HotelMe attracts $3M in funding and USA Today as partner for unique hotel review site
Skift Take
HotelMe's authenticated hotel review proposition is one of those things that may you wonder why no one has done it until now. The startup is very late to the hotel-review game, but it has a powerful marketing partner in USA Today.
USA Today and parent company Gannett partnered with HotelMe to soft launch a hotel review site that takes a novel twist to the fake review issue: Two dozen hotel brands have signed on to verify whether review writers actually stayed at the property regardless of how or where they booked the room.
Hotel industry veteran Trip Schneck, who co-founded the site and District Hospitality Partners with Frederic Malek, says HotelMe has attracted $3 million in seed funding from Thayer Ventures, USA Today, the founders and other angels.
Media giant USA Today, which has committed to integrating HotelMe into USA Today Travel and to promote the joint venture through paid and in-kind marketing, has a minority stake in the enterprise and will handle ad sales, Schneck says.
Hotel brands participating in the patent-pending verification process, which would lead to either "RealStay" or unverified review designations, range from Hyatt and Best Western, to La Quinta, Four Seasons, and Radisson.
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