Hipmunk adds hotel search to its mobile apps

Jan 10, 2012

Travel search site Hipmunk has shared that hotel search and booking is now available through its iOS and Android mobile apps. Until now, just flight search was available on the go.

The company says it has brought the same map-based hotel experience from its website to its apps.

The Hipmunk hotel app is designed to cater to last-minute travellers or planners. “We’ve noticed that most of our users who were searching for hotels from mobile browsers were searching for a hotel for that night,” said Danilo Campos, mobile designer at Hipmunk. “We’ve designed the new Hipmunk hotel app especially for last-minute shoppers so they can find the best available hotels within walking distance, feel confident in their decision, and not just settle for the cheapest available hotel.”

The new Hipmunk Flight and Hotel search app is also optimised for tablets. The map remains the focus of the app allowing users to visualise their destination.

Explaining what the app users will see on iPhone, the company said it noticed that most of the users who were searching for hotels from mobile browsers were searching for a hotel for that night. So the app automatically searches from current location, enabled by GPS, with ability to enter a new destination. Hipmunk uses “Ecstasy,” a combination of reviews, prices and amenities to figure out best options. The hotels a user is expected to like will show up as colourful dots. Red ones are pricey, green ones are cheap and blue ones are average. The company also lets user filter by price or chain, and overlay heatmaps. Heatmaps lets users see which parts of a city are most active for different interests, including food, nightlight, shopping, and tourist attractions.

Other features include:

·    Multiple booking options, including directly with many hotels;

·    Booking through the mobile browser, a finish code to book later from a computer, or ability to email hotel choice to a friend, family member, or colleague;

·    Saved searches that allow users to easily flip between up to five recent searches to find their best travel options.