Skift Take
HotelTonight's new Shake feature in its iPhone app streamlines an already streamlined hotel-booking app. It won't be useful for users who want to check out available properties and aren't concerned with the lowest rate. But, for HotelTonight customers in a hurry and looking for the lowest rate, this tweak should speed things up.
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- After opening the HotelTonight iPhone app and selecting a city/market users can shake the phone and the following checkout page for the cheapest hotel displayed will appear.
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- On this checkout page, HotelTonight users merely need to tap Continue to navigate to the following confirmation screen.
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- After a mere shake and a tap to get to this confirmation page, users merely have to trace or swipe the HotelTonight logo to consummate the booking.
HotelTonight’s same-day booking app is already the fastest in the world, but it just got a little more super-charged for those in the know.
For people like Justin Bieber who appreciate speed (allegedly) and late-night hotel bookers, this enhancement should be a thrill.
The standard way to use the HotelTonight app prior to the latest change is that after completing the one-time registration, users can open the app, select a city, and then:
- Tap on one of the hotels to navigate to a hotel details page.
- Tap on Book Now button to go to a reservations details page.
- Tap Continue to navigate to the check-out page, and
- Trace or swipe the HotelTonight logo to complete the reservation.
The user experience and booking process is extremely nimble because you’ve already registered once so the app knows who you are, has your credit card information, and there’s no need to input dates because you are booking the room for tonight.
Users can continue to use the app in this tap, tap, tap and swipe manner, but in an unpublicized tweak, HotelTonight has made the app even faster for iPhone users.
Now, to book a room in the HotelTonight iPhone app, a traveler merely needs to open the app, select a city and:
- Shake the iPhone to navigate to the checkout page for the lowest-priced hotel listed.
- Tap Continue to navigate to the check-out page, and
- Trace or swipe the HotelTonight logo to complete the reservation.
So the choice now is to tap, tap, tap and swipe, or to use the streamlined shake, tap and swipe alternative.
“It’s a little surprise feature that makes it easy to find the cheapest place and book it even faster,” a HotelTonight spokesperson says.
Of course, the Shake features isn’t practical if you are interested in anything other than the cheapest room among the half dozen or so that might be displayed in each market.
But, if you are walking out of the bar at 11 p.m. and you need a room 15 minutes ago or sooner, any and all streamlining would be very welcome.
At moments like these, you’ll appreciate that the fastest hotel-booking app in the world just got a little faster.
The Daily Newsletter
Our daily coverage of the global travel industry. Written by editors and analysts from across Skift’s brands.
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Tags: hotels, hoteltonight
Photo credit: HotelTonight has added a Shake feature to its iPhone app, making the fastest hotel-booking app in the world even faster. Pictured is a corner suite in the Duane Street Hotel in the Tribeca section of Manhattan. Duane Street Hotel