Bon Voyage

I often get asked for recommendations of all sorts in my work life and outside of it. I think when you are a personal assistant (and until my writing pays the bills that's what I am) you end up being the de facto personal assistant for everyone you know. I don't mind it most of the time because I enjoy sharing info and being helpful. One of the things I get asked for often is travel suggestions. Here's a few things I do to keep myself up-to-date and where I go if I have no info on the place already.

New York Times Travel Section - I always start here because the paper in general does great reporting and if there are any current articles about your destination they are bound to be helpful. It's all totally free and they have a huge backlog of destinations.

I save any best of list about hotels and restaurants into Evernote and constantly look for them online. This 2009 Hotel Gold List from Conde Nast Traveler that is picked by readers is a good one and this 2009 Hotel Hot List from the same mag via a sister site called Concierge is also worth reading. Speaking of that, the Concierge site is another good place that I always check out. I try to keep less paper files these days, but I do buy speciality issues of magazines like CNT that do best of lists.

I will often go to the Fodors and Frommers websites because they have tons of the info from their guides on their sites for free. That being said, if I am doing in depth research for a boss or going on a trip I will always buy at least one book, so that I can go nuts with a highlighter and post-its (speaking of that, this highlighter post-it combo is the best thing ever).

Hipguide - I also like this site that has updates on hotels, restaurants, etc. in variety of cities.

Even though this isn't original I will always check out Daily Candy and save various ones I get via email that pertain to travel and restaurants.

Tasting Table - I'm really liking this site that I got into recently. It has info on bars and restaurants in a few different cities.

This site is good for restaurants in Los Angeles.

Chowhound is always a good resource for restaurants.

I also love the books and online database from Not For Tourists that covers a variety of cities.

Truth be told, this probably isn't all of what I use, but it's a nice little bit to get you started.