Travel App Review: Hotel Tonight

Nearly two years or so ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the Hotel Tonight App (they started in Dec. 2010). Back then you had to wait until noon local time to get listings, today you get them as early as 9a local hotel time.

Here’s how they say it works: “Hotels give us their unsold rooms. We show you the day’s best values. You book them easily and securely on your smartphone.”

Which just about sums it up.

As booking hotels is one of your biggest issues, I’ve reviewed this app so you can evaluate how this will help you. I’ve used them three times in the past: The Mystic Hotel in San Francisco, CA; The Courtyard by Marriott in Tukwila, WA and the Brewley’s Hotel by the airport in Dublin, Ireland. All times, I got a better rate than I would normally at all three of these hotels, so I was quite happy. The system actually keeps track of your stays so you can always go back and check things out. Plus it stores your information so you don’t have to pluck out the credit card to make the booking. Easy peasy.

It looks like they now show the normal rates and not only the discounted rates as I recently checked a hotel in Austin, TX and the rate was the same on the App as on the hotel’s website. You can tell when your deal is better as there will be two rates on the App. One crossed out (the normal rate) and then the discounted rate underneath. Bear in mind that usually hotels don’t give you credit for stays booked by online agencies. But oftentimes, the hotels shown on Hotel Tonight don’t have a loyalty program anyways and very quaint hotels that you usually don’t find on the major engines. This is destination specific though. I’d still recommend checking other sources to ensure you get the best deal, but this is just another hotel booking tool you should have in your arsenal.

The App is available on Android, IOS (iPhone and iPad) and Windows platforms and offer hotels in sixteen countries at the time of this writing. If you download and sign up for the service, please use my special discount code: kmckenzie15 for a $25 credit just for signing up. Then when you make your first booking, I will also get a similar return credit. Head over to Hotel Tonight now.

Have you used the service before? If so, what have you found? Please leave a comment below.

Here are some screenshots of the process on an iPad.

This is the initial screen you see when you launch the App. it shows your current location, if you allow it, recently viewed cities as well as popular cities. If you click on the search icon at the upper right hand corner, you can search for a city .

Once you’ve selected a hotel, you are shown several pictures, the rate and a Book Now button. Clicking on any photo allows you to scroll though the rest of the photos. In the lower left-hand corner, you can change the number of nights as well.

A photo of the bed.

The Payment Details screen allow you to add a new credit card or edit existing cards as well as enter the details of the reservation. When ready click Continue and you are done. You will then receive a confirmation email with your booking details. Next stop the hotel front desk.