The Five Space

A hip hotel in Paris is focusing on the web 2.0 phenomenom by creating its own interactive portal. The Five Hotel located in the Latin quarter, has empowered its guest to interact with other guests and share their experiences.

Securing the web page www.thefivespace.com has allowed guests to post their profile, describe their stay and even earn "badges" based on levels of interaction - the more you post - the more you earn.

Neat concept. Note: there is a creepy site pal on the home page that tells you a little about the site then follows your mouse movement with her eyes.

Vacation Homes and Cottages

Traveling with my family (wife and 3 kids) is challenging enough - but when we are forced to look for 2 hotel rooms because the maximum occupancy allowed is 4 pax - alternatives are sought. We have been lucky in finding suite type properties in most cities but I am really getting into Vacation homes. More and more vacation rental conglomerates are enabling their inventory to be accessed online - just like a typical hotel. Case in point - One Stop Cottage - Great new mashup of a vacation home reservation system and a mapping service with pictures and neat tools to choose the perfect house for your holiday.

There are occasions when we would need to bring our four legged family members along for the ride - and this new mashup allows you to easily see which hotels allow pets. Petswelcome allows you to search by Location, Hotel Brand and even driving route - which will display all pet friendly hotels along your way to Grandma's house.