Booking a hotel made easier through new technology

Dubai: Trying to book a hotel online can be a bit of a guessing game. Pictures can be deceiving and locations a bit vague. You never know just what you're getting until you show up.

Combining Google Maps and photo website Flickr with a hotel booking systems, Seeyourhotel.com attempts to give users a better idea of just where they'll be staying on there next holiday or business trip.

The site is easy to use. You just enter in some basic information - you can enter everything from a airport to a street address - of where you want to stay. The site will then return a Google map with all the hotels in that area. Move your cursor over the hotel, and you'll get the name, the number of stars and a price range. You can also narrow your search by setting a range for prices and the number of stars.

If you want more information, just click on the hotel. The website will open a new window that shows you pictures - usually from user photos on Flickr and not just the photos the hotel wants you to see - reviews, and can even show you the hotel's availability. If you find a hotel you like, you can book directly the site.

If you want a review of the hotel, the site will show you a brief review, if there is one, from TripAdvisor.com. You can follow the link for more reviews.

Benefit

The real advantage with this site is how it works with Google Maps, which allows you to zoom in and out, see nearby attractions, and even see the local terrain.

I'm always a little suspicious of travel websites since they tend to only show popular hotels located at major tourism destination, but I was able to locate hotel in every price range all over the world, including here in the UAE. The site doesn't include every hotel, but the number of hotel is impressive.

Innovation: Online tour guide

- Name: SeeYourHotelURL: www.seeyourhotel.com
- What it does: gives you information on hotels all over the world
- Easy of use: simple
- Cost: free