Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight • Hacker News Board

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#131

Post by baby » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 8:59 PM UTC

HeavenFox wrote: post #31

Those who have used HotelTonight, can you comment on your experience? For me, there have been several rare occasions when I needed a room at last minute, but HotelTonight was never actually cheaper than any other aggregators or booking directly with the hotel. All being equal I vastly prefer booking direct so I get my points and elite benefits. I guess they have a fancy interface, and that's... it? Maybe it's market…

I've used it once in Cancun, and got a room way way cheaper than what booking.com and others were displaying.

It was pretty quick and easy.

The room and the hotel were meh.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#132

Post by Scoundreller » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 8:59 PM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #126

crushcrashcrush wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another thought (should I have edited my original post?) - this may have been a pure Customer List & Historical Data acquisition play. They may have purchased HT fully knowing that they'll lose hotel partners at contract expiration... could be next year or in 2025.

I mean, what kind of data could they really want? Lists of people who stay in hotels when they travel? Probably cheaper ways to get marketing lists like that. Their market is essentially anyone and everyone that travels. They probably want to put Airbnb listings as options on the hotels tonight app.

Targeting.

If you know someone goes to London every November, your targeting return just went up 100x.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#133

Post by jjeaff » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 8:59 PM UTC

rising-sky wrote: post #116

HeavenFox wrote: post #31

Those who have used HotelTonight, can you comment on your experience? For me, there have been several rare occasions when I needed a room at last minute, but HotelTonight was never actually cheaper than any other aggregators or booking directly with the hotel. All being equal I vastly prefer booking direct so I get my points and elite benefits. I guess they have a fancy interface, and that's... it? Maybe it's market…

Used HT since 2016. I think the biggest feature for me has always been the last minute convenience. It's true as other's have mentioned that the pricing has mostly reached an equilibrium with competitors but they still offer decent discounts based on several factors including points like your current location while you have the app open. I usually open the app before I get on a flight to see what's available, then wh…

I travel a lot. And there is no hotel I am aware of that requires you to physically check out at the front desk. Unless they have old school keys, you just leave. No perks program needed.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#134

Post by redunculous5 » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 8:59 PM UTC

Joe-Z wrote: post #109

csallen wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Post I saw from GP didn't give any reasoning whatsoever. Merely said, "I loathe Airbnb." Perhaps it was edited after I saw it and before you did?

Maybe. I'm pretty sure I remember the "can't use HotelTonight anymore"-bit. Well, too bad we deleted this information because someone was uncomfortable with someone else's opinion...

Apparently dang doesn't like my comment and thinks its 'unsubstantive' but doesn't say why and keeps flagging my replies. I guess a negative opinion of Airbnb doesn't fly here. No doubt this will be flagged too.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#135

Post by OkGoDoIt » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 9:01 PM UTC

fady wrote: post #96

HeavenFox wrote: post #31

Those who have used HotelTonight, can you comment on your experience? For me, there have been several rare occasions when I needed a room at last minute, but HotelTonight was never actually cheaper than any other aggregators or booking directly with the hotel. All being equal I vastly prefer booking direct so I get my points and elite benefits. I guess they have a fancy interface, and that's... it? Maybe it's market…

Amazing app. I was in Bordeaux, having dinner, time slipped away, drank too much...what to do? HotelTonight. I would find something, book it, and be done. Back to dinner. I did this 7 different times all around France. It was a perfect experience. The fact that the UI/UX makes super duper easy to view, book, set, & forget. I think its better than opening a chrome tab or any other mobile app thus far. Don't even try t…

That aspect never occurred to me since their stated value proposition was always super cheap last minute deals. But their prices were never particularly great so it kind of failed at that one job. If it had been positioned more of a super-simple Uber for hotel rooms then maybe I would’ve approached it from a different angle and not been so disappointed.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#136

Post by jjeaff » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 9:01 PM UTC

HeavenFox wrote: post #31

Those who have used HotelTonight, can you comment on your experience? For me, there have been several rare occasions when I needed a room at last minute, but HotelTonight was never actually cheaper than any other aggregators or booking directly with the hotel. All being equal I vastly prefer booking direct so I get my points and elite benefits. I guess they have a fancy interface, and that's... it? Maybe it's market…

You still get your perks and points (at least with Marriott and Hilton) even when you don't book direct. You just need to give the clerk your member number when you check in. This also includes bargain sites like hotwire.com

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#137

Post by louisswiss » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 9:04 PM UTC

gradys wrote: post #127

louisswiss wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use it a lot (several times each month for the past ~3 years). I absolutely love it. - You can trust that the hotels are good enough. Never had a bad experience - Takes - They have their own rewards system which really starts to add up the more you use it - They may never give you the absolute cheapest option available in that city for that night, but you'll get an amazing deal on a higher-quality hotel - My experi…

Do you use it even if you plan the trip well in advance? Have you ever run into problems finding a room or being forced to take a room in a distant part of town?

> Do you use it even if you plan the trip well in advance?

Yes, often. I'll check there first at least.

If it's a special occasion (Valentine's Day for example) I'll probably use another booking platform.

> Have you ever run into problems finding a room or being forced to take a room in a distant part of town?

Yes, never been worse than the main booking sites though. I was in SF at the same time as the Salesforce conference was taking place a few years back, for example. Nothing available anywhere.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#138

Post by pfranz » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 9:04 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #56

eiopa wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My personal experience with Airbnb is that they simply don't know how to do support. Even basic issues take multiple days to resolve, and usually involve many phone calls. HotelTonight has been awesome there. You can get a representative on live chat and resolve most issues while you're still en-route from the airport. On one hand, I am hopeful Airbnb will be able to learn from HotelTonight, but in reality, it seems…

Or I book with a hotel directly and I (essentially) never have issues that require me to deal with the corporate support line. I realize I’m not as price sensitive as some but I mostly want to minimize lodging hassle when I travel.

I've had HotelTonight installed on my phone for years, but have only had to use it once or twice. I only travel a few times a year and tend to use it when my plans fall through. I generally book ahead of time, often with the hotel directly.

The most obvious example I had using it was when I missed a flight and it was rebooked for the next morning. I was tired and I remember getting in a cab/Uber and finding out the friend who dropped me off wasn't able to let me crash there for the night. Before we had left the airport I had booked a room nearby and could direct the driver there. The hotel was nice. I might have had to wait 10m for the hotel to receive a fax confirming my booking (faxing reservations seems to be pretty common with a lot of hotels).

There's no way I could have done that booking directly. It would have taken me 10x as long to figure out which hotels were nearby, near my cost, what rooms were available, and check out. I do those things when booking ahead of time, but they're also much harder to do on a phone.

I'll be bummed if it I lose this contingency.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#139

Post by jjeaff » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 9:04 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #82

3into10power5 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true. I recently tried booking a flight on Cathay Pacific. Their price was $50 more than Kayak/Orbitz. I asked how come? They said, Kayak/Orbitz buy in bulk from Cathay Pacific so, they offer some discounts sometimes. For cathay pacific, they guaranteed income, whether or not tickets are sold.

chrisseaton specifically mentioned "every major hotel chain", which is true. See my other comment listing all the websites for all the big (American) brands showing they promise the cheapest prices on their own websites. Edit: I'm going to have to retract my comments about cheapest price being on official hotel brand websites. I did a cursory search and find many cheaper options on Hotel Tonight (and expedia) for sam…

But the hotel websites aren't the cheapest prices. They get around it by selling the discount rooms through sites like hotwire or Priceline. So you can't actually see the name of the hotel until checkout. I frequently get cheaper prices than the hotel site by going through hotwire.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#140

Post by lotsofpulp » Thu, Mar 07, 2019, 9:07 PM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #139

lotsofpulp wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

chrisseaton specifically mentioned "every major hotel chain", which is true. See my other comment listing all the websites for all the big (American) brands showing they promise the cheapest prices on their own websites. Edit: I'm going to have to retract my comments about cheapest price being on official hotel brand websites. I did a cursory search and find many cheaper options on Hotel Tonight (and expedia) for sam…

But the hotel websites aren't the cheapest prices. They get around it by selling the discount rooms through sites like hotwire or Priceline. So you can't actually see the name of the hotel until checkout. I frequently get cheaper prices than the hotel site by going through hotwire.

That's called opaque pricing, and that's different since you are getting a discount in exchange for not knowing which specific hotel you are getting to stay at so it's not exactly comparable to going to your preferred hotel's website and choosing the room you want. However, as I have edited into my prior comments, I am finding that the best price guarantees may not apply on the day of arrival, and third party websites are evidently cheaper than hotel websites. Seems like a shortsighted move since now I don't trust the hotel website to have the cheapest price, so I'll go via third party websites and hotels have to pay commission.