One of the most agonizing aspects of booking travel online is the anxiety one feels just before clicking the “confirm” button. “Am I getting the BEST deal?” “Did I shop around to ensure this Internet special is indeed Special?” “What about the e-mail promotion that crossed my inbox last week – what was that website’s name?” Sound familiar?
A new market entrant, HotelsCombined.com, aims to take the angst out of booking hotel rooms online by searching over 30 top travel websites for the best hotel deal. From the home page, simply type in your city and preferred dates of travel, and HotelsCombined.com delivers rates from applicable hotels. You can sort by price, star rating, location or consumer rating. If you’re brand loyal, you can also search for your favorite hotel chains.
Web 2.0 Integration
The site uses consumer reviews to help guide travelers to properties that have favored well with past guests. This is in stark contrast to chain-run websites and stogy reviews by conventional online travel agent sites who seemingly never met a bedspread they didn’t like. It’s this sort of candid advice that will allow consumers to navigate through the clutter of inferior hotel properties.
There’s ample inventory (the site searches over 700,000 hotels) to satisfy nearly all tastes, and in our test drive, we found the site especially helpful in locating non-chain properties outside the U.S., with helpful maps, photo galleries, and reviews so you feel like you’re not stepping out on the window ledge by booking a property that doesn’t fly a name brand flag.
Check it out next time you’re shopping for hotels – www.hotelscombined.com
Courtesy of grouptravelblog.com
