HotelTonight ‘the biggest innovation in online hotel booking since online hotel booking’ ?

ByThe Skeptical Traveler

At least this is what comes up after a search on Google.

Alt text: A screenshot of a Google search results page for the query "hoteltonight." The top result is a link to the website "Hotel Tonight" with the text "Hotel Tonight - Book a Hotel Tonight" in purple, followed by the URL "www.hoteltonight.com" in green, and a description that reads "The biggest innovation in online hotel booking since online hotel booking." The search bar at the top shows the query "hoteltonight," and there is a Google Doodle image above the search bar. The page indicates there are about 1,200,000 results in 0.34 seconds.

HotelTonight is an hotel booking app, designed for same-day bookings and promises savings up to 70 percent off. I don’t know about the biggest innovation but I was curious whether it is the best app to use for last minute (literally) hotel booking.

So I have compared HotelTonight with the Expedia and Priceline apps and roomkey.com (“Founded by a group of leading hotel companies, Room Key’s mission is simple: offer travelers direct access to a broad network of hotels around the globe, ..”) . Roomkey is an interesting concept, and I will write about it in a future post. They don’t have an app yet (how difficult would it be? they seem to have the resources) but they have poetry.

The image contains a promotional text for a hotel booking service called "Room Key." The text reads: "Search. Book. Relax. Finding the perfect hotel. It's not about luck. Or science. Or karma. It's simply knowing the perfect place to look. A place where quality trumps quantity. A place where transparency is everywhere, and fees—nowhere. A place where you can search easily, book directly and plan confidently. Welcome to Room key Here, your target isn't every hotel, just the right hotel. Here, you benefit from the combined experience of the world's best hoteliers. Here, you have the choice of thousands of high-quality properties. But we do the work to help you choose just the right one. In the right place. At the right price. Because this experience isn't about searching. Or deciphering. Or worrying. It's about searching, booking and relaxing. Which may make Room Key... the greatest find of all." The text is presented on a white background with a partially visible website interface in the background.

But I have started to digress, let’s go back to the price comparison. I searched for a room in downtown Vancouver, and no other criteria has been used (stars, ratings, etc., I suppose when one has to book last-minute, any hotel – to a certain degree – would do). And without further ado: only once did HotelTonight offer the best price, and there was a tie between Priceline and Roomkey (5 days each with the best price).

However, HotelTonight offered a better price for the same hotel and perhaps this is the discount up to 70% they promise. I assume when HotelTonight makes a deal with a hotel they (i.e. the hotels) have to offer them the best price and by a quite sizeable margin.
Example:
Friday 27 July, The Listel Hotel
HotelTonight – $165
Expedia – $199
Priceline – $196

Sunday 29 July, Moda Hotel
HotelTonight – $119
Expedia – $169
Priceline – $168

Monday 30 July, Granville Island Hotel
HotelTonight – $159
Priceline- $208

Of course comparing the same hotel, ‘our’ app (bad literary style to repeat the same word one after each other so this is the reason I didn’t use HotelTonight) comes on top.
“In the seven instances HotelTonight competed with Expedia, it beat Expedia six times and tied once. In the eight times HotelTonight competed with the hotels’ own websites, it beat them seven times and lost once ..”, from an ABC News page ‘Using HotelTonight For a Hotel Tonight’.

So I fail to see what’s so revolutionary about this app. And how many people book on the same day they need a hotel room? The only firsthand case I know is of my work colleagues who got their flights cancelled because of bad weather and they had to find a hotel room; they would have cared less about the price as they were going to be reimbursed anyway.
And we might have the odd case of a millionaire who does this kind of things and again he would care less of the price and go to the most expensive available hotel. 

However, who am I to say this? Hotel Tonight is backed by top investors (Battery Ventures, Accel Partners and First Round Capital). Everyone who works there, even if they have not slept and eaten for 3 days, is still 10 times smarter than me (100 times under the same circumstances). Accel for example invested in Facebook, made lots of money with the IPO, and what about me, I lost money as I bought the IPO.

So they must know something I don’t.

Date App Hotel Price Cheapest
Thursday 19 July HotelTonight Sylvia 145 Roomkey
    Listel 145  
  Expedia Howard Johnson 129  
  Priceline Catherine’s Bed & Breakfast 78  
    Ramada Inn & Suites 123  
  Roomkey Budget Inn Patricia 69  
         
Friday 20 July HotelTonight Quality Hotel Inn False Creek 119 Priceline
  Expedia Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown 129  
  Priceline Budget Inn Patricia 59  
    Hotel Ambassador 98  
    Quality Hotel Inn False Creek 128  
  Roomkey Budget Inn Patricia 121  
         
Saturday 21 July HotelTonight Granville Island Hotel 209 Priceline
  Expedia Robsonstrasse Hotel 159  
  Priceline The Kingston Hotel 74  
    English Bay Hotel 113  
    Granville Island Hotel 261  
  Roomkey Budget Inn Patricia 121  
         
Sunday 22 July HotelTonight Ramada Inn Downtown 99 Roomkey
    Moda Hotel 119  
  Expedia Ramada Inn and Suites 104  
    Moda Hotel 151  
  Priceline Victorian Hotel 78  
    The Buchan Hotel 93  
    Moda Hotel 149  
  Roomkey Budget Inn Patricia 69  
         
Monday 23 July HotelTonight Quality Hotel Inn False Creek 129 Roomkey
    Sylvia Hotel 135  
    The Listel Hotel 139  
  Expedia Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown 89  
    Sylvia Hotel 209  
    The Listel Hotel 189  
    Quality Hotel Inn False Creek 149  
  Priceline The Kingston Hotel 74  
    Quality Hotel Inn False Creek 147  
    The Listel Hotel 186  
  Roomkey Budget Inn Patricia 69  
         
Thursday 26 July HotelTonight Quality Hotel Inn False Creek 109 Priceline
  Expedia Best Western Plus 130  
  Priceline Hotel Ambassador 77  
    Quality Hotel Inn False Creek 136  
  Roomkey Holiday Inn VANCOUVER-CENTRE (BROADWAY) 192  
         
Friday 27 July HotelTonight Ramada Inn Downtown 79 HotelTonight
    The Listel Hotel 165  
  Expedia Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown 129  
    The Listel Hotel 199  
  Priceline Catherine’s Bed & Breakfast 98  
    The Listel Hotel 196  
  Roomkey Best Western Plus 170  
         
Saturday 28 July HotelTonight sold out at 9:29 pm   Priceline
  Expedia Holiday Inn Hotel 220  
  Priceline Howard Johnson Plaza 128  
  Roomkey The Hotel at Terminal City Club Vancouver 264  
         
Sunday 29 July HotelTonight Moda Hotel 119 Roomkey
    Granville Island Hotel 179  
  Expedia Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown 99  
    Moda Hotel 169  
  Priceline Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown 88  
    Moda Hotel 168  
    Granville Island Hotel 244  
  Roomkey Budget Inn Patricia 70  
         
Monday 30 July HotelTonight Ramada Inn Downtown 109 Priceline
    Granville Island Hotel 159  
  Expedia Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown 99  
  Priceline Catherine’s Bed & Breakfast 78  
    Granville Island Hotel 208  
  Roomkey Days Inn – Vnacouver Metro 101  
         
Tuesday 31 July HotelTonight Moda Hotel 119 Roomkey
  Expedia Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown 99  
  Priceline Catherine’s Bed & Breakfast 78  
  Roomkey Budget Inn Patricia 69  

Monday 30th of July

HotelTonightThe image is a screenshot of a mobile app displaying hotel options in Vancouver. The top section shows "Granville Island Hotel" with a price of $159 for tonight, marked down from $245, and labeled as "SOLID" for a stay of 1-4 nights. The middle section shows "Pinnacle Hotel at the..." with a price of $139 for tonight, marked down from $199, and labeled as "LUXE" for a stay of 1-2 nights. The bottom section shows "Ramada Inn Downtown" with a price of $109 for tonight, marked down from $149, and labeled as "SOLID" for a stay of 1-2 nights. The app interface includes navigation options at the bottom for Hotels, Bookings, Invite, Credits, and Options. The status bar at the top shows the carrier "Fido," 3G signal, time as 6:43 PM, and battery at 80%.

ExpediaA smartphone screen displays a hotel booking app showing a list of hotels in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, for the dates 30 July to 31 July. The list includes: 1. Howard Johnson Hotel from $99 per night, rated 2.5 stars, located 0.6 km away. 2. The Greenbrier Hotel from $129 per night, rated 3.5 stars, located 0.6 km away. 3. Quality Hotel Vancouver from $129 per night, rated 4 stars, located 0.8 km away. 4. Executive Hotel Vintage Park from $134 per night (originally $179, with a 25% discount), rated 4 stars, located 0.9 km away. The app interface includes options to sort and filter the results. The phone's status bar shows the time as 6:43 PM, the carrier as Fido, and the battery level at 79%.

 

PricelineA mobile phone screen displaying a hotel booking app. The app shows three hotel options in Vancouver, BC, Canada for the dates Monday, July 30 to Tuesday, July 31, with one room selected. The hotels listed are: 1. Catherine's Bed & Breakfast with a guest score of 2.7 and a price of $78 USD per night. 2. Budget Inn Patricia Hotel with a guest score of 5.4 and a price of $89 USD per night. 3. The Buchan Hotel with a guest score of 7.8 and a price of $94 USD per night. Each listing includes a small image of the hotel, the name, location, guest score, price per night, and a note that only one room is left. The app interface includes options for "Menu," "Filter," "Negotiate," "Radar," and "Browse" at the bottom. The phone shows a signal strength of 3G, the time as 6:46 PM, and a battery level of 77%.

Roomkey

The image is a list of five hotels in Vancouver, each with a ranking, name, TripAdvisor review count, price per night, and a booking button. The hotels listed are: 1. Days Inn - Vancouver Metro: 163 reviews, $89 per night, $101 estimated total, with a "Book at Days Inn" button. 2. Budget Inn Patricia: 139 reviews, $60 per night, $70 estimated total, with a "Book it" button. 3. Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown: 242 reviews, $99 per night, $113 estimated total, with a "Book at Howard Johnson" button. 4. Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel Vancouver: 64 reviews, $109 per night, $124 estimated total, with a "Book at Howard Johnson" button. 5. BEST WESTERN PLUS Chateau Granville: 222 reviews, $121 per night, $138 estimated total, with a "Book at Best Western" button. Each hotel entry includes a small image of the hotel and a TripAdvisor rating icon.

5 Comments

  1. “However, HotelTonight offered a better price for the same hotel and perhaps this is the discount up to 70% they promise…”

    Exactly this. Theoretically, HT should compete on price (mapping their ratings to comparable star ratings) with hotwire/priceline opaque bookings made within 3 or so days of arrival, with the obvious advantage of knowing the hotel. HT might even win (vs. a hotwire/priceline booking that turns out to be the same hotel).

    So, comparing the cheapest hotel available on HT with the cheapest on hotwire/priceline/etc isn’t particularly useful — if HT is ever cheapest overall, that’s accidental and particularly fortunate for them. But they should always offer a decent discount on the hotels they list, with some variance for room availability.

    There’s clearly a market for HT — people who refuse to use hotwire et al unless they can deduce the hidden hotel before booking and that aren’t bound to loyalty programs. Even the latter category has a price delta at which it often ceases to matter.

    A comparison of HT rates against reported successful priceline bids and hotwire bookings for the same hotel in similar demand periods would be interesting. Similarly, a same-hotel comparison against various publicly-available discounted rates on hotel chain websites would be quite revealing.

  2. That’s a good price for the Granville Island, but I still prefer the Hyatt for its central location. Close to shopping, waterfront, and public transit to the airport.

  3. “And how many people book on the same day they need a hotel room?”
    Normally, I wouldn’t think this happens a lot, but next week I’m driving cross country and will need to find a hotel wherever we are when we get tired of driving. I was considering downloading and using this app for this reason, but based on your review I’m questioning whether it’s worth it.

  4. Tracy, actually you should download it, it is free after all. Who knows, perhaps the respective day they have the best deal (very unlikely, but they might). It wouldn’t take too much time to use it and actually first time I think they give a $25 credit, not so sure though.

  5. Dear Cynical Traveler: This is Jared Simon, COO of HotelTonight.  Where’s the fun (or innovation) in forcing our customers to dig through a long list of hotels every day to find the one they want for that night?  We think that’s a real pain, so we work hard to curate our hotels, removing those that have poor reviews or which are in sketchy locations, so that it’s easy for our customers to find an amazing hotel very quickly.  As a result, the grungiest (and often cheapest) hotels won’t be on our app.  However, as Nik notes above, for those hotels that make the grade, the best rate can always be found on HotelTonight and our customers can trust that they’ll have a great experience.  Now that’s innovative!

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