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Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

press.airbnb.com

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Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#291

Post by dymk »

stef25 wrote: post #229

What's amazing at Airbnb is their ability to make places look so much nicer in the pictures than what they look like in reality. After staying in a crack house in Barcelona, a dirty dark hole in Manhattan, a "private" villa in France where the owner was screwing an endless stream of boyfriends behind the flimsy kitchen door at 10AM, a thermite infested apartment in Sicily with horrid beds, I still feel like a total a…

> What's amazing at Airbnb is their ability to make places look so much nicer in the pictures than what they look like in reality.

But hotels do the exact same thing. I don't see how that's super incredible?

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#292

Post by pfranz »

ghaff wrote: post #279
pfranz wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 f…

Fax? Seriously? I haven’t used a fax with a hotel in decades. I’d probably try one or two major chain apps and, failing that, Expedia or booking.com. Perhaps HotelTonight has more options for last minute but there are plenty of other sites that let me book quickly online.

:shrug: I've booked quite a few times in various ways online and it seems fairly common for the hotel to receive the booking via fax--at hotels big and small. I'm pretty sure I've had this happen when booking through the chain's own booking site. If you book ahead of time it probably happens without you knowing all the time.

I just pulled up the reservation. It was in 2013 to a Fairfield/Marriott 3 miles from the airport.

For an example of the types of hotels, the other two bookings I've made were to Sonesta ES Suites in 2014 (during a surprise blizzard) and a Four Points/Sheraton in 2015.

If I had status or points I'd probably check out that chain first. Since I don't, sticking with a single chain isn't the most convenient or the cheapest.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#293

Post by ghaff »

secabeen wrote: post #287
ghaff wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure mileages vary. Long term stay places like Residence Inn can provide many of those amenities though

Yeah, those are options. They usually aren't very well located, though. The hotel business is largely focused on the business traveler as their primary market. They only really build for pleasure-travel in non-business markets (see all the Condos available on Maui, or the Hyatt House hotels in Anaheim and Orlando, which have bunk-bed rooms for kids, etc.) AirBNB fell into serving this market, and it's served them pre…

I find the nominally long stay brands are increasingly common even in cities. On the other hand, other than a kitchen, they’re not necessarily that spacious compared to a standard hotel room even if they have a kitchenette. But I’m staying at one in downtown Chicago this week and it was cheaper than other hotel options.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#294

Post by Jd »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #285
stef25 wrote: post #229

What's amazing at Airbnb is their ability to make places look so much nicer in the pictures than what they look like in reality. After staying in a crack house in Barcelona, a dirty dark hole in Manhattan, a "private" villa in France where the owner was screwing an endless stream of boyfriends behind the flimsy kitchen door at 10AM, a thermite infested apartment in Sicily with horrid beds, I still feel like a total a…

I can't stand the review inflation. You're totally disincentivized from leaving an honest review because of the counter review or because you somehow feel like the dick, and I'm sure AirBnB loves it. A place that turns out to be right on the noisy highway won't have a single review that points this out. Only "great for early risers!"

I tried leaving a negative review once. It was a disaster. I stopped using Airbnb. I started using HotelTonight. Soon it looks like I might have to consider something else.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#295

Post by oh_sigh »

ghaff wrote: post #225
oh_sigh wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chelsea, but the NYC one, not the London one.

Same question applies. By point of comparison im rarely paying much under $300/night and often more in Manhattan.

Yeah, it was around 250. But I assumed that with hotel tonight you were getting a good deal for using otherwise unused inventory, not getting essentially market rate for a hotel

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#296

Post by sergiotapia »

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 it in 5 different occasions throughout a 2 year timespan, never found a deal that was cheaper than just booking directly with the hotel.

I'm in Miami/Orlando.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#297

Post by linuxftw »

manigandham wrote: post #115
linuxftw wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what priceline et al have been advertising for two decades.

Last minute? That was HT's original thing, same day bookings in an easy app.

No, it wasn't there original thing. Last minute hotel deals have been a thing for decades online. Oh, they have an app? That doesn't make their ideal original, nor were they the first to book 'last minute deals' on an app anyway.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#298

Post by linuxftw »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #104
jonknee wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well literally their entire pitch is that you book last minute and get savings. It would be weird if it wasn't at a discount... I just pulled it up for Seattle and the Kimpton Monaco is up for $115, $140 after taxes and fees. From the Kimpton website it's $208 or $264 after taxes and fees. So about half off, pretty good deal! This was just the first one in the list, there may be better deals.

I am surprised to see that Hotel Tonight is cheaper than the ihg.com Kimpton website. Although, I wonder if IHG leaves themselves wiggle room to offer different pricing to different channels by saying their price guarantee doesn't apply within 24 hours of checkin: 5. Find a Lower Rate. If you find a lower rate on an eligible, non-IHG website within 24 hours of making your reservation on the IHG direct channel, and it…

Kimpton charges an additional 'resort fee' which is collected directly by the 'resort'. If you book direct, it's quite possible this is included in their price, but IDK.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#299

Post by mrcodedude »

louisswiss wrote: post #196
mrcodedude wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"My experience using other booking sites for 'cheap deals' has been that you're often treated as a lower-tier customer, for example being given worse rooms (ground floor, no windows etc). The HotelTonight experience is the opposite. ~25% of the time, I receive a room upgrade without asking" They're all OTAs. You're just as likely to get a "good" room with HotelTonight as you would with Priceline, Hotwire, etc. The qu…

> You're just as likely to get a "good" room with HotelTonight as you would with Priceline, Hotwire, etc. Can't speak for every hotel (obviously), but I know for a fact this isn't true for several. Hotels always have better and worse rooms - it's very rare to have a building where there isn't a loud/dark/musty room or two. In most hotels where I know a member of staff, they freely admit to having several 'worse' room…

> In most hotels where I know a member of staff, they freely admit to having several 'worse' rooms which are given to booking.com/priceline etc guests first, regardless of availability.

You don't think Hotel Tonight is lumped in there with booking.com and Priceline? They're all OTAs. They're all treated the same.

Re: Airbnb to Acquire HotelTonight

#300

Post by stephencoyner »

throwaway-1283 wrote: post #147
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 consider…

I couldn't agree with this more. Especially for business travel where the goal is to get in, have your meetings and get out, you can't beat a hotel.

Although some Airbnbs may beat a hotel in every way, consistency holds true value in certain situations.

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