Preview Your Hotel

Ever wonder what it's really like to stay in the hotel where you are planning a trip? Short of a personal recommendation or a previous stay at the property, the only way you can see what is in store is to go to either the hotel website or a travel website; but the pictures that are posted may be as old as the day they broke ground for the building, and you have no idea of the spacial relationship between the photos (is the bathroom one foot or five feet from your bed?).

There is a video site called TV Trip which has up to date videos of hotels around the world; from the exteriors to the bathrooms, all the videos give you a real sense of the space and aesthetics of everything from the lobby to the rooms and views. It is as if you sent out a scout to film the property for your approval. You can choose different parameters for your search, ranging from the region to recent deals. I checked out a few places in Paris on their site that I know and the videos do give accurate views of everything including the exteriors, the lobbies, the sleeping areas, the bathrooms, and the artwork in the rooms.

If movie previews are a good way to decide if you want to go see a movie, then hotel previews are a good way to decide if you want to spend your time and money in an hotel.