Mauibaby2008

Agreed. I think it's a great idea

fitzfor

I think it would be an excellent idea.

jackal

AFAICT, Hotels.com's inventory is basically a subset of Expedia's prepaid hotel selection. With all the mergers recently, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia now all basically pull from the same inventory. If we move Hotels.com somewhere, why wouldn't we also move Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, and then also Priceline's and Hotwire's non-opaque services over to that same place? Splitting that discussion doesn't make sense.

There is admittedly a bit of a fine line to figure out when it comes to something like Booking.com, which is a pseudo-OTA-but-not-really; they don't (AFAIK) tap into any GDSes but rather have direct merchant relationships with the properties they list, even if they are major chain hotels (which they do list a lot of). OTOH, it seems that now every other OTA either supplements their GDS listings with or relies wholly on direct merchant agreements, too, so there really isn't much of a technical difference between the way Booking.com works and the way Hotels.com or even Expedia.com or Priceline.com works...and for that matter, between the way that any of those work and the way that AirBnB works.

Really, the difference is in the markets they aim at. Expedia/Orbitz/Priceline/Hotels.com etc. generally list larger, established properties that are properly registered with the authorities as legitimate lodging options. AirBnB and its ilk tend to list a lot more "guerilla" properties--places like spare bedrooms and unused apartments that aren't registered as paid lodging places but are offered as such in today's "sharing economy" (much the way that Uber allows people to chauffeur fares around without properly registering as a taxi/livery company). Booking.com mostly trends toward the former but can sometimes include properties that get close to that line and may be someone's home they're renting out. There's enough bleed-over between them all that it's tough enough to classify them with two forums...I don't think creating a third forum is a good move.

That said, despite the complexities, I support the new forum and am hopeful that this process of discussing it will help us to hash out the best way to implement it.

nsx

As long as it's clear to readers that hotels.com and the like are not "Lodging Services" then they can and should remain where they are. The distinction is that the ultimate providers of the lodging are private parties rather than hotels. So maybe the title should be "Private Party Lodging Services", but that's a mouthful.

In summary, I see now that hotels.com does not belong with AirBnB et al, and I hope the forum title and subtitle will somehow make clear the distinction between mass lodging and mom-and-pop lodging.

jason8612

I'm supporting it. I used it a few times and was quite pleased.

MSPeconomist

I'm not convinced. Reasons?

BTW, the OLTA forum isn't overly active, so I don't see an obvious argument for splitting it. AFAIK some of the same companies offer opaque and non opaque bookings.

I'm wondering how serviced apartments should be treated. Some of these are local and some of them tend to be substitutes for extended stay hotels. Marriott, for example, operates both with their Residence Inn etc. brands and also Executive Apartments, which generally are units in regular apartment buildings rather than in specific buildings like most serviced apartments.

I'd like to have more discussion about what would and would not (or should and should not) be included in the proposed Lodging Services forum.

kokonutz

So is this going to be the very last think the TalkBoard ever does, or no? @:-)

SkiAdcock

Interesting thought. We're coming close to the end of TB, so it would need to be formalized quickly if we're to vote. But even if we don't, I think the CD will consider the topic.

Cheers.

SkiAdcock

Ok, am going to do a motion. Give me a few minutes to put it together. It will be our final act as TB members.

Cheers.

jackal

Not to unnecessarily drag things out, but even though I support the idea, I think there are a few things mentioned above that we need to think through first, and I don't feel comfortable that we have fully thought through all of them, mostly relating to the line between lodging services and traditional hotel chains and OTAs.

CMK10

Discussion thread open:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...ng-airbnb.html

buckeyefan

Really like this idea. Am a large rental home owner who uses VRBO and getting insight from renters would be great. Also am a traveler who uses VRBO and other apartment services such as Paris Perfects so would really like to read what others experience.