Apps that can change the way you travel

Sponsored Content By Marriott Hotels

There are now hundreds of travel-related apps and many are becoming as valuable as a passport when it comes to travelling the world and enjoying all that your destination has to offer.

Plenty of ideas are currently in development –- think pool-side drink ordering, apps optimised for slow networks abroad, watching your home Netflix account in your hotel room –- but here's seven great apps that you can download right now.

Entrain

Jet lag is often responsible for wasting whole days of a holiday and leaving business trippers battling to concentrate and stay awake in crucial meetings. Created by clever bods at the University of Michigan, Entrain helps to adjust your body's natural circadian clock, which controls your physical, emotional and behavioural state in daylight and darkness. A few days before you're due to fly to a different time zone, it will tell you how to adjust your wake-up and sleep patterns to having you feeling like yourself a lot quicker.

Marriott Mobile App

Gone are the days where you frantically search your many travel bags for booking reservation details; if you are staying at a Marriott hotel, then this clever app is the perfect travel companion. It allows you to search and book a room worldwide, check-in from anywhere and know when your room is ready plus chat with Marriott host before, during or after your trip.

Google Translate

Although not a new name, Google Translate has now fully immersed itself in the world of Augmented Reality by boasting visual translation features. Hold your phone's camera up to a sign or menu in a restaurant, for example, and it will give you a real-time translation. You won't have to rinse your mobile data as you can download additional language packs before you set off.

Yahoo Radar

Launched recently, Yahoo Radar is a one-stop guide to your destination of choice, including restaurant recommendations, details on the local sights and popular attractions. It can also tap into your email inbox to retrieve travel information you booked in the past and help mould the app into your own personal assistant.

Gate Guru

Gate Guru keeps track of your current and future flights and delivers real-time updates relating to your journey, including security wait times, flight delays, gate changes and stop-over timings. It will also tell you what facilities to expect at your selected airport, personalised to the time of your arrival, and allows you to reserve a rental car.

OnTheSnow

One for winter sports lovers, OnTheSnow provides general weather, ski and snow conditions for more than 2,000 resorts around the world. There are also powder alerts that tell you when your favourite skiing resorts are enjoying some fresh powder, so you can book a last-minute sojourn on the slopes. It has a social element too, allowing users to post resort ratings and reviews and provide first-hand location reports.

Duolingo

Want to brush up on your rusty school-taught French or learn Russian from scratch? Duolingo is a free language app that takes you through a series of fun and competitive tasks to teach you to read, write and understand over twenty languages. If you're prepared to put in the time you might be able to break that language barrier in a matter of weeks.

Are you developing the next travel app?

If you are a tech start-up with a travel-related app in development, then Marriott TestBED, an accelerator programme is ideal. Marriott Hotels is looking for individuals or companies working on a technology, gadget or app aimed at enhancing or changing the way its hotel guests experience travel.

Those who are selected for the eight week programme will have access to mentoring that includes training and workshops delivered by professionals and potentially go on to launch their product or service at a Marriott Hotel.

Get all the details now at MarriottTestBED.com