Hotel Tonight

I am a planner – really, in all aspects of life, but especially with travel. I rarely take chances & always like to have things solidified as far before a trip as is possible. So when a coworker told me about the Hotel Tonight app, I was intrigued. Hotel Tonight’s basic premise is this: at noon, a certain number of hotel rooms are released to them. You, the traveler, go to their super easy to use app & book the room of your choice at a crazy reduced price. These range from rooms in a Hampton Inn in Houston to the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Recently, I decided that I would spend the night in New York City after a day trip up to the city for a client. Going against every bone in my body, I would not book a hotel until rooms were released at noon the night of my stay. I would take the Hotel Tonight challenge (note to Hotel Tonight: you really should have a formal challenge!)

Of course, I obsessed about it. I tracked what NYC hotel rooms were available for about a week ahead of time, knowing of course that every night would be different. I loved the hotels that were popping up: the Bryant Park Hotel. The Library Hotel (!). 6 Columbus. The Muse. I began to pick favorites, ranking available rooms in my head (since Hotel Tonight only works with certain hotels, if you obsessively track it like I did, you can see a bit of a pattern).

Finally, it was go time. While manning the door to the event I was staffing, I whipped out my iPhone & opened the Hotel Tonight app. My heart pounded in my chest.

‘Oh! Look! The Hotel Giraffe!’ (I had spied the Hotel Giraffe a few days earlier & it was on my mental top five list). ‘Oh! The Standard – I think I’ve always wanted to stay there. I think? No time to look through email to find out! Ok, Hotel Giraffe. What does it say about this property?’

‘Shake Shack? Nice!’

‘Free wifi? Sweet.’

‘Free breakfast? Even better.’

‘Great location.’

‘AWESOME rate – over half off!’

At this point, I knew Hotel Giraffe was my place. Being the hotel nerd that I am, I was actually familiar with the Hotel Giraffe, as it’s part of the Library Hotel Collection & I’m more than a bit obsessed with the Library Hotel.

Hotel Tonight gives you lots & lots of chances to change your mind – since rooms are prepaid, you want to make sure this is the room for you before you hit “book.”

You trace your finger along the bed & poof! You’re done! Look at the time at the top of my screen shots – I was able to book the room in under 2 minutes! It might take first time users who have not obsessively researched the hotels a bit longer, but it’s definitely fast & easy.

So how was Hotel Giraffe? A full review is coming next week, but until then, here’s my cute room:

I will, without a doubt, use Hotel Tonight again. In fact, unless I need to stay at a certain hotel, I may never prebook a hotel room in NYC ever again! I think the app works best in a big city that is saturated with hotel rooms – NYC, DC, Chicago, LA. In a big city, you know there’s always going to be something semi-decent available. I’m not sure if I’d take the chance with the app if I found myself in some of the smaller cities they serve, although it could be a great resource if you find yourself unexpectedly staying overnight somewhere (think: weather related flight delay when the airline won’t pay for your hotel).

Know before you book…

• Hotel Tonight is in a crazy number of cities – even some internationally! Check out the list next time you’re making travel plans.
• The room is guaranteed to sleep 2 people. If you need more room than that, you’ll have to book more than one room.
• You can book more than one night! Just change the number of nights in the upper right-hand corner – some hotels you can book up to five nights.
• Unless you really know the hotel market, you won’t necessarily know how good of a deal you’re getting. If price is especially important to you, take the time to compare the Hotel Tonight rate with the hotel web site’s rate before you book.
• I think this is the perfect app to take a chance. Example: I’d never stayed in the neighborhood the Hotel Giraffe was in, but when you’re booking last minute at a discounted price, it’s much easier to say to yourself, “Eh, it’s just one night! How bad can it be?”

Hotel Tonight did not, in any way, compensate me for this post. I just wanted to share this cool new travel app with everyone!