The Accommodation Award for August goes to...

Stonehurst

Apart from Spot the dog, the "official welcomer to Stonehurst", the first thing that strikes you about this site is the simple, unfussy, layout. Information too, is clear with good explanation of the different options available A standard navigation frame with as few buttons (and therefore pages) as necessary, makes short work of navigating the site. The pictures are excellent, especially those depicting the interior of the single, twin and double rooms and dormitories. So far, so good however, our judges did have a beef about one or two of our "golden rules" being broken. The first relates to the failure to mention which currency applies to prices quoted on the site. The biggest source of traffic to most web sites, especially those representing tourism product, is North America. Also, $US have become very much the standard currency used on the web. So, if you don't state which currency applies, visitors WON'T know. The second criticism was regarding the use of an "insecure" form to accept credit card details. Our judges believe tourism operators have an obligation to offer their site visitors a secure means of providing this information or, at least, point out that the form is not secure and offer a more traditional alternative, such as fax or phone. This is far from the only site to do this however, we just thought we'd use the opportunity to express our opinions. The site is a very attractive and effective representation of Stonehurst and a worthy WETA winner.

© 1999 Discover New Zealand Magazine