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Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

press.airbnb.com

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Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#141

Post by phonon »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #86
jonknee wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean sometimes you just want to book a room and not have to file a claim to get a refund.

I'm familiar with the reservations systems the hotel brands use, and I have yet to come across a situation where the same hotel room is being offered for cheaper on a third party website. It's also their official policies, and as I said, it doesn't make sense to me that they would advertise that and then not set a simple technical limitation in their reservation system to prevent anyone from being lower than them. Ye…

I've found Priceline Express to be much cheaper than the direct price, for major chains and otherwise.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#143

Post by oh_sigh »

louisswiss wrote: post #55
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 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…

The one time I used hotel tonight, I was placed in a room that was literally the size of the full size bed + ~2' around 3 of the edges to navigate. The bathroom was almost larger than the room itself, and I had to store my luggage in there because there was no where else. I didn't mind too much, because I was only in the city for 1 night and mostly just slept there, but it was a ugly enough result to make me not want to use hotel tonight again.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#144

Post by johnxie »

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…

Nothing but positive experiences with the app. The price is usually around the same, but you can find smaller boutique hotels and hidden gems depending on where you are going.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#145

Post by jak92 »

Alex3917 wrote: post #106
jonknee wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it's because they aren't charging you the resort fee, the hotel does that. They itemize what you're actually paying for... Just like they mention, but don't charge you for parking ahead of time. That's up to the hotel. Anyway, the UI is different now and in big type it says "Due Now" with the resort fee mentioned under that. I personally didn't find it confusing before, but it's now quite clear.

> don't charge you for parking ahead of time. But hotels don't charge you a parking fee if you don't park there. Whereas they won't let you check into the hotel unless you pay the "resort fee". Again I have no problem with hotels charging part of the price upon check in, but it's super unethical for Hotel Tonight to: A) advertise hotels based on prices you can't actually get a room for B) do everything possible to hi…

what hotel charges a resort fee in the hundreds of dollars?

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#146

Post by jimmaswell »

princeofwands wrote: post #122
crushcrashcrush wrote: post #97

Fantastic product, super concerned about AirBnB acquisition - not because of what they'll do to the product, but I guarantee their partnerships with hotels and hotel groups will evaporate when contracts expire. A hotel working with Airbnb is like BlockBuster working with Netflix to share customer data. The hotels groups aren't as fucking stupid as Blockbuster was, though.

Also scary considering that if Airbnb does not like you, for whatever valid or invalid reason, you are not welcome in either local hosting or hotels worldwide. Given that Airbnb already declined hosting people they considered attending a lawful political rally (the "hateful nazi's of Charlottesville"), their increased reach concerns me.

It feels like we're heading towards (or already living in) China's social credit score system but administered by corporations.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#147

Post by throwaway-1283 »

crushcrashcrush wrote: post #97

Fantastic product, super concerned about AirBnB acquisition - not because of what they'll do to the product, but I guarantee their partnerships with hotels and hotel groups will evaporate when contracts expire. A hotel working with Airbnb is like BlockBuster working with Netflix to share customer data. The hotels groups aren't as fucking stupid as Blockbuster was, though.

Completely disagree with this analogy. Hotels have their place, and in so many ways they can be superior to a home rental.

I am the furthest thing from a luddite, but I personally prefer (as I know many others) hotels to Airbnb. There's a consistency to the hotel product that you can't get with Airbnb that I place a premium on, especially for short or last minute stays.

I'm also not really sure why Airbnb is considered a "tech" co in the same way FB or Netflix is. There's is no real time component to the app, and it isn't dealing with billions of people using the app at the same time like a FB or Google is. In the few times I've used Airbnb over the years I'm honestly surprised by how little "tech" really permeates my experience (i.e. its just a basic web app that facilitates the listing + payment transfer + messaging...once I've made the reservation and paid Airbnb's job is essentially done).

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#148

Post by whalesalad »

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 merely for the convenience, sorta like Uber/Lyft. I'm sure there are certain circumstances where some independent driver at SFO could get me to the city for less but I appreciate the consistency and convenience of the apps.

One time my wife and I had way too much to drink and surprisingly, even in the middle of nowhere Ohio (Cedar Point) I was able to book a place right near the park from my phone while waiting in line for a rollercoaster. Very rad.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#149

Post by chadash »

jimmy1 wrote: post #128
crushcrashcrush wrote: post #97

Fantastic product, super concerned about AirBnB acquisition - not because of what they'll do to the product, but I guarantee their partnerships with hotels and hotel groups will evaporate when contracts expire. A hotel working with Airbnb is like BlockBuster working with Netflix to share customer data. The hotels groups aren't as fucking stupid as Blockbuster was, though.

> A hotel working with Airbnb is like BlockBuster working with Netflix to share customer data. The hotels groups aren't as fucking stupid as Blockbuster was, though. I don't feel like this analogy applies, however. You can make the argument that hotels are better than AirBnB. It depends on what you value. If you are business traveler (or heck maybe even not), you probably prefer a hotel because you know you are getti…

I think this misses the point of the analogy. Airbnb and netflix are both new competitors to hotels and blockbuster respectively, which are (or were) the entrenched players. Whether hotels are better or worse than apartment rentals doesn't matter. The point is that generally, companies don't want to share data with or help out their competition.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#150

Post by elif »

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 count on it heavily. When I travel i don't make itineraries or plans, so that i am free to follow my desire.

If you're trying to find a comfortable and quiet bed after 2 flights and a train, airbnb, even with "book it now" is a nightmare waiting/organizing game, direct booking in foreign languages with different tax/fee structures can be really confusing.

For instance, in Paris I ended up in a $450/ni 5 star hotel, and was ~$30 away from playing french phone tag for a room in a shared airbnb apartment.

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