Exclusive New Year's Eve Event: A Renaissance Dinner on the 31st of December in Leonardo da Vinci's manor house and a gala New Years Day dinner in Chateau de La Barre's XVIIth century dining room

The best website for 'inside tips": full of elegant boutique hotels with authentic charm. The places recommended here have all been personally visited prior to write up and are not just a list of stereotyped, trendy, hypercontemporary addresses

A great website for staying in real chateaux, both elegant and authentic, in England, Scotland, Wales and France. Some of them have been in the same family for centuries. An ideal way to experience gracious hospitality and culture.

An absolute must to consult when organising any trip. Look up an area you plan to visit, and check out some of the reviews posted on the main hotel/guesthouses, or just type in the name of the guesthouse you have already selected to read what previous visitors said. But you need to use some judgement: some reviews can be posted by "friends" (you will notice that the reviewer has never posted a review elsewhere) or "enemies" (some competitors use the site to malign a place they feel is taking away business from them). Also, some negatives for one person (ie "no night life" or "not child friendly") can be a plus for another person ("calm and peaceful"). Note also that this website belongs to Expedia.com (as does venere), so places working with these discount sites will be listed prominently.
With these caveats in mind, an absolutely indispensible tool for any traveller.

Brilliantly researched and written fortnightly bulletin on the real news, ie what is going on behind the scenes. An absolute complement to any person who wishes to be truly abreast with current affairs, political, economic and social

You don't know exactly what the proper name is for the product you are trying to find? No matter, the search botton will guide you there. Looking for a particular style of sweater? Or a particular brand? This website will show a huge selection matching your request, at different prices, then, all you need to do is choose and click! Buy at best prices directly from the retailer, as if you were in the largest department store of the world, from the comfort of your home