New App Revives Hopes for Same-Day Hotel Bookings
Jackie Reddy September 21, 2016
Smart phone takeing pictrues on the plane
One Night is the brainchild of Standard International, the group behind the Standard Hotels franchise. Offering carefully selected properties, it is hoped that the app will revitalize same-day bookings.
Once upon a time, there was only one app in the same-day hotel booking market. For anyone looking for a discounted room on the day of a stay, HotelTonight was the go-to app. But fast-forward a few years, and things changed. HotelTonight eventually began to allow guests to book earlier and earlier, a tweak that turned a sweet deal sour, sacrificing good guest rates and a handy source of income for hoteliers.
Spotting a gap in the market for same-day bookings, Standard International, the parent company behind the swanky Standard Hotels properties found in Miami, New York City and Los Angeles, has launched an app called One Night.
There is, however, a difference between One Night and HotelTonight. While the latter app allowed would-be guests to view deals from a very wide swath of properties, One Night only shows available bookings from a small selection of properties.
For example, upon its launch today in the markets of LA and NYC, One Night is, at the moment, only showing deals available for a boutique selection of properties, including Viceroy L’Ermitage and Gramercy Park Hotel as well as all Standard hotels.
Speaking to Business Insider, Amar Lalvani, CEO and managing partner of Standard International, said that, “Our goal was to pick hotels that we loved, that are experience-driven, and that we think other people will like.”
In exchange for a listing via the app, One Night will charge every property an undisclosed percentage of the booking fee. In turn, each hotel must offer all of its inventory at its lowest price, as given online.
Rooms will only be open for booking on the same day after 3 p.m.
“We see this as a creative, interesting solution for hotels. These are hotels that are very selective about using booking platforms,” Lalvani told the outlet.
One Night is currently available for download via Google Play and the Ios App Store.
[Photo: Getty]
"In turn, each hotel must offer all of its inventory at its lowest price, as given online." So, the app lets you buy the hotel room at the same price you could have bought it on the hotel website? And the value to make your purchase through the app instead of travelocity or the hotel's own website is???