New breed of hotel discount sites

The Trivago Guy is finding the best hotel rates in our test (Photo: Trivago)

It’s hard to miss the Trivago commercials on TV these days – they seem to be everywhere, and were propelled to infamy by a blogosphere riveted by the slightly disheveled look of the spokesperson, the aptly named “Trivago guy.”

So pushing past the hype, how does current crop of newly popular hotel-only search sites pan out for business travelers? Let’s take a look at Trivago, TripBAM, Hotel Tonight, Hotel Power and All The Rooms.

Trivago

Trivago found a rate of $299 at the Westin San Francisco on our sample search for Weds Dec 17

As part of a recent investment by Expedia,  Trivago’s hotel inventory is now mammoth, and it continues to grow in popularity. For business travelers, the key feature being able to search for rates for the same room across multiple websites – it’s almost a meta-of-metas, showing how much a specific room costs across 260 websites.

Trivago is a quick and clean way to surface competitive pricing, and allows self-booking business travelers the ability to quickly understand the rate landscape for a particular trip. The Trivago rating is also useful, as it scrapes reviews from across the web and combines them into an overview score – super handy information to have while researching.

It’s great for business travelers on a budget or those responsible for managing their own travel, in addition to those seeking the best deals at specific hotel brands. The size and scope of the service has made for quick converts of many business travelers – and the newly updated mobile app makes these searches fun and painless.

TripBAM

TripBam monitors the web for the best rate within a geographic cluster

TripBAM is a managed traveler’s dream, as it allows travelers to search for the lowest rates for a particular hotel or several hotels over time. The service allows the user to set a geographic bound, or “hotel cluster,” and then it monitors for rate changes within it, allowing you to cancel and re-book a hotel at that better rate. Plus, the site is easy to navigate and a lot of fun with a Batman-like cartoon quality.

This means that travelers can stick within their company’s travel policy while still having the independence of an unmanaged traveler. The “set it and forget it” nature of the monitoring service is its true genius, and will quickly rack up savings in both travel spend and trip planning time – no more having to check hotel rates every day to see if they’ve dropped. Definitely worth a look!

What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

HotelTonight

Hotel Tonight’s advance rate for Dec 17 at the Westin SF at $299, too

HotelTonight is definitely the hippest of the bunch – whereas the Trivago guy has made Trivago approachable to the masses, HotelTonight maintains its cult status as a hipster favorite with crossover appeal to the tech and design-minded crowd.

The brand has broadened appeal to business travelers with the recent addition of 7-day advance booking. This means that close-in trips can now be booked at the rates negotiated by HotelTonight. However, it’s rare to see HotelTonight advance rates differ much from what you might find elsewhere- it’s best deals are still found last-minute on the day that you want to stay.

This option is best for the non-brand-loyal, smartphone-focused traveler looking for a quick and visually rich experience– and a good last-minute deal. To sweeten the deal even more, right now it’s offering a nice $25 discount for bookings charged to MasterCard- details here. 

All the Rooms

AllTheRooms offered the same $299 rate for the Westin SF on Dec 17, but also showed this VRBO apartment nearby for $175

What’s new about AllTheRooms is that its search results show not only hotels, but private room offerings from increasingly popular sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. It’s a super helpful comparison tool to use when hotels seem overpriced… or sold out. For example, the site showed a rate at the Westin San Francisco for $299 (same as most other sites) but also provided a link to this 1 bedroom Financial District apartment on VRBO for $175.

HotelPower

HotelPower’s search found a rate of $329 for the Westin SF on Dec 17

HotelPower claims 400,000 properties in its inventory base, reaching further than the more curated options such as HotelTonight.

While the interface won’t win any awards, HotelPower is more about the savings. The brand that it offers 50-70% off posted hotel rates for members paying a subscription fee ($4.95 trial, then $49.95/yr), and also has a cash back program for specific hotels. It also says that it offers member extras such as complimentary upgrades, free breakfasts and late checkout– perks usually reserved only for elite level members of hotel loyalty programs.  However, you won’t see those extra bennies until you get behind the paywall.

Trivago is the winner here for overall ease-of-use and growing global scope – especially via the newly refreshed mobile app. TripBAM is the winner for locking in any savings when hotel rates drop – a combination of the two could be a quite potent combination for brand-flexible and savings-minded business travelers.