The idea of “Best Apps for Hotels” is to provide you with the best apps across many categories, which will enhance your staying at the hotels. When it comes to traveling and the need for an Hotel app or a Hotel Room service app, it can be quite confusing on which app is right for you. It’s not like one has any control over the Hotels they stay at while traveling, as they are usually pre-selected and prepaid.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Hotels
Priceline
(Free, available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone)
Priceline is best known as a hotel bidding site. You name your price and desired star rating of the hotel, and you book the room without knowing the name of the hotel. First you choose the location and the star level, and then you enter your bid. I asked for a five-star hotel in Downtown D.C. near the White House. The median retail price for that kind of hotel, I was told, was $351. If I didn’t want to bid on a room, I could opt for an “Express Deal” instead for a similar hotel for $282 but I’d have to be comfortable with finding out the name of the hotel after booking. I decided to place a bid for $250. I got a room for a total of $296.81 with taxes and fees. But I would not find out the name of the hotel until I typed in my credit card number. If I didn’t feel comfortable with that, I could browse the day’s dozens of available hotel rooms, organized by proximity to where I was. The closest hotel to me, 0.4 miles away, was the four-star Omni Shoreham at $289. It had a guest score of 9.1 out of 10. The score, based on 132 reviews, was broken down into cleanliness, dining, staff and location. A photo gallery and list of amenities were also available.
Expedia
(Free, available on Android, iOS)
The app has a dedicated “Tonight” section. The first of dozens of options that were listed by proximity to me was the Windsor Inn, 0.7 miles away, for $129. I could sort the list of hotels by popularity, price, deals, rating and distance. Within the list, there were many rooms discounted for “tonight only.” The Embassy Row Hotel, for instance, was on sale for tonight only for $127, a 20% discount. When I sorted the hotel by distance, The Quincy hotel showed up at the top of the list as 0 miles away. The Quincy was actually not the closest hotel to my location. Neither was the Mayflower Renaissance, which also appeared as 0 miles away. But I did find the Omni Shoreham, for $269, less than its Priceline pricetag. When I clicked on the Omni Shoreham, there were icons showing me which amenities were available. I was also told that 94% of guests recommended it, and that it was based on 1,564 reviews. There was a map and detailed information about policies and fees.
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Orbitz
(Free, available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry)
When I clicked on the “Nearby & Available Tonight” section, dozens of choices came up. The Omni Shoreham appeared as a four-star hotel with a 4.2 out of 5 guest score and a pricetag of $289. When I clicked on it, I was actually told which room type I’d get: a Deluxe room with two double beds. I could click on “see all room types” to find out which other room types I could get for that price. What set Orbitz apart from the other apps was its elaborate guest reviews section. You can find out how the hotel fared with business travelers, couples, families, friends and singles, and how many of each gave their input. The guest score was based on room cleanliness, hotel staff, room comfort, location and value. You have the option of seeing reviews only by verified customers, and you can read them in English or Spanish. Head back to the search results, and you can sort the hotels by best bets nearby, lowest price, distance, star rating and hotel name. Narrow down your list even more by filtering the choices by amenities, areas, hotel chains, star rating and reviewer score.
Travelocity
(Free, available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone)
I clicked on the “Deals Tonight” section and got 125 results. I could sort the list by Travelocity Picks, prices, distance, ratings or alphabetical names. I could filter by searching for a particular hotel, star ratings, user ratings and amenities. The Omni Shoreham showed up as a four-star hotel with a guest score of 4.9 out of five based on 105 reviews. Pricetag: $269 for a deluxe room with a queen bed. I could browse photos and a list of amenities. If that price was too steep, I could go for a “Top Secret” hotel for up to 45% off per night. There was a four-star hotel near the US Capitol with a three out of five-star user rating for $114. I was told that hotels in the four-star category may include Hilton, Hyatt or Westin, but I wouldn’t know which one until I booked.
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JetSetter
(Free, available on iOS)
Jetsetter bills itself as a community of travelers that provides expert knowledge and exclusive deals on vacations. Its mobile app has a Jetsetter Now feature, which allows you to book same-night hotel stays for up to 60% off. Jetsetter says one of its correspondents has “personally visited and reviewed every experience.” Unlike the other apps, Jetsetter only offers deals in seven cities: New York, Miami, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. I clicked on Las Vegas and was told deals would appear at 3 p.m. EDT. I could get a notification once the deals were available. Deals for New York, Miami and Boston were live, however. So I clicked on New York and got four options. One of them was a “Downtown Contemporary” hotel for $210, down from $349. There were just five rooms left in that category. When I clicked on it, it said that 92% of guests from 368 stays would recommend it to a friend. Under the Review section, there was a list called “What We Love,” which included that it is “crammed with new-wave restaurants, homegrown boutiques, speakeasy-style cocktail bars and pumping music venues.” Under “What to Know,” it said I’d be e-mailed the name of the hotel as soon as I booked it.
Hotel Tonight
(Free, available on Android, iOS)
Daily deals don’t go live until noon local time. At noon, my iPhone beeped to say that today’s deals were ready. I got 16 options in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Kimpton’s Topaz Hotel in D.C. was on sale for $95, down from $219. Of 35 ratings, 94% gave it a thumps up. Hotel Tonight categorizes hotels as hip, luxe, solid, basic, charming or appropriate for high rollers. Click on the hotel, and you get a list of amenities, such as Wi-Fi and breakfast. There’s a “Why We Like It” section. One reason Topaz was liked is that it has a “mélange of coolly striped walls, funky patterns and vibrant shades of purple.” One drawback: You won’t get a guarantee on a specific room or bed type until check-in. But you definitely get one of the steepest discounts of any of the apps.
App to find cheap hotels last minute
HotelTonight (iPhone / Android)
HotelTonight’s modus operandi is very simple: they only offer hotels that they would like to stay in themselves. With 15,000 properties in over 35 countries across the Americas, Europe and Australia, they’re clearly striking a price-quality balance that consumers enjoy. Also, given that they were one of the first last minute hotel services on the block, they’ve had the time to iron out the kinks and offer pretty impressive service, which is put into overdrive through Aces, their in-app hotel concierge that acts like your own personal Siri. Aces’ chat function allows you to ask for things like advice on a great spot for dinner, extra amenities for your room and activities in the area. The Aces network extends to other HotelTonight users as well, creating a collaborative community with a mind-boggling response time of just 23 seconds.
PROMOTED
HotelQuickly (iPhone / Android)
HotelQuickly is all about size and speed. With over 20,000 hotels in its inventory spanning the Asia-Pacific region, the app really shines for travelers seeking a more flexible schedule. While HotelQuickly allows you to book up to a year in advance for rooms, the best hotel deals are generally be found the day of your stay, when the app prepares deals from all of its destinations and offers a lowest price guarantee. You can book a room until 4am for check-in that night, making it perfect if your flight arrives late or you’re in a bind.
One Night, Sixty SoHo
Photo: SIXTY SoHo
One Night (iPhone / Android)
“The night begins at 3pm.” At least that’s what One Night claims, their tagline directly supporting their model of only offering same-day bookings. The app’s beautifully image-driven interface and assortment of enticing luxury hotels bears a similar air to HotelTonight, though their offering of hotels is considerably more curated. What’s the reason for the stricter curation? One Night is operated by Standard International, the parent behind the trendy Standard Hotels, and their selection shows it. On top of all of the Standard properties, One Night has hand-selected other properties based on their approach to design and lifestyle experiences, resulting in user experience that’s deliberately limited yet highly appealing. If you like what you get at one One Night hotel – perhaps SIXTY SoHo, pictured above – you’ll probably like what you get from all of them. Though their properties are currently only available in Austin, LA, Miami and New York, One Night assures they’ll be adding more cities throughout the year.
Technology in the travel space changes rapidly, so expect these apps to pivot and adapt in the coming months and years. We’ve already seen HotelTonight, which launched by strictly offering same-night bookings (a la One Night) in 2011, expand to a seven-day booking window, a move that many hoteliers did not enjoy. Though One Night has explicitly said they have no plans to do the same, only time will tell whether they choose the same path of expansion.
One thing is for certain. As Airbnb’s continual growth adds mounting pressure to hotels around the world, creative solutions like these last minute booking apps will only continue to flourish.
Conclusion
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