Descent of Speed

I travel a lot, and I spend a lot of time looking for hotel rooms. Sometimes I don’t care too much, I just need a bed and a shower. When I spent three months travelling through Europe I usually just stopped at the local tourist office and found a hotel. They would find my a cheap, decent one near the city center. Of course there are times when I want a nicer place to relax in, without spending too much.

When trying to find a decent room for a decent price I tend to rely on user review websites like trip advisor. There really isn’t much else to use, but the reviews at these sites are almost worthless. Once when I was trying to find a cheap hotel in London, most of the reviews went on and on about how run down the hotel is, or how cheap it is. Guys, you are spending $50 for a hotel in the middle of London, what did you expect?

A couple of friends of mine started a website that they hope will solve this problem. The site is oyster.com [Oyster Hotel Reviews]. The site offers professional reviews of hotels, with untouched photos. The reviews are quite good. I went to Miami shortly before the site was launched. I found a hotel, that I wouldn’t go back to again, based on reviews from trip advisor. The review on oyster.com was spot on.

Unfortunately their biggest problem is a lack of reviews. Since the reviews are done by professional reporters it takes time to visit hotels in various cities. Last time I looked they had Miami, parts of the Caribbean, Las Vegas, New York and they were working on Hawaii. It will take some time to extend their coverage to many of the major tourist destinations, but I hope they get a chance. The site will really be worth it for someone planning a nice vacation.