It's early evening on a Friday evening. I'm lazing in my most comfortable chaise with a great magazine and a glass of chardonay, when my best girlfriend calls me on the phone to tell me she's getting hitched tomorrow

in Vegas (to a hunky Elvis impersonator,of course), and she absolutely must have me there as her maid of honor. Of course I'm

shocked and surprised, but there's just one teensy weensy problem.

I'm in D.C. and I've never been to Vegas (unless you include watching "Vegas Vacation") Where will I going to bed down? How will I find the perfect hotel on such short notice? Will I be forced to find my own Elvis impersonator just to crash at his joint?

I hang up the telephone with promises to be there (and bring her favorite blue suede heels), with a feeling of utter dread at the thought of going to one of those 'name your own price' sites to quickly find the right hotel (I don't know why but those sites just drive me nuts!) I race to my computer in a tizzy to do the only thing I know to do Google "Find Hotel By Map".

And like an angel to a dying man, a perfect match appears on my screen:

http://www.hotelbymap.com

(Can we say Hallelujah?!)

I typed in "Las Vegas" and chose the closest zip code to where she was getting married (Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel right on the strip) and voila!

A ton of hotels up and down the strip sprang up for me to choose from. Now, since my friend offered to pay for my hotel, I won't pick a 5 star (I'm so thoughtful, aren't I?), but I am a single chic and I'll be all alone in Vegas, so I don't want to stay in some dumpy with avocado green shag carpet that hasn't been cleaned since the 70's!

Good thing Hotels By Map color codes each hotel by 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 star ratings and lets me select only the ones I want. When I hover my mouse over the pushpins it shows me their rating, location, and cost per night. I can even click on a little tab and pull up the hotels by lowest price and see where they are located and get their telephone number. And the best part of it all is that I can click on the hotel link to see what features they offer (I have to have a pool); and when I find the best place for me, I can book my room right thenand there!

It was that easy in less than {20 seconds|a minute| I had all the information I needed right in front of me to quickly find the best hotel and book it all in a flash. All I can say is that this site has saved my life now I have enough time before I leave to Google everything Elvis (so I can actually have topics to talk about with the groom!)

From now on, this willis going to be the only place I go when I've got somewhere to go!

This has also been published as: find hotel by cityname on Wikispaces, find hotel by zip code on Zimbio