Before your trip, be quick on the Uptake

Not everybody has well-traveled friends who can give them the scoop on what to do or where to stay on their next holiday. Uptake.com gathers branded online travel reviews and packages them in one handy website. The result is a travel-specific, word-of-mouth playground that will save you time searching the net for trusted opinions.

What’s hot: The activities section. It’s easy to find hotel reviews on the Web, but I like the fact that Uptake is heavy on suggesting things to do. Search by U.S. destination, or browse by a specific theme, including options such as “Cheap & Free Things to Do,” “Family Things to Do,” “Romantic,” “Beaches,” “Theme Parks,” “Landmarks” and more. Go to the home page and scroll down to the second half of the page to get travel search suggestions -- or look up vacation ideas by destination (first state, then city). At the top of the home page you can make up your own travel search combo such as “pet friendly hotels” and add a location. On the next page narrow your search by the price of the hotel, view a map of where your recommendations are, and, of course, read reviews. The best way to get to the multitude of reviews (from Orbitz, TripAdvisor, TravelPost, CitySearch, Yelp and more) is to click on the name of the listing, whether it’s a hotel or an activity.

What’s not: The pages are stuffed with visual cues and options to continue clicking to additional information. To my mind this favors those who are already Web savvy and can overwhelm those who are newer to the online travel booking game. Also, because the website is in beta, I ran into search malfunctions in the activities section. For example, “Romantic Activities” in Los Angeles led me to the Travel Town Museum. Have patience and know that Uptake wants your opinion. There are lots of links throughout the site to give feedback and report bugs.

For more websites to check out, visit our Web Buzz page.