Stay is a website dedicated to travel planning. Users can sign in and share their experiences or search for places they plan to visit and see what other users thought. This allows social interaction as well as unbiased reviews and information. With real people providing the details, the information stays up to date and accurate. Overall, Stay is intended to make travel planning a fun activity, even before it is time to get in the car or head to the airport. It is easy to locate a tourism website or business-run site that provides information on a travel destination. However, these details are often biased and do not provide accurate, up to date information. On top of that, they often include only minimal real traveler experiences, which can help tremendously in planning where to go and what to see. Stay was conceived as a way to help create a place where the everyday traveler can get involved and share what they know and see about the places others may want to visit. User can also search for vacation destinations and other places to learn more before going. Stay is unique in the tools and information offered to its users. Here, visitors can create their own personalized travel guide, rather than having to collect many pre-made guides. Visitors are also welcome to share their experiences or read about places through the experiences of others. This exchange of information creates a social element to the act of travel planning. It also helps users get unbiased reviews and details about places from other, real people who have been there. The Stay homepage offers intriguing images of unique places as well as a cool blue color scheme. The font style chosen adds character without taking away from the user’s ability to navigate the site. Right from the homepage, a new user can easily find the basic features they need to access. Links to popular cities are also easy to find right on the home page so vacation planners can get started right away. Account creation allows users to access all features on Stay. In order to get started, a visitor must click the blue “create account” link at the top right hand corner of the homepage. From there, a pop up box will appear asking for a first and last name, username, email address and password. The account creation process is very streamlined. As soon as the details are entered and the create button is clicked, the account is made. Users are taken to their new account homepage and can get started planning a trip or sharing details about one they have already made. Stay allows account creation at no cost to the user. No premium paid membership is currently offered, with no word on that changing anytime soon. All visitors can sign up and enjoy all the benefits of being a Stay member without paying a cent for the opportunity. The no cost account also makes Stay more appealing for the everyday user, who may enjoy the social aspects of the site and be encouraged to participate when they can do so for free. Anyone who has or will be traveling can enjoy the information and tools found on Stay. Those who have already traveled can share their experiences and help enrich the site with more information while participating in the community. Users who plan to travel can gather a wealth of information in a way that allows for more interactivity than reading a travel brochure or magazine. Being free, Stay can also help travelers with a tight budget get the most out of their next vacation or business trip.

• The ability to create a personalized travel guide
• Learn about local hotels and get detailed information to make an educated choice
• Photographs to add depth to location descriptions
• Hotel booking feature through the website
• Streamlined hotel search

http://www.stay.com/