Archive for the ‘Cosmotourist’ Category

Best Hotels in Thailand

Monday, July 26th, 2010

The last six months have been rather busy here at Cosmotourist. We wanted to semantically analyse nearly all hotel reviews available on the web and generate useful summaries for our users. This means that users need not work their way through all 2k reviews that might exist for one hotel alone.

As you can imagine this was no easy task. We have analysed more than 28 million reviews on more than 100k hotels world-wide and from this we have produced more than 16k variables which can be used to describe a hotel.

All this data now lets us aggregate variables over various parameters. Countries are the first set of parameters which we are going to share with you:

Hotel Room Quality:

In terms of room quality Thailand is the winner, the United States is just average (almost 10 points behind Thailand) and the United Kingdom, France and Denmark are the losers.

Hotel Service:

In terms of service Japan, Germany and Poland have the top 3 spots in our rankings. The United States and the United Kingdom are again just average. Bulgaria and Morocco occupy the last two places.

Let us know what other rankings you might find interesting and we will try to generate some more in the coming weeks.

Volcanic Times!

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

We live not in rocky, but in volcanic times at the moment! Thousands of people are stranded around the world, unable to reach their destinations, unsure of when they will be able to get home. No one would have imagined this time last week, that a volcano in Iceland would lead to almost all of the main airports in Europe coming to a standstill. Since Friday the 16th of April, nearly all flights across central and northern Europe have been cancelled and the back log of people waiting to travel is building by the day….my mother is one of these people! Because of this I have had full insight into the predicament passengers have found themselves in. My mother was set to start back at work in England today and there is absolutely nothing she can do to get home. She was meant to fly with Lufthansa last Friday and since then she has had to check the internet 3 to 4 times a day to keep abreast of developments. The Lufthansa hotline is permanently engaged, (one queries whether they too have simply stopped accepting calls because they also have no idea when normal flights will resume?!) so there is absolutely no way of getting any information or feedback. And when the airports do finally open up again, how on earth will the airlines prioritise which passengers fly first? Will passengers simply be told that there is no room? And how will the airport staff cope with the number of people rushing in demanding immediate flights? I will be following the developments with great interest…something like this has never occurred in the history of aviation and will indeed spark off a whole new debate.

At the end of the day, us humans are not quite as important as we sometimes think we are, we are still subject to the whims of nature and who knows what natural disasters the future may bring…Incidentally in this volcanic crisis, most of us have quite forgotten that hundreds have people have died in an earthquake in China…where are our priorities? Is it really all that bad that the rat race may have slowed down a little for a few days with the restrictions placed on travelling? Perhaps those who are stuck should simply try and make the best of their predicament and count their lucky stars that they aren’t in Iceland or in China…And as for the pressure the airlines are now putting on the government, I can only pray that people ultimately remember that safety comes first…

Please share your experiences of the volcanic crisis with us, wherever you may be.

Merry christmas!

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Chritstmas TreeDear Cosmotourists,

Yet again another year has zoomed by and Christmas and New Year are only a matter of days away. This is the time of year to take a moment to reflect back on all that has happened. In the last year you have posted many lovely travel tips, photos and advice, and we would like to thank you for this! Thank you for contributing to the community, without you Cosmotourist would be all the poorer!

Your efforts have not been in vain as your travel tips do get read! We are right up there with the best in the google search rankings and the community is growing by the day. We have also made leaps and bounds in the improvements we have made to the layout and functionality of the website. However we can of course only get better, so if you have made suggestions then simply send us an email to editorial@cosmotourist.net so that we can put these into effect too.

We look forward to reading more from you in 2010 and in the meantime we would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas and an eventful and travel filled year to come!

Your Cosmotourist Team

Morgen, Cosmotouristen, wirds was geben

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Chritstmas TreeLiebe Cosmotouristen,

und wieder stehen Weihnachten und Jahreswechsel vor der Tür. Es ist also Zeit, ein wenig innezuhalten, zurückzublicken und vor allem: uns bei euch allen zu bedanken! Danke für eure Reiseerinnerungen und -empfehlungen, für die zahlreichen Fotos, Informationen und Erlebnisse aus der ganzen Welt. Danke für eure Neugier, eure Abenteuerlust und Hilfsbereitschaft anderen Reisenden gegenüber! In den google-Ergebnislisten stehen eure Tipps mittlerweile ganz oben, die Community wächst stetig und wir haben im vergangenen Jahr erfolgreich an Seitenaufbau und -layout gearbeitet – es lohnt sich also, auf cosmotourist.de zu posten. Aber wie immer gilt: wenn ihr Verbesserungsvorschläge habt, schreibt uns gerne an editorial@cosmotourist.net

Wir freuen uns, weiterhin von euch zu lesen und wünschen allen schöne Weihnachtstage und ein glückliches, reisefreudiges Jahr 2010!

Euer Cosmotourist-Team

Season’s Greetings!

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Just hear those sleighbells jinglin’, ring ting tinglin’ to. Come on it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you



Oh the excitement mounts as the countdown to Christmas commences. Before we know it Christmas Eve will be upon us! So it’s time to make the most of the Advent season now. Have you made it to a Christmas market this year or do you still plan to do so? The smell of mulled wine and roasting chestnuts-bliss! If you have stories to share about your trips to Christmas markets with the community then please do so. Additionally if you have any seasonal photos of Christmas lights, Christmas markets and the like then please spread the joy by uploading these too.

Have any of you already sighted Father Christmas this year out and about gathering wish lists from children? Perhaps you have even been lucky enough to spy one or two of his loyal reindeer?! Do any of you have any insider tips about where we can glimpse him before Christmas? I have always wanted to make it to Lapland before Christmas to give him my wish list in person.  From what I gather this is a trip not to be missed!

Are any of you going to be celebrating Christmas in a far flung country this year? Perhaps you will be barbequing your Christmas turkey on the beach in the blazing sun in Australia?! If so please do let us know what it turns out to be like. As for myself I will be celebrating in the traditional manner in Germany, roast goose, mince pies, stockings by the fireplace- I can’t wait!

From us all at Cosmotourist we would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy New Year! We look forward to sharing 2010 with you!

Genuine User Feedback on Cosmotourist!

Friday, August 21st, 2009

It is becoming increasingly obvious that users are using www.cosmotourist.com as a vehicle to let off steam or to rave about places they have been to. More and more people are dropping by to share their experiences with our community. Travel guides are all and well, but they outdate quickly and here at Cosmotourist you can really take advantage of genuine up-to-date information about restaurants, hotels, clubs, bars, attractions and much more. If you experience really bad service at a restaurant why not warn other people not to make the same mistake as you did? Don’t good hotels deserve to be recommended on to others? If you have discovered a hidden gem of a bar, why not let others know about it too?

For those planning a night out on the tiles or a short break away to an unknown town this information can prove invaluable. So if you too have genuine and useful feedback to share-please do so! Simply log in to www.cosmotourist.com

Photos of Publishable Value on Cosmotourist

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Namibian Roads

With now more than 26,500 user photos, Cosmotourist has become a global photo album, with which you can spend hours, if not days looking through. But be warned, you are bound to be left with itchy feet and the urge to get travelling ! You will find photos like these here portraying stunning landscapes of poetic beauty, photos like this one here depicting sundrenched beaches, stunning shots of nature at its best, holiday moments of sheer delight and much much more…

The best photos in our opinion are those on the homepage under the rubric Top Photos. The photos featured here are those with the most positive user feedback. Even Random House, one of the leading international publishing groups, is impressed with the quality of photos featured on Cosmotourist. This has led them to search for photos on Cosmotourist for their travel guide books, as this request here to Timsaunders proves. Who knows perhaps one of your photos might end up in a travel guide book too?!

Sonnenuntergang in Alt-Jaffa

Druckfähige Fotos auf Cosmotourist

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

Namibian RoadsMit mittlerweile insgesamt 26.500 Userfotos ist Cosmotourist zu einem globalen Fotoalbum angewachsen, in dem man stundenlang, ja tagelang stöbern kann. Doch vorsicht, Fernweh ist vorprogrammiert! Man findet wie hier Landschaftsbilder von poetischer Schönheit, sonnendurchflutete Illustrationen purer Urlaubssehnsucht, Momentaufnahmen aus der Fremde und Zeugnisse übermütiger Reisefreude.

Die besten Bilder sind für uns die mit den meisten positiven Userbewertungen, auf der Startseite werden sie als “Top-Fotos” präsentiert. Auch Random House, immerhin die international führende Verlagsgruppe, ist beeindruckt. Sie sucht auf Cosmotourist nach Fotos für ihre Reiseführer, wie diese Anfrage an Timsaunders beweist. Wer weiß, vielleicht wird also einmal eines von euch in einem Reiseführer gedruckt?  Sonnenuntergang in Alt-Jaffa

Cosmotourist offers romantic inspiration!

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Romance Blossoms in Zermatt!

Winter has finally released its grip and with the new found warmth of spring, romance blossoms! May is the one of the most popular months of the year to get married. People tend to favour planning a wedding at this time of year when the weather is more reliable and the days are longer and lighter. I think every bride dreams of her wedding day to be warm and sunny and for it not to be pouring with rain! Having said this on Cosmotourist you will find tips about people who have got married all over the world in every season.

So to get you in the romantic mood take a look at Juliadrake28’s picture for inspiration here. Julia’s pictures of her wedding in Zermatt in Switzerland are truly breathtaking. To fulfill her romantic wedding ideal she travelled all the way from the USA to Europe.  A ceremony out in the open air with only the backdrop of nature and close friends and family- a dream come true! As if this weren’t enough her wedding celebrations were then held in  Restaurant Blatten who’s owners met and fell in love climbing the Matterhorn. You can  read the full account of the romantic way in which she tied the knot here.

Jubond got married in Caxambu in Brazil in the quaint church of Santa Isabel da Hungria. Situated at the top of 126 stairs with a splendid view across the city this seems a wonderfully romantic spot to tie the knot. Cuba is yet another exotic location to get married, Annatravel did this in the famous Sandals Royal Hicacos Resort in a gazebo and she was lucky enough to have a wedding coordinator to spare her all the organisation stress! If you want to tie the knot in a slightly different manner then how does this sound? Kristin5683 went to a friend’s wedding at the Artisan Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas where the décor included leopard print carpets and dark red walls!

So if you need some inspiration on where and how to get married simply enter the word “wedding” in the Cosmotourist search tool and maybe you will be confronted with a few new ideas. And if you have already had your big day then why not share your wedding experiences too? Who knows maybe you can offer some inspiration for those pondering on how to do it properly!

Until the next time,

Penny

Cosmotourist für Verliebte

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

MissT mit Bräutigam in Las VegasEs ist bekannt: im Frühling tauen die Gefühle auf, die Liebe erblüht. Harte Zeiten sind das für die Standesbeamten. Im Akkord schaffen sie unvergessliche Momente für Verliebte, die ihr Hochzeitsfest mit der Kirschbaumblüte synchronisieren möchten. Und sollte jemand zwar einen Partner fürs Leben, aber keinen Baum finden, kann er selbst einen pflanzen: im Berliner Hochzeitspark. Jetzt ist die beste Zeit, wie Morena hier erläutert.

Doch auf Cosmotourist ist es ganzjährig romantisch und es wird weltweit geheiratet. Hat der Standesbeamte oder der Pfarrer keinen Termin frei, geht es eben nach Las Vegas, wo man ganz unkompliziert heiraten kann. Wie das geht, weiß MissT. Die Amerikanerin Juliadrake wiederum ist für ihr Ja-Wort nach Europa gekommen, sie fand sie die Erfüllung ihres Hochzeitstraumes in Zermatt. Warum, ist leicht nachvollziehbar, wenn man sich die wunderbar romantischen  Fotos dieser open air Zeremonie ansieht.

Inka wiederum war wichtig, im katholischen Regensburg eine evangelische Kirche zu finden. Wie schön das gelungen ist, sieht man hier. Außerdem musste eine freistehende Badewanne her, die aber wahrscheinlich erst nachts zum Einsatz kam, und zwar im Hotel Orphee.

Auf Hawaii machen es sich viele Brautpaare leichter. Sie verzichten auf Tischkarten und Etikette und mischen sich ganz locker unter das grillende und Frisbee spielende Volk im Stadtpark, wie surftravel hier erzählt.

Egal in welchem Ambiente – Userin Piaffe ließe sich nicht zum Heiraten überreden, auch nicht auf einem astreinen Golfplatz. Obwohl sie gesteht, dass der Club Kaden ihrem “Wasserproblem” gut tun würde – ihr Motto ist: Golfen ja, heiraten nein!

Weitere lesenswerte Blogs zum Thema Hochzeit haben wir bei diesen Usern gefunden: rhiannon, murazzis, clawfish, daiquira, stefan, constantin. Oder ihr gebt einfach “heiraten” in die Cosmotourist-Suche ein. Vielleicht wirkt es ja inspirierend, jetzt, im Frühling…

Liebe Grüße

Gundula