Close User Name Password
Login Register
Hotel stories straight to your inbox:

Tag: iPhone Hotel Apps View All Tags

Tags: / / / /

Will Hilton's iPhone App Really Be as Functional as They Promise?

November 9, 2009 at 9:32 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Hilton Hotels announced today that they would be unveiling not just one or two but seven iPhone apps in the next week or so for hotel guests to use. The apps will be brand-specific, i.e. Doubletree will have its own app, Conrad Hotels will have its own app and so will Embassy Suites. It's an app-travaganza! (Word is that an app for the Waldorf-Astoria collection is in the works as well.)

Now, you already know how we feel about iPhone apps. A few weeks ago, we rounded up all of the hotel iPhone apps that were currently available in the iTunes store. Most of these have little to add to the already popular app of sitting at your computer and booking a room online. But Hilton told USA Today that their apps will be different and will have more functions than just booking a room.

more ›

Tags: / / /

Priceline Launches an iPhone App That We May Actually Use

October 30, 2009 at 1:28 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

It's no secret that we love the bargain rates you can get on opaque booking sites like Hotwire and Priceline, even if it occasionally means a repeated stay at a hotel with flippant service. It's also no secret that we have been thoroughly disappointed with the iPhone apps that hotels put forth, with most of them not doing much beyond offering a mobile reservations site.

But Priceline's new Hotel Negotiator iPhone app is one that we may actually use. And it's not just because we want William Shatner on our iPhone.

Again, nothing totally new has been invented here. Basically, it's the Negotiator booking function on your iPhone. But the app does have GPS location allowing you to name your price at a hotel that's closest to your current location. It also displays the most recent average winning bid for the last three weeks for hotels in different neighborhoods at different star levels. And it's got a cool "fist bump" icon for when you want to Negotiate with Shatner.

Then again, we take our opaque booking process VERY seriously and we'd need to be able to cross-check sites like BetterBidding.com to see which hotel we might be booking. We love a good deal alright but we also like to know which hotel we'll be shacking up in.

Tags: / / / / / / / / /

For Better or Worse, These Hotels Have Realized 'There's An App For That'

October 13, 2009 at 5:43 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

We've been variously hot and cold about hotel chain iPhone apps. As a rule we embrace anything that can help us travel easier while already on the road, and we certainly embrace it if it lives in the App Store. But hotel apps fall into that dicey category where we're not sure that the bother that goes into them is worth whatever comes out.

Hotel iPhone applications generally help you find a nearby chain hotel and check in through your rewards account. Sometimes they may automatically dial customer service. All of which is great except people rarely book within just one chain. Price is usually the most important factor, which means using a search engine, and rarely is someone in so much of a pinch that exact GPS-pinpointed location matters.

As for checking in, well, we're not talking about flights. The hotel will still be there waiting when you arrive, and you'll still have to wait in line to get it. Checking in doesn't have to happen from the road.

Nonetheless, hotels aren't going to stop producing apps. It's just what companies do these days. So here's our roundup of the industry's current offerings. Feel free to sound off in the comments: would you make space on your beloved iPhone for something like this?

more ›

Tags: / / /

Omni Hotels Builds iPhone App To Help Customers Do...Umm...Stuff?

September 15, 2009 at 5:28 PM | by Omri | 1 Comment

If you're a travel company obsessed with new media technologies and you've already set up your Twitter feed and Facebook fan page, what's next? If you're Omni Hotels the answer is apparently to build an iPhone App.

The new app, available from the iTunes store, allows customers to do a bunch of things that are either already effortless or that phones seem bad at doing. But at least they'll be able to do them on their iPhones.

more ›

Tags: / / /

Choice Hotels' iPhone App Makes a Whole Lot of Sense

April 3, 2009 at 12:47 PM | by Jenna | 1 Comment

Choice Hotels' hot little new iPhone application, which, officially, is the first global hotel booking app launched by a hotel company, allows users to find and reserve rooms at any of the 5,800+ Choice hotels in the whole wide world — that's Comfort Inn, Clarion, MainStay Suites and other budget brands.

Totally appropriate? We think so, since those are the types of hotels we find ourselves booking on the fly and staying in on long-haul road trips and such; it's gonna be nice to be able to hop onto our iPhones wherever we are and find and book hotels close by.

more ›

Tags: / / / / /

The iPhone Application for Hotels.com Is Not All That

July 15, 2008 at 5:03 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

The new iPhone is out and it's gone totally application crazy by installing an Apps Store where you can download a ton of new applications for your phone. (Don't worry, old iPhone owners. The new applications are available once you do your 2.0 upgrade.)

Naturally, we had to check out the Travel category of apps where we found some pretty specific and pretty mainstream apps. You can read all about it over at Jaunted.

But on the hotel side, Hotels.com is one of the few hotel-centric apps available, along with TripAdvisor and booking site, Travelocity.

The good news? The application is free. The bad news? It kinda sucks. The application had 14 reviews as of this afternoon and they were all terrible.

more ›