New search product includes bigger images, interactive maps, and natural-language search.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Hipmunk, the fastest, easiest way to plan travel, just made finding a hotel even easier, with the launch of a brand-new-to-the-industry search product that instantly shows travelers the details that matter to them. Now travelers can make decisions about where to stay more quickly and confidently.
"Finding the right hotel means considering dozens of criteria, including price, ratings, amenities, and location. For many travelers, parsing those factors presented too many choices, leading to agony. Our latest product update aims to make this much simpler," said Adam Goldstein, CEO, Hipmunk.
To develop the new design, Hipmunk observed travelers go through the laborious process of hotel search. They often left multiple tabs open and wrote notes on pads, too. Now, travelers can skip the 'tabs-plus-pad' syndrome.
The new design for the hotel product is part of the metasearch company's heritage in innovation to make the customer experience unexpectedly delightful. When Hipmunk launched in 2010, it took the industry by storm with its simple-to-see display of flight itineraries, and unique "agony" sort that ranks flights by weighing price, duration and number of stops.
The revamped hotels search aims to revolutionize and re-imagine the way travelers find accommodations, just as the company did for flights.
"Hipmunk's new hotel search product is the most innovative we've seen in the industry in quite a while," said Deep Kohli at Koddi, a leading hotel booking ad optimization platform. "It's great to see new ideas on how to present relevant information to help customers find the best accommodation option."
The new design includes:
- Supersized Images. Images are seven times larger, which helps customers imagine themselves staying there and then narrow down options more quickly.
- Amenities Cards. Travelers can click on an image, and it flips over like a postcard to show the most important information at-a-glance. No more clicking multiple tabs to find out if there's a pool or free WiFi.
- Compare Options. "Favorite" a hotel and see it plotted on a map along with other favorite accommodation options to figure out how near it is to a specific landmark, such as the airport or a local attraction.
- Keyword Search. Search for hotels with natural language questions such as "find a 3-star hotel in NYC close to Central Park under $400". Get results that show a high match, medium match, and low match, similar to an online dating site.
"We're excited to introduce a new, groundbreaking way to make customers happy in their quest for a perfect accommodation. To be able to type simple queries just like you do in a search engine is a huge step forward," said Nancy Hang, SVP of Product.
Hipmunk has been a leader in using natural language querying and conversation with the launch of Hello Hipmunk, an A.I.-powered virtual travel assistant. The newest hotel search and booking product continues to push the boundaries and dramatically improves the way people process information along the key decision points.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
