HotelTonight released a mega-update of its “same-night-accommodation-booking” app. HotelTonight is not a new idea, but a good idea executed very well: You’re traveling in a strange city, and want to find a place to stay spontaneously for the night, you grab your phone and select the offer best suits you.
Just like airlines where they want to fill empty seats as much as possible, accommodation companies are constantly looking to do the same as long as it turns minimum profit. While Priceline and others like it have been brilliantly capitalizing on this niche by introducing “bidding,” one of the biggest deterrent for consumers was that it often cannot meet your spontaneous needs. When most businesses are trying to slap a mobile app onto their existing business model these days, this one seems so organic that there is no doubt it was built ground-up with this platform in mind.
Personally, I think it’d be kick-ass to see features like “Midnight Flash Sales!” where you can stumble out of a bar and turn on your phone to find that last-last minute booking at the lowest price. Think about it, it’s a win-win, granted you don’t throw up on their sheets, no? I say vodka-soaked money is still green as anyone else’s.