Johansens hotels, country houses and inns/ recommended hotels in Europe

Johansens has always been one of the better guides to pleasant inns, interesting country house hotels, and luxury locations for a splurge - now the UK and European guides are available on CD-ROM. ItÆs a neat idea. Instead of flicking through a book, looking for hotels in Devon that are children-friendly and have rooms for under ú70, you can set up your requirements on the search screen and browse through the results. All of the 800-plus UK and 340-plus European entries have a minimum of three pictures, a description, contact details and how to get there. Some also have a map, a video and extra photographs. ItÆs a great way to organise a pamper break. Johansens is a paying guide where hotels have to stump up a considerable fee to be included, but I have found it a reliable source of attractive places to stay. For business users, the European CD also includes a separate volume of UK business venues.

My only real regret is the way the three volumes of the UK directory are kept as separate as the paper versions. Why should you have to decide whether you want an inn or a hotel? This split makes browsing the guide less effective than it could have been. Overall - An excellent top-end paying hotel guide, well presented on CD-ROM. Priced around ú30 (UK guide) and ú20 (Europe) in the UK. Windows CD. Distributed by Johansens, web site: http://www.johansen.com