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Priceline's New Tool Speaks To The Google Maps-Addicted Masses

Can we just say that it's about frickin' time that Priceline, who's been somewhat ahead of the curve since touting their ahead-of-the-curveness through William Shatner, finally gathers their huge amount of hotel data to produce a spiffy map view of their hotels and current rates.

The new tool, unveiled just before the Fourth, features mapped-out and color-coded price quotes from hotels in cities from good old NYC all the way to Sharm El Sheikh. If you've used Google Maps before, this system will be second-nature to you. And if you're headed for a popular destination, the three search scales will majorly help narrow it down: by price range, by star rating, and by guest rating.

We've already had far too much fun using this thing to attempt finding $100-and-under hotels in Venice for this summer's Biennale art festival, and just from looking at the map we see it's possible in several areas of the city — or we could splurge to stay at the 4-star palace that is the Boscolo Bellini for $166 a night. Nonetheless, we're super impressed with it and wouldn't be surprised if the map functions ends up as a Priceline widget in the future.