the site offering the lowest rate to the site with the highest. It is then up to you to follow the link to the hotel booking site and complete your booking.

Searching on thehotelhunter.com
Your search for the hotel booking site with the lowest rates begins by browsing thehotelhunter.com either by country of hotel name, from there thehotelhunter.com does the rest.

Useful features
• Unlike similar sites when you give your specifications of how many rooms and for how many guests on thehotelhunter.com you have the option of adding separate number of adults and children. This is clever as there are often different prices for adults and children sharing the parent's room.
• There's a choice of which currency to see the rates, and a range of options to choose how you would like the hotels displayed (according to distance from landmarks; star rating; popularity; price).
• As thehotelhunter is only a search tool and not profiting on your choice of hotel booking site you can be sure that the reviews and any other details on the site are unbiased.
• thehotelhunter's competitors include HotelsCompared.com and Hotelsearchengine.com, each of these sites performs about the same function however thehotelhunter is the only one of the three which also provides travel guides and full length guest reviews. The other two sites also have guest reviews but they are in summary form. Although in most cases these sites present the same final results you can choose the one which best appeals to you in terms of the features, layout and search options.

Customer Service on thehotelhunter
As you are not actually booking your hotel on thehotelhunter.com only searching other sites using their service there is no great need for extensive customer service, however if you do have a query you can contact them on the "Contact Us" form. Once you have chosen your hotel and moved to the hotel booking site offering the lowest rates you can deal with the booking site for all your needs.
Saving time and money
thehotelhunter.com will find you the lowest rates online, and in a shorter time than humanly possible.

A review wouldn't be complete without a few gripes! The site could use more extensive hotel reviews and an affiliate program would also boost their visibility on line. I have found with all hotel search engines that in some non-US countries (in the Middle East and Far East) sometimes some booking sites are not shown. There could also be the addition of a FAQ section. thehotelhunter.com has improved on its competition by supplying travel guides but these could also be expanded to include more information and travel articles.

There is no doubt that using a hotel search engine like thehotelhunter is the best way to track down the lowest room rates online. You couldn't possibly search the amount of booking sites that thehotelhunter.com does, which means you would risk not finding the site with the lowest rate.

Site Review: Searchflightshotels.com-A travel google!

The Searchflightshotels.com first page is colorful and simple and this is where you choose what you will be searching for on the site. Imagine a Google which only searches for flights or hotels leading you to the relevant hotel or flight booking sites with the lowest rates, well that's what Searchflightshotels.com does. It is a search engine for flights and hotels, Searchflightshotels.com is not a travel booking site but a search tool to find you the best place to book.

Searching for hotels on Searchflightshotels.com
This site lists 2,5000,000 hotels and highlights the most popular tourist destinations offering discounts and deals for these locations. To search for a hotel simply type in the essential details on a no-nonsense form and the search results appear. Although the hotel search results appear as on all hotel booking sites, with Searchflightshotels.com you can choose to see the prices in any currency which is not always an option on other travel sites.

Once you have selected your hotel you are shown a list of the hotel booking sites offering that hotel, on your dates. The Hotel booking sites are listed in descending order from the cheapest to the more expensive. From here you click through to the hotel booking site and make your order.
In addition to showing the hotel location on a map, the hotel's star rate and a guest rate the hotel search results give you the rate including the tax and fees so that you don't have to go through half the booking process before being told the final price.

Searching for flights on Searchflightshotels.com
I found the flight search on Searchflightshotels.com less appealing than the hotel search, from the initial entering of the country of origination to the destination which appears on a map (unnecessary) to the prices which are given in one currency. The search filter does offer you several useful options like selecting to exclude or include red-eye flights and overnight stays.

You also have the option of making multiple bookings. Still this site is useful in giving you a good overview of what is available online. In comparison with other similar sites the flight prices compare favorably, although the initial search results are not as detailed.

Save Time using Searchflightshotels.com
The alternative to using Searchflightshotels.com is to spend hours doing individual searches on all the well known hotel and flight booking sites to find the best rates. This not only would take you a lot of time, confusion and anxiety but would not always result in you finding the lowest rates or best deal.

Save Money using Searchflightshotels.com
Even if you had the time and patience to spend hours searching each booking site it doesn't mean that you would manage to cover EVERY site and so you could miss that one special deal. On Searchflightshotels.com the work is done for you in seconds so there is no chance of not "finding" the lowest or best deal.

In the site's About Us section they mention that they also travel and have experience as travelers, this is not usually mentioned on travel sites and I agree with them that it is an important asset to actually have experience as a traveler and not just a booking agent.
Check out Searchflightshotels.com

Berlin Holiday Rental Apartments

CheckinBerlin.com is a vacation rental apartment site which deals only with holiday apartments in and around Berlin, Germany. Although you could search for a rental apartment in Berlin on a general rental site why not deal with a site specifically aimed at Berlin. There are several features of Checkinberlin.com which make it easy to navigate and informative:

Search for a Berlin Rental Apartment
When you use Checkinberlin.com to find a Berlin apartment you can search by the apartment room size; Berlin area or nearby areas, you can also search by using a map; only special offers or for group bookings. The group booking feature is quite a unique feature on rental apartment sites and one that could be very useful to group organizers. You can also search for a vacation apartment in Berlin by specific dates.
Customer Service
One of my favorite features on any travel site is the Live Chat and Checkinberlin.com has this feature as well as a contact email address, fax number and phone number.
Currency Conversion
To see the rental apartment price in your currency on Checkinberlin.com you simply have to hover the mouse over the Euro amount to see a list of already converted currency conversions. This is a nice feature I haven't seen before on travel sites.
Languages
On Checkinberlin.com you can choose from 5 languages!
Berlin Events
Although Checkinberlin.com has pages for car rental, flights and Berlin guide these services are not as unique as the Berlin only rental apartment part of the site. However the "Berlin Events" section listing upcoming events in Berlin and also a rundown of Berlin venues can be useful.
Guest Ratings
Checkinberlin.com has a guest rating system but I prefer to use independent guest reviews on sites like TripAdvisor.com or VirtualTourist.com.
Details
It is always important to get as much information about your vacation rental apartment as you can and Checkinberlin.com supplies you with ample photos; transport details of how to reach the apartment and distances to various Berlin landmarks as well as letting you know who the apartment is best suited to.
Booking on Checkinberlin.com
You can use checkinberlin.com with confidence; the vacation rental apartments are booked online but only paid for on arrival. You will get a great variety of Berlin apartment choices and good customer service.

How to search all hotel booking sites at once!

If you search for a hotel when planning a trip and end ups spending hours searching through all the hotel booking sites and still feel that there is probably a lower rate for your hotel on some booking site that you've missed, then HotelsSmart.com is for you. HotelsSmart.com does the hotel search for you, searching the entire Internet including hotel booking sites and the individual hotel sites to find the cheapest hotel rates online.

Save time and money doing your Hotel search on HotelsSmart.com
This of course saves you time spent going from one hotel booking site to another and having to repeatedly type in your hotel requirements, but it can also save you money. Where as you may search through 2- 5 hotel booking sites, HotelsSmart.com will search over 30 hotel booking sites online which means HotelsSmart.com is bound to find you a lower rate than you would have found.

Now there are other sites which perform the same function as HotelsSmart.com but few search the amount of sites as HotelsSmart.com, for example HotelsSmart.com includes results from Agoda.com a very budget conscious hotel booking site, and other hotel search sites do not include Agoda. HotelsSmart.com also offers a wider range of hotel search options that other similar sites do not. On hotelsSmart.com firstly you can choose to do your hotel search from a list of 20 languages. Then if you don't know where exactly you want to stay in a certain country you can search for a hotel by country. On the other hand if you are searching for a specific hotel you can search hotels by name. HotelsSmart.com also includes an option for flight searches of over 600 airlines and sites.

Doing a Hotel Search and Using HotelsSmart.com
Once you have made your hotel search and have been given results you can then refine your hotel search using the sidebar on HotelsSmart.com to show only hotels of a certain star rating, location, price range or hotels with specific features. You can also view hotel rates in a number of currencies. The hotel search results show the hotel on a map as well as a detailed description and list of hotel features. Once you have chosen the rates you would like you then click on a button and are transferred to the hotel booking site. This way you are not really doing any business with HotelsSmart.com but instead with the booking site. This means that HotelsSmart.com have no vested interest in which hotel rates or hotel booking site you choose, they are just performing a service. This is an advantage as when a site is not trying to sell you something you generally get objective results.

What makes HotelsSmart.com a good choice
Two other features which make HotelsSmart.com stand out are the detailed, numerous and clear photos of the hotels and the customer reviews, which also give a rating of each hotel. Using a hotel search engine such as HotelsSmart.com is really the only logical way to search for a hotel online, saving you money, time and getting you the hotel you want.
Check out the HotelsSmart.com site!

CheapOAir.com, BookIt.com and Airfare.com compared

See this honest and detailed comparison between these online travel booking sites.

Where to book travel online

BedandBreakfast.com: Bed & Breakfast Inn Booking Review & Coupon

BedandBreakfast.com: Bed & Breakfast Inn Booking Review & Coupon

This is a great site for booking b&bs online worldwide. They have over 11,000 small holiday accomodations to offer (B&Bs, homestays, small inns). The site is reliable and offers all the relavent information you may need to choose your travel accomodation.

Booking Hotels on line

Once I have decided on the best flight for me, but before I book, I check if there are any relevant package deals, for flight and hotel. This can save a lot of money. Travelocity has this option, and several airline sites do as well. If no package is relevant I go on to my favorite hotel booking sites, Booking and Agoda.

I like Booking.com because of the attractive and easy to navigate graphics, but for me Agoda wins hands down. If you are missing the human touch of a travel agent, in handling small complicated details, or in handling computer glitches, or complicated cancellations, well Agoda has a live chat, where you are chatting to a real person in real time. The other advantage of Agoda is that you can accumulate points and then get discounts on your next booking within the same year. I recently got a $25 discount! But the real plus point is that their prices are unmatchable.

I also check out the hotel's web site. Sometimes these are hard to find in amongst all the booking sites, but get to the actual hotel's own site, then compare prices.

Just before I finalize my hotel reservation I read reviews about the hotel on

Trip Advisor. This has often made me change my mind about a hotel. I pay attention to reviews that refer to the physical condition and location of the hotel, more than to those that complain of grumpy staff or a broken T.V. as these are things that could be a one-off. You can also ask other travelers specific questions on the Trip Advisor forum.

Phot of the Glo Hotel in Helsinki, THE best hotel I have stayed at.