sallyerd

Way overdue! Finally somebody is collecting all those static exit floor plan schematics off the back of the hotel room doors and putting them to good use! Take a look at the website called room77. Someday, we can start specifying the exact room we really want instead of the crapshoot Hilton calls: "OLCI - online check in." Not many Hilton family properties are listed yet, but even the few I found were fun to look at (Hilton Boston Back Bay and Hilton Bonnet Creek WDW Orlando, for example.)

Linky: http://www.room77.com/

Here is a article from Tnooz that explains the website.

http://www.tnooz.com/2011/02/24/news...otel-shopping/

There is a iPhone app for users to take photos of exit floor plans. No droid app yet, it appears.

JDiver

Thanks, but I guess we have long waits ahead if this comes to fruition. I can see very few hotels, and of those I can see, most of them say "coming soon". Mostly, they seem to be wanting our help by having us send information; I only hope they won't monetize this after they receive the data by charging fees for users (especially those who provide details).

Thegovier

Dissapointingly the app is not available in the UK iTunes store, and a lot of the hotels on the site listed under London are not in London. But looks like it could be a great site!

Thunderroad

Thanks very much for IDing and posting about this site, OP. As JDiver points out, so far it's very limited and there's the possibility users will have to pay for the service down the line. But it's a very promising development.

Not sure this thread belongs in the HH forum--perhaps in Travel Buzz, though OTOH if it had been there I might not have noticed it.

BuilderTraveller

Awesome amount of detail for the Millennium Hilton. If this is a sign of what's to come, this will be a nice reference:

http://www.room77.com/hotels/new-yor...m-hilton-19199

dwcatty

Same with the Doubletree in Times Square.

R77Roger

Hi! Roger from Room 77 here, happy to answer your questions/comments:

@sallyerd @jdiver – We've got about 500 hotels covered so far but thousands in our database that are in the process of being completed. Any hotels you see as "coming soon" means we have them on our list and we're expecting to get them live ASAP. The good news is travelers like you can help! Just snap a shot of the exit floor map and your room and send it in. This will help us map the hotel and start the data collection on your room. This can be done via the iPhone app directly – or send a mail w/ details to [email protected].

@Thegovier - We just opened up the app to all app stores worldwide, you should be able to download it later today. Sorry about the delay.

@ Thunderroad - Our service is free, we are fully committed to transparency in regards to data about the rooms. Right now, we are working to pilot a program with select partners to guarantee room reservations. Our goal is to have coverage on every 3*+ property worldwide and we are launching new hotels weekly (in some cases daily) and we expect to launch new destinations every month. In the future, some hotels may charge a fee for room requests but it'll be totally at traveler discretion.

@dwcatty @BuilderTraveller - Thanks! This is the level of detail we strive to get to for every hotel.

Thanks for the feedback, let me know if I can answer anything else or if you have suggestions on properties/destinations you want to see next.

troyintn

great idea just wonder how fast you can get all the hotels.

R77Roger

We have about 500 hotels exposed today but over 2000+ in our database that are waiting for review and completion. Once we get info from a hotel including floor maps and room lists, it doesn't take long for us to digitize that information and get it onto the site. We're hoping that we can get to our goal quickly through both hotels and through user submitted content as travelers submit photos of floor maps and even room lists to us.

satori

Personally I find the graphics rather lacking in detail.

I look at the InterContinental Willard and the image shows me a building outside the window, but the JW Marriott building details are not intricate enough to indicate whether the building is a finely crafted architectural beauty or a plain-face office building.

I just checked several rooms I have stayed in recently and I do not get the real picture at all of how pretty some of these building views actually are when sitting inside a room.

And the open space views do not indicate how attractive or unattractive the scenery outside is from the room window.

Thegovier

I can confirm that the app is available in the UK iPhone apps store. Just downloaded and will start taking pictures of floor plans next week!

CAlex

Any plans for an iPad app?

If this will stay a free platform for information, I am happy to take floor plans snapshots and share.

R77Roger

@satori - we definitely know that not all of the views have the same levels of details. We are currently using Google Earth to generate the virtual views but we're working quickly to augment these views with actual photos as we get user submitted content and work more closely with hotels.

R77Roger

@CAAlex - Definitely plans for an iPad app. You can use the Room 77 app on the iPad but it's not native to it so you'll see the virtual iPhone mode. If you have photos, just drop them to us at tips[at]room77.com with the hotel name and room number. Thanks!

sallyerd

Roger, are you aware that virtually ALL of the floor maps for the Homewood Suites are already on Hilton's own website? If not, you may wish to check it out so you can at least speedily digitize all the Homewoods' Floor maps. We Hilton FlyerTalkers have been using OLCI for Homewood Suites for years. Unfortunately only the Homewoods have this website feature, since Hilton's website is as quirky and creaky as an old-maid.

Yo, FlyerTalkers! Any other ideas to get this Room77 website expedited?

Over the years, I have been continually bemused (more like annoyed) to see my online profile preference ignored at check-in or by the room assigners. I, for one, would really like a advanced floor plan. To heck with quibbling about the quality of the window view graphics on the Room77 website, just give me a noise heads up and a good nights rest.