Google helps coffee travels

It takes a while for new applications to make their way into mainstream business. The Google Earth and Google Maps applications are natural fits for geo-industry like property development, mining and planning. I was pleasantly surprised how much easier Google Maps made planning my recent Italian trip.

Finding the right hotel in the right location is critical in a large city like Milan. I was able to plot onto the map, my arrival station from the airport, the main metro lines and the Central Station. It was then apparent that there was an intersection at Cadorna Station around which all of our travel would take place.

Google Maps then provided a search of hotels from this point. A good night's sleep is important on trips so I felt the need to do more work on hotel selection. I added suitable hotels from the main hotel sites ie tripadvisor.com, worif.com and a few others.

With the suitable hotels on the map I was then able to better understand the tradeoffs between location and prices. The further from the station and key facilities, the price went down. More transit time each day.

In the end I settled on the Hotel King which was within walking distance of Cadorna station, the city centre and, most importantly, gave a good taste of Milanese life.