Tech Tuesday :: Google Hotel Finder

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Google's been eyeing travel for a long time, building their backend with both quiet and hotly talked-about acquisitions. Their voyage into travel is no surprise: with a strong hold on anything search-related, combined with the multi-billion dollar web travel space and their purchase of ITA software {the software that powers Kayak, Orbitz, Hawaiian Airlines, etc...}.

Google hotel finder In a move that I think only represents the tip of the iceberg, Google's just launched hotel finder {google.com/hotelfinder} is an "experiment." And for all you Google buffs, experiment---meaning "beta mode"---is what the search giant is likely transitioning their high-priority labs products into, given that Google labs is being phased out.

Travel Search Intended to be a travel meta search engine like Kayak or Bing Travel, I don't doubt they will quickly move from hotels, to flights to cars and so on. However, like with any experiment, it's not a done deal. Take Google city tours, a two-year-old city itinerary suggestion tool {presented with a map overlay and directions} within Google labs that never took off, yet is still online. With a touch more finessing, Google city tours could seriously help travelers trying to sort out what to do with 5, 24 or 48 hours in a destination, but sadly, it's pretty dormant right now.

Using Google hotel finder If you use a lot of different Google products, you'll recognize the ability to custom-select a geo area for your hotel {reminiscent of Google Adwords geo ad targeting}. Other helpful features include the ability to shortlist hotels that suit your fancy {eliminating the need to open a bazillion internet windows}, as well as determining the best time to visit with a percentage published beside every listing comparing its current price with its typical one. Like most travel products launched in the US, Google hotel finder works mainly with US cities right now.

The Verdict Google hotel finder shows promise and I encourage you to take 5 mins to try it out and compare and contrast it with your preferred online booking service, but at this point I see the majority of its value as a research versus booking tool. I also appreciate its integration into Google Maps {pictured above} which is very helpful for researching what hotels are available for your dates in a given area {navigate to maps.google.com then type, for example, 'hotels in vancouver' or 'hotels in seattle' to see dates and hotels appear}!

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More Tech Tuesday Travel Apps :: Flightboard Summer Travel Gadgets [1/2] Summer Travel Gadgets [2/2] Travel Apps :: Royal Tour Travel Apps :: Tiffany’s New York

[images sourced from Google]

Travel Apps :: HipMunk

Contrary to the catchy name and graphic, the HipMunk travel app is not a game involving hipster chipmunks, but an awesome flight search tool. I know, there are a lot of flight search tools, so why would you use HipMunk over ITA or Kayak? If you're a visual learner, then HipMunk's a great option for you. Rendering flight search results in a visual, timeline format, it sorts flights primarily by agony---a score that combines price, duration and number of stops.

Using it for my upcoming trip to Australia {see example below}, the flight results clearly show price, carriers, timing and layovers. Note Air Canada is the only non-stop flight. No, it's not the cheapest, but it's the least painless given it's direct.

Details

• Use HipMunk flight search through their app or their website
• Free
• Works with iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad
• When asked about app development for Android and Blackberry, HipMunk noted it was "possible"
• Book through the app or finish the transaction on HipMunk's website by entering a unique code

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Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 60+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• Mad Libs
• Travel Etiquette
• Jetsetter
• Metr0
• Google Translate

Travel Trends :: Get a Room

[trip style = urban + beach + sun]

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Unless you're booking the penthouse, you never know what type of hotel room you'll get until you check-in, go to your room and open the door. Until now. The newest evolution in our obsession with the fine-tuned details of travel is a website {so new, it's still in beta} that can suggest a hotel room based on your preferences and distinguish between the view of a concrete wall or a sunset-drenched cityscape.

The Seat Guru of Hotel Room Search A little while ago I wrote about Seat Guru in Go-To Travel Sites of 2010, indicating it was a fantastic resource to research the best seats on a plane---down to the most granular detail like if the tray table is in the armrest. Someone took a cue from the popularity of this site {owned by Trip Advisor} and decided to create a similar model for hotel rooms. Smart.

Not All Rooms Created Equal Room 77 is working on the premise that not all hotels rooms are created equally, and I'd agree having stayed in some ugly, mediocre and awe-inspiring rooms. Launching with 425,000 rooms in 16 major cities including London, Honolulu, Maui, Miami, Seattle, New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco, Room 77 is setting out to create the world's first database of hotel rooms. Who wants to pay the same price for a room beside the elevator versus a quiet, corner space at the end of the hall? Not me.

Testing 1-2-3 Once you choose your hotel and desired room category, you can search by parametres like floor height, view, proximity to the elevator and connecting rooms. Doing a search in Seattle at a hotel I've stayed at a few times {The Fairmont Olympic}, I'm pleasantly surprised by the level of detail the website renders: room recommendations tailored to my search criteria, a map of the hotel, a picture of the view I could get, and some general tips for room numbers that could offer partial ocean views. Done and done.

Athough still in its infancy, this is a site I'll be adding to my Trip Styling arsenal, because even in beta mode, it's already a stellar resource.

{Travel Trends are published three times a month on Thursdays. Find them all here.}

[photos by Room77]

Travel Trends :: True Beachfronts

[trip style = beach]

Have you ever been dazzled by a resort's beachfront pictures only to get there and find out 'the beach' is either not what it looked like in pictures, or in a completely different location than it appeared? I have, on a few occasions, but more on this another time...

Actually on the Beach A travel trend that's been brewing for awhile, and is now out in the open is true beachfronts, or website descriptions and pictures that accurately disclose the hotel or resort's beach situation. Now, there's even a website dedicated to this cause. The recently launched Beachfront Club is on a mission to tell the world about hotels and resorts that are actually on the beach, versus across the street, 20-mins up the hill, etc... The reason for this aggressive but impressive mission? One of site's founders is trying to make amends for times he photographed hotels in misleading ways to make them appear seaside through camera angles and editing.

The Beachfront Club Although the site is still in beta, according to this CNN article, it has mapped 7000 of the 10,000 hotels worldwide, it qualifies as on the beach. To give the site a little test run, I looked up a destination I know pretty well: Maui. Focusing on Wailea {Maui's manicured belle of the ball}, I was impressed with the major oceanfront hotels it accurately placed and the initial info associated with each. Its only error showed The Renaissance on the map, only problem is, it has been sitting eerily empty {with fencing surrounding the property} since 2007.

Being Up-front I love the idea of this website, and will likely use it in the future as a cross-checking resource when I'm researching a hotel and/or beachfront destination. Hotel description and picture accuracy is a big deal---even major reputable brands are guilty of mileading photos, etc... Met pet peeve is when they show pictures of white curtain-clad, cabana-like, bamboo beach beds dotting an empty, perfectly flat beach only to find these cabanas don't exist, the beach is overcrowded and it's not that flat, but that's a whole other topic for another time...

In the meantime, check out The Beachfront Club for a true beachy keen experience.

[photos from The Beachfront Club]

Shhhh, It's {Semi} Private...

Back in June we wrote about the exploding Private Travel Sales as part of our thrice-monthly Travel Trends column. At the time, it was still a newish concept with mostly early-adopter buy-in. Fast forward 8 months and this travel segment has grown like luggage on wheels and is opening a whole new set of options for the escape artist in all of us. Below are the big players.

Recommended Would I recommend flash-sale travel? Yes! I've had a great experience thus far, and the properties offered seem more interesting and hand-picked than trolling through Expedia or the like. It is prefect if you want to travel, but need a little inspiration to book. Note that most of the time, offers are for a one- to 3-month period. Don't forget to check each offer's fine-print and cancellation policies.

The Concept - You want to travel somewhere fabulous and get a good deal - Private travel sale sites offer time-sensitive, discounted rates for close-to-home & far-flung getaways - You see a deal you like, and snag it The Catch. They're private, meaning you need to join or get an invite, which I can help you out with below.

The Online Goods Jetsetter.com [join here] Part of the Gilt Group, an online private sale clothing & accessories retailer, Jettsetter offers a smattering of worldwide travel candy {aka - fabulous getaways} at discounts to their members. If you're a Gilt member you can book travel on Jetsetter, and if you're a Jetsetter member, you can buy on Gilt. I've used Jetsetter twice to book hotels and have been very really happy with both bookings. One feature I really like is how, in most cases, Jetsetter sends someone to review the property beforehand and on the sale, lists the features and drawbacks so you know what you're getting into. *PS - Jetsetter just launched 24/7, whereby you can book select properties sans flash-sale, i.e. all the time. One offer I'm currently swooning over is the Banyan Tree Samui.

Ideeli.com [join here] Ideeli is similar to the Gilt Group, offering fashion, home and beauty collections at heavy discounts. Why not add travel to the mix? Touché, they did featuring US and Mexican getaways.

Vacationist.com [join here] As a joint venture between two travel giants, Travel + Leisure magazine and Luxury Link, Vacationist delivers excellent getaways with booking features I love, like T+L destination suggestions and what's going on around town during the months sale is offered.

VoyagePrivee.com [join here] Starting in Europe, Voyage Prive {private travel} offers invite-only, limited-time sales similar to the above sites. With 6-million members, I'd say this private travel site is getting fairly public. Each sale features a flip-through brochure and a page where you can view and book the deal. Save your time and just go straight to the viewing/booking page.

Sniqueaway.com [join here] Launched by the TripAdvisor Media Group in 2010, SniqueAway offers time-sensitive, flash-sales like the rest of 'em, but a few differentiating features I like are: integrated Trip Advisor reviews, Out & About suggestions and Overview with spellbinders and reminders. Logging in, I just found a $139 sale for a lake-view room at Whistler's Nita Lake Lodge {just awarded a 2011 Trip Advisor Traveller's Choice award}. I would love to stay at this property, and have heard really good feedback.

Tablethotels.com [join here] Tablet hotels use an American Idol-style hotel selection. The judges do the rankings and the people decide the winner. Tablet is a group of hand-picked, tightly edited hotels in destinations all over the world. The list of these hotels is created and maintained by anonymous visits from travel experts, then reviewed by a team with "a low tolerance for boredom." In addition, hotels are also reviewed by guests, and if their rating falls below a 15 out of 20, the hotel no longer gets to compete. Tablet's private sales are limited, featuring 2 - 3 properties every few days.

Other Travel Flash-Sale Sites on our Radar Ruelala.com [join here] Same concept to Gilt/Jettsetter and Ideeli: Rulala is a name brand flash-sale site with an added travel component. Currently, it has one offer.

Secretescapes.com [join here] Following the same model as Jetsetter and Vacationist, recently launched Secret Escapes focuses its efforts on mostly Euro getaways with offers in British Pounds. One difference between this new company and Voyage Prive, is it's more difficult to get/find an invite unless you know someone who knows someone, who knows someone, which is likely part of their business plan. Interestingly, the company was started by the people behind dealchecker.co.ok {who was just aquired last week by EasyVoyage...not to be confused with the Easy Group offering internet, flights, cruises, car rentals, etc....} Either way, might be a good bet if you're planning some European travel.