Have you booked the perfect hotel, only to arrive and discover it’s a dump, in a horrible neighborhood, AND it has bedbugs? Well, that hasn’t happened to me simultaneously but each HAS happened. And each time, I think, there has to be a better way to prevent this and indeed, there is.

TVtrip is a site that shares VIDEO! and photo reviews of hotels around the world. If you’re undecided about where to stay, poke around here. From the videos and photos, you can see the exteriors, neighborhood, lobby, rooms, dining areas and breakfast buffets (if available), and more. You’ll quickly discover if a hotel is suitable for your needs, or not. You can search by hotel stars, chain locations and different categories such as aparthotel, beach, seaview, cheap, design, family, luxury, resort, and romantic.

There are excellent maps on each listing, showing activities and other hotels nearby. Each listing also shows what is included in the room and a list of reviews. The videos shows all aspects of the hotel, including fitness areas, meeting rooms, disabled rooms (if available), the different types of hotel rooms, meeting and private rooms, and more.

What’s impressive is that you get a real sense of a hotel, from the people walking by to the kind of neighborhood; from the restaurant to the rooms. I can gauge the size of the room for our family, the location for safety or parking, and the hotel’s fit for our needs. It’s pure brilliance and a website I will use again and again.

We caught up with the good folks at TVtrip to ask about the backstory, what readers can find on their site and their smartphone apps! Here’s what they had to say…

Please tell us about TVtrip...

TVtrip is a search engine for hotels that uses unbiased videos to help travelers save time choosing the right hotel.

What was the genesis of your site?

TVtrip was founded in 2007 by travel and internet experts who got tired of hearing travelers complain that booking online was too risky, because it was hard to have an idea of what the hotel will look like in real life when the only thing you could rely on was tiny pictures. That's how they came out with the idea of shooting videos of the hotel.

Since then, they’ve dedicated their energy to building what is now the leading hotel videoguide.

What can users find on your site?

On TVtrip, users can find more than 52,000 videos shot by us in hotels on every continent. The videos give an overview of all the room categories, the hotel facilities, and surroundings. TVtrip also displays rich information about what activities you can find around the hotel and allows you to book at the best price, thanks to our trusted booking partners.

How do you suggest travelers best prepare for their journeys?

With TVtrip services you know exactly where you go and what you'll do there. Don't leave anything to chance. You won't find yourself stuck in a nightmare hotel ever again.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

We developed city guides for iPhone and Androïd that we're really proud of. These guides feature information on over 300 points of interest, such as restaurants, clubs, museums, hotels, of course, and much more - with over a hundred videos for each city.

The content is 100% available offline and automatically geo-locates you on its included map, so you won't have an outrageous phone bill when you go back home. The TVtrip City Guide is already available for a wide selection of cities, including New York, Paris, Chicago, Roma, Amsterdam, Sevilla, Singapore, London, Berlin, and much more. PS: The Paris guide is available for free!

Video can bring to life a place, more than words or pictures and that is what makes TVtrip so unique.

This is the best way we've seen to get a feel for a hotel and neighborhood. If a picture speaks a thousands words, then a video makes the pictures come alive. Take a look!