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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?

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New iPhone App Caters to the "Inn" Crowd

December 5, 2008 at 9:29 AM | by KatieK | 1 Comment

Something about trad B&Bs makes us assume they’re all living in a bit of a time warp--you know, a simpler time before modern necessities like the “Internet” and, god forbid, “the iPhone.” (We blame their propensity for antiques and creaky stairs.)

But you know what happens when you assume. And to prove just how fancy and 2.0 B&Bs and country inns can be, American Historic Inns and iLoveInns.com this week announced a brand-new iPhone application called InnTouch. And it sounds pretty awesome. The free application offers travelers access to iLoveInn’s more than 3,500 listings of inns and small hotels in North America (with a coverage of nearly 2,000 cities).

The mobile guide can search for inns near a traveler’s current location using GPS, then browse nearby B&Bs and boutique inns by reading descriptions, detailed info, and up to 10 photos per property. Plus, more than 1,200 recipes of favorite B&B dishes are highlighted. Probably not all that useful to a traveler on the road, but it’s still an awfully fun feature (and just writing about it gives us a hankering for B&B classics like homemade blueberry French toast).

Once travelers have browsed the database to pick their perfect inn, they can also use the app to, you know, call the inn to book a reservation or ask questions.

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iPhone Hotel Review at Malibu Beach Inn

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 22878 Pacific Coast Highway [map], Malibu, CA, United States, 90265
October 22, 2008 at 12:59 PM | by juliana | 6 Comments

When we found out that The Malibu Beach Inn was running the world's first iPhone guest management system, Hotel Evolution, naturally we had to go and try it out.

Despite the hotel's website telling us that rooms were a steep $385 a night (on a Tuesday in a recession), we actually found a rate of $258 within the site. We clicked on one of their promotions which was offering a room and dinner for select days only. Our day happened to be a select day.

So a few hours later we were checking into the Malibu Beach Inn on PCH. At check-in, we casually placed our iPhone on the counter, hoping the front desk clerk would notice it and ask us if we wanted to try the Hotel Evolution program. He did not. He was gracious in every other respect however.

We made our way up to the room and chilled for a bit, ordering that dinner as promised, in-room. As we waited, we looked around for any notes about the Hotel Evolution application. But there were none. So once we ate, we headed down to the front desk to inquire.

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