Hotel Blogs by Guillaume Thevenot

Q1 Results for 2 big OTAs

If you are interested to hear the latest financials results and development with 2 major OTAs, you can listen the calls here for Orbitz (2nd chart) and here for Priceline (1st chart).

Hotels.com new header

I have noticed that Hotels.com header has a "no cancellation fees" attached to it. Quite new for a merchant model OTA.

Superbreak changes its logo and visual identity

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The leading UK short break online agent Superbreak (part of the group Holidaybreak plc) has recently changed its logo and brand identity. This niche operator in the travel industry has been trading for the past 20 years and drives around 1.5 million customers travellers every year. This logo gives a bit of freshness in the image of this  important operator.

Hotels.com and its smart TV commercial

Hotels.com has released its latest US TV commercial around the concept of the guest getting a prefered treatment in case he writes a review of his hotel stay...clever. I have also noticed the logo has changed and is very different from the European one.

Gone are the days where customers coming from OTAs were having not necessary a great room when checking at the hotel...because of the price they paid...

HotelClub and its new advertising campaign in London

Whilst taking The Tube (London Underground) this morning, I have taken a quick picture of the new ad from HotelClub, the online booking agent specialist. I couldn't help noticing that the logo has changed a bit as well.

The new strapline is "We are very competitive in beds".

My feedback: it's clever, funny and a bit audacious. Maybe the TV ad will be more suggestive. I haven't seen any yet.

Technorati Tags: hotelclub, hotelclub.co.uk, advertising

Who has topped the FastTrack100 this year?

Every year, the Sunday Times publishes the Fast Track 100 which lists the Britain's fastest growing private companies in terms of annual sales growth. This year, the newspaper has elected the online travel company Travel Republic the fastest company with 284% growth (2007 vs. 2006). Paul Furner - Travel Republic CEO - and his team must be very proud and rightly so. Not many travel related companies has made the 100. But being Number 1 is quite an extraordinary achievement. The feeling must be very similar of what I have experienced with my previous employer - Active Hotels - when our CEO won the Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003.

Travel Republic has been founded in 2003 and currently operates with 150 staff employees. They claim to book more than 1M passenger per year and define their sales based on the commission they earn from from hotels and airlines each time as booking is made (the famous popular commissionable model that a lot of OTAs envy to adopt vs. merchant). The company has grown from £258,000 annual sales in 2004 to £14.6m in 2007. Incredible.

Another travel related company who has made the list is Alpha Rooms - one of the long standing bed bank that travel agents use to package holidays for they customers. Alpha Rooms with their CEO Jason Frey has been ranked #20 with annual sales of 121%. Alpha Rooms claims to make 150,000 bookings per year with a portfolio of 30,000 contracted hotels. They sales revenue has grown up to £5.5m in 2006.

This is the first time a travel business has topped the rankings, with the previous best performances coming from Travel Counsellors (fourth in 1998), OctopusTravel.com (fourth in 2004) and Kew Green Hotels (second in 2006). Very well done again to these two companies.

Technorati Tags: fast track 100, sunday times, travel republic, alpharooms, paul furner, jason fry

VibeAgent is growing

Still in its beta testing phase, the reviews and travel social community site VibeAgent has more than 2,500 registered members. Not bad at all...With some funding from TRX, I am sure the growth of this exciting new venture has just begun...

I still have 15 invitations to the beta site left in case you are interested.

Venere is going US...

The Italian online hotel agent specialist Venere is not anymore about Italy and Europe. They offer hotels in the USA and therefore becoming more of an International player than before. Is Venere getting closer to their competitors Booking, HotelClub and Hotels.com? Time will tell...

Is it clean? I'd like to know before I get there.

You'd like to think that any hotel rated with even one star has at least passed the basic clean test. By that I mean that the linens were changed since the last guest, the bathroom has been cleaned and the towels are fresh. Beyond that, I would like to think that the higher the rating, the cleaner the hotel. But that is not always the case.

Elizabeth's Experience in Dallas

A 24-year-old friend of mine booked a hotel through a popular online low-fare travel site. The hotel had 2 stars and was inexpensive (about $71). Upon arrival, she found her room to be dirty, still not cleaned from previous guests. She asked the desk clerk for a different room. No problem, the clerk said. But Elizabeth's second room was even worse. Her room had not seen a thorough cleaning in months and certainly not even a cursory cleaning since the last guest. The bathroom harbored countless health issues starting with vomit on the toilet and floor. The tub had mold and was quite stained. Countertop was dirty. Dresser was sticky. The bedspread hid the visibly used linen beneath. Her list of filth went on and on, supported by digital photos that she took before leaving.

Two Hotel Bills for the Same Trip

Elizabeth could not stay there another minute. She checked into another hotel. But now she had two hotel bills for each night of the trip. She has been unsuccessful in contacting the booking site. She is now disputing the payment through her credit card company.

How Can Inexperienced Travelers Avoid a Hotel Nightmare?

• Visit the Hotel's Own Website. A start, but not always reliable. Elizabeth did check the hotel's site. It sounded just okay. The pictures were mostly of the Dallas skyline.
• Look at Prevailing Room Rates on the Hotel's Site. How do rates compare to the discount site? This hotel listed its regular rates quite a bit higher, giving the impression it was a more deluxe hotel.
• Hotel Description Might Be a Clue. This hotel's description focused on its close proximity to a convention center and hundreds of restaurants but not on its own amenities. Like the photos, the description was vague. And, upon arrival, Elizabeth found the neighborhood was indeed close to  the convention center, but in a very rundown area with vagrants milling about.
• Don'tt Go By an Impressive Name. Don't make the mistake of associating a luxurious-sounding name with quality. Ritz, plaza and other similar copycat names are just putting on the ritz!
• Check Reviews. Don't skip this step. Read all customer reviews provided on the travel site. Reviews were mixed for this hotel, most not good. But Elizabeth never read them before booking.
• Check TripAdvisor.com. This site offers forums on various cities. Tap into the city forum you need, search for hotel opinions. Or ask your own questions and someone will answer. It is a very active forum and my experience with recommendations there has been positive.
• How to Get a Refund. Internet commentary seems to say that it is very difficult to get online travel sites to respond. Elizabeth can dispute the charge through her credit card company. Beyond that, she can check with the hotel itself, even though she purchased through an online service. With the complaints she had about this hotel (accompanied by her photos), she can contact the Board of Health, Convention Bureau, Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce. She can also share her experience on TripAdvisor.com and other similar travel sites that accept comments.
• Do Your Homework Before You Book. Traveling on a tight budget doesn’t mean you have to give up basic cleanliness. But choosing a 1 or 2 star hotel may require closer scrutiny.
• Don't Count on Stars. Three major online discount sites rated this hotel with 1 or 2 stars. Only one major site did not list this hotel. Doesn't anybody check on the hotels they sell to unwary travelers?

Without a personal recommendation, choosing a hotel can be a gamble. I recently discovered a customer-focused online site that actually visits its Quikpick recommended hotels. Plus it does not require prepayment, permits cancellations and is very competitive with the other sites. You'll find it on my regular blog, along with additional information about the hotel rating systems.

Tish (Guest Blogger)

Travels with Tish -- Girlfriends' Getaway Guide

Next: More about hotel rating systems

Quickhotels targets Rugby World Cup 2007 customers...

On their homepage, QuickHotels displays a banner with Rugby World Cup 2007 places to help travellers to find availability and rates at hotels near stadiums.

I won't be surprised if some destinations won't find me availability in places like Toulouse but at least QuickHotels let me find what I want.

Technorati Tags: quickhotels, rugby world cup 2007