Google continues to move into the travel space, this time with a search tool aimed specifically at finding a hotel room. Google Hotel Finder offers search based on a users preferences such as price range, comparison to average rate, class of hotel, and user rating. Selected hotels are placed in a shortlist for further review and comparison. A user can select a hotel to book from the shortlist. This displays a list of travel suppliers offering availability for that hotel, and booking then takes place directly on the supplier’s website.
Search is fully integrated with Google Maps, which allows a user to draw and select areas of inclusion for the hotel search directly on the map. The tool also allows a user to highlight areas on the map that are popular with visitors, and to compare a hotel’s current price with its typical one.
Google Hotel Finder is currently in experimental form.
