| URL | hotels.com |
|---|---|
| Slogan | Wake up happy |
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Booking service |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | 34 |
| Owner |
Expedia Inc. |
| Launched | 1991 |
| Alexa rank | 789 (December 2011[update])[1] |
| Current status | Online |
Hotels.com is a website for booking hotel rooms online and by telephone. The company has 85 web sites in 34 languages, and lists over 145,000 hotels in approximately 19,000 locations.[2] Its Inventory includes hotels and B&Bs, and some condos and other types of commercial lodging. Hotels.com was established in 1991 and began offering hotels online in 1996. In 2001 it became part of Expedia Inc. and in 2002 changed its name to Hotels.com. Hotels.com is operated by Hotels.com LP, a limited partnership located in Dallas, Texas, USA.
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Hotels.com was established in 1991 by David Litman and Robert Deiner as the Hotel Reservations Network (HRN), providing hotel booking via a toll-free phone number in the United States.[3] HRN began offering booking services on the Internet in 1996. In 2001, the company was acquired by USA Networks Inc (USAI) which also acquired a controlling interest in Expedia, the online travel booking company.
In 2002 HRN changed its name to Hotels.com and launched the offline brand 1-800-2-Hotels. There followed a period of rapid international expansion with 29 sites added over the next two years. In 2003, USAI was renamed InterActiveCorp (IAC). In 2005 IAC separated its travel business under the name Expedia Inc and Hotels.com became an operating company of Expedia Inc., now the world’s largest online travel company.[4]
International growth since 2002 has included web sites for North, Central and South America, Europe, Australia, Japan, China and the Pacific Rim, the Middle East and South Africa. Indonesia and Vietnam, launched in 2011. Customers in all countries can book online or by phoning one of the multi-lingual call centres. Calls are both toll-free and paid, depending on the country of booking.[5]
In 2011, Hotels.com launched an iPad application[6] and updated its mobile phone product on iPhone and Android.
In May 2007, hotels.com was subject to a class action complaint (Smith v. Hotels.com L.P., California Superior Court, Alameda County, Case No. RG07327029) brought against them for “ongoing discrimination against persons with mobility disabilities who desire to, but cannot, use hotels.com’s worldwide reservation network to make reservations for hotel rooms.”[7] The company denied the accusation and opposed the action, but was found guilty on one count of infringing California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, and on one count in violation of Unfair Competition Law. Hotels.com then agreed to provide suitable accessibility information about hotels sold on its web site.[8]
Unlike its competitors, Hotels.com has a loyalty scheme.[9] This allows customers to claim discounts on most, but not all, hotels, regardless of hotel chain or type.[10] For every 10 nights stayed at hotels booked with hotels.com, customers can claim a price reduction on a subsequent booking. This reduction is equivalent to the average amount paid for those nights. The reduction does not reduce taxes and fees payments, and some other restrictions apply.[11] The scheme is called "Welcome Rewards" and launched in the US, Canada and much of Latin America in 2008. It then extended to the UK and Australia in 2010, and to more than 40 additional countries in 2011.
Starting 2004, Hotels.com has published a twice-yearly review of international hotel room price trends called the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index. This uses prices paid per room by Hotels.com customers using a weighted average based on the number of rooms sold in each of the markets in which Hotels.com operates.[12] Information includes notable price changes and comparisons between destinations, hotel types and other price-related analysis for the previous 6 months.[13] The Hotel Price Index is published both digitally and in print, and is aimed at journalists, the media and hoteliers as part of the company's public relations activity.