TripAdvisor, the largest global travel information and advice destination on the web, today announced its 2005 Travelers' Choice award winners. Unlike any other hotel awards programs that survey perhaps thousands of people, TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice winners are uniquely "selected" by the millions of travelers from around the world who provide their real and unbiased reviews or opinions about hotels on tripadvisor.com(TM) and across the web.

The 2005 TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice awards recognized the best hotels in the following categories: Best Luxury, Best Hidden Gem, Best Bargain, Best for Families and Best Pool.

"This year's winners stand out for their excellence in service," said Michele Perry, spokesperson for TripAdvisor. "Because real travelers are making the selections, Travelers' Choice winners are not necessarily the 'in' places for the rich and famous but rather the hotels that make the average traveler feel rich and famous. This year's winners feature something for everyone, from bargain to luxury hotels in major cities to extraordinary finds in off-the-beaten-path places around the world."

TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Top 10 Bargain Hotels in the World (Good value at low price points):

  1.  Residenza Il Villino, Florence, Italy
  2.  Hotel Davanzati, Florence, Italy
  3.  Le Square Phillips Hotel & Suites, Montreal, Canada
  4.  Hale Koa Hotel, Oahu, Hawaii
  5.  The Bungalows Hotel, Los Cabos, Mexico
  6.  Norwood Hotel, Lancashire, England
  7.  Hotel Domus Praetoria, Rome, Italy
  8.  The Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
  9.  BelleSuite Rome, Rome, Italy
  10. Michalis Studios & Apartments, Kos, Greece

  A sample of the winners in other categories:
  TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Best Luxury (4&5 star hotels)
  Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Best Hidden Gem (Unexpected service or hard-to-find hotels)

  Holiday Inn Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina

  TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Best for Families in the U.S.
  Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel -- Anaheim, Anaheim, California

  TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Best Luxury Hotel in New York City
  Sofitel New York, New York, New York

  TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Best Luxury Hotel in London
  Covent Garden Hotel, London, England

  TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Best Luxury Hotel in Paris
  Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris, France

Remaining faithful to its promise to provide the whole truth about travel, the good the bad and the ugly, TripAdvisor also identified the 10 "dirtiest" hotels in the U.S. based on traveler ratings for cleanliness. Five of the ten dirtiest hotels are in the Big Apple, and the overall dirtiest, according to TripAdvisor travelers, is New York City's Hotel Carter.

To view the complete list of Travelers' Choice winners or to check out the top luxury hotels in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Orlando or Las Vegas, contact Brooke Ferencsik at brooke@tripadvisor.com or visit http://www.tripadvisor.com/.

The TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice award winners for 2005 were determined by a combination of TripAdvisor's Popularity Index and traveler ratings of specific attributes. TripAdvisor's Popularity Index is a proprietary algorithm that determines traveler satisfaction based on a variety of sources, including TripAdvisor hotel reviews and travel articles and opinions from across the web. TripAdvisor recently added ratings to the hotel review process, allowing travelers to "grade" hotels based on a variety of attributes, including cleanliness, value and suitability for specific types of travelers.

About TripAdvisor LLC

TripAdvisor.com(TM) is the largest global travel information and advice destination on the web, with more than 3 million unbiased reviews and opinions and covering 200,000+ hotels and attractions. With more than 18 million unique monthly visitors worldwide (source: comScore Media Metrix, August 2005), TripAdvisor(TM) features real advice from real travelers and offers easy access to major online travel sites, including Expedia.com(R), Orbitz, Hotels.com(R) and American Airlines, for great deals. TripAdvisor(TM), which operates sites in the U.S. (http://www.tripadvisor.com/) and in the U.K. (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/) provides travel suppliers a cost-per-click marketing platform, so customers pay only for leads, not impressions, with every campaign. Winner of dozens of awards, including PC Magazine's Top 100 Web Sites and Forbes Best of the Web, TripAdvisor(TM) is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. .

"TripAdvisor" and "TripAdvisor.com" are trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE: TripAdvisor