Daily Mail 'Website of the Week'

Here's what the Daily Mail had to say about www.totstotravel.co.uk this
week when we featured as their website of the week....the strengths AND the weaknesses....

Website Of The Week: www.totstotravel.co.uk
By Fred Mawer

It's a cliché, but true: family holidays are precious.

And that means many parents go to enormous lengths to try to ensure that everything will be just right, in terms of the location of where they are staying, the facilities on offer and how safe it is.

Sunny days: Tots To Travel aims to propel families into trouble-free holidays

Wendy Shand's award-winning company Tots To Travel taps into this need for reassurance.

All the 350-plus self-catering properties on www.totstotravel.co.uk have been vetted and thoroughly inspected by trained-up mums, to ensure that they are safe, well equipped and fun places to take the family.

The growing selection of properties is spread over France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the UK. Many rentals are part of clusters of cottages, with communal facilities such as a swimming pool. But there are lots of more private properties too.

Strengths

The amount of detail given about each property listed on the website is very impressive.

I'm looking at a gîte called, Abelia in the Charente in France. The local Tots To Travel inspector, Penny, provides an exhaustive review of its interior and grounds, even pointing out that there is a 70cm wall on the side of the patio ('supervision may be needed here').

There is also a list of all the baby-friendly facilities - everything from the children's play area to safety window catches.

Nineteen photos are supplied: these are not glossy like those in brochures, but down to earth, so you can see the layout of the rooms, and what the bathroom looks like.

Equally commendable is the copious information on what's in the area - the nearest shops, child-friendly attractions, beaches etc.

And backing all this up is a comprehensive fact sheet that also covers stuff like how far away the nearest doctor is.

A big thumbs up, too, to the 'getting there' section, which not only says how close the nearest airports are to Abelia, but also which airlines fly to the airports from the UK.

The website's search facility is pretty good, and can highlight, for example, properties with enclosed pools, enclosed gardens, those offering babysitting, and those under an hour's drive from the nearest airport. You can also narrow your search to properties with availability on a given week.

Lastly, Tots To Travel is not just an online operation. You are very much encouraged to talk to staff on the phone if you have any queries.

Comprehensive: The site offers a wide range of properties, and detailed reviews

Weaknesses

Tots To Travel is an agent, and as such is not liable for the quality of the properties or responsible if things are not up to scratch.

To be fair, all this is spelt out very clearly in the terms and conditions, and Tots To Travel says it will try to help sort out any problems.

The website's home page is probably a little bit flat: it doesn't convey quite as well as it could just what a fantastic resource www.totstotravel.co.uk is.

And I could do without the online shop selling travel-related family kit.

Ratings

Inspiring: 3/5
Useful: 5/5
Easy to use: 5/5

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2118302/Website-Of-The-Week-www-totstotravel-uk.html#ixzz1pwF26USS