(EDIT: Whilst originally published in 2014, the £15 sign-up code below still works fine!)
I have written before about HotelTonight, an iOS, Android and Windows Phone app which lets you book hotels for the same day only in various cities around the world.
The company is expanding quickly throughout the UK. Cardiff, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Derby, Dover and Aberdeen have recently been added, taking the number of UK cities to 29. Globally the company is operating in over 700 cities.
This week, the company unveiled a major strategic change. You can now book a hotel up to 7 nights in advance. You no longer need to book on the day of arrival.
This is a major change and, in my mind, a major improvement. Being able to book a few days in advance gives you added confidence that you will know where you are staying. And, because you can book before you start your trip, it is easier to check out reviews and the location of the Hotels Tonight options to be sure they are suitable for you.
If you’ve never tried it, they are running a great promotion:
Download Hotel Tonight onto your iPhone, Android or Windows phone and use promotional code RBURGESS15 on the sign-up screen. You will receive £15 of credit. (This is my refer-a-friend link, although I won’t earn anything unless you make a booking. There is no better sign-up deal available as far as I know.)
£15 credit will not sound a lot if you are booking a hotel in London. However, elsewhere in the UK, it could be equivalent to a 30% discount.
In Birmingham on Tuesday, for example, they had the Copthorne for £54. This would have been £39 after your £15 sign-up bonus. In Liverpool they had the well regarded Hope Street Hotel for £79, which would have come down to £64.
You can download the HotelTonight app from your local app store and claim your £15 sign-up credit with code RBURGESS15.
About Head for Points
I had to repost this because it failed to trigger the emails and social media links first time around. Apologies to the two comments which got lost.
I can see why they’d want to expand to further in advance to attract more users, however I can’t see what USP they have for bookings in the last week? Are they really going to be cheaper than hotels directly, or other comparison services that far ahead?
The market for people booking for hotel deals at the last minute on the day of booking is a niche one, but it’s a niche one that nobody else was specialised in serving. It’ll be a shame if that aspect of the business gets marginalised.
Not impressed. Tried for next week, and got one hotel within 50 miles of cardiff, and not cheap either.
Bookings on an app only? Are they mad?
When it was a ‘same day’ product, having it just app based made sense since you were booking on the go. It makes less sense if you are booking a week in advance.
$81m in VC money can’t be wrong can it ? … [ Obviously it quite probably can .. I couldn’t believe they’d raised this amount of cash either ]
Well that app that only lets you send the message “yo!” to people got $1.5m in funding!
600%.
I did think about this, honestly! Whilst – technically – you are correct, it didn’t make as good a headline ….
As a tip though, don’t stay at the Copthorne Hotel in Birmingham. Ever.