Websites using Hotellook

Okay, let s break down Hotellook, focusing on its overview, revenue model, alternatives, pricing strategies, and customer care.

Overview of Hotellook

Hotellook is a hotel metasearch engine. Think of it like a travel aggregator or price comparison site, but specifically for hotels. It doesn t sell hotel rooms directly; instead, it searches the databases of various online travel agencies (OTAs) and hotel websites to find the best available prices for a particular hotel.

Here s a summary of its key features and characteristics:

• Metasearch, Not Booking: Hotellook is not an OTA like Booking.com or Expedia. It directs you to those sites for booking.
• Global Coverage: It searches a vast database, including local and international hotels, with a wide range of locations and hotel types.
• Price Comparison: Its core function is to find the lowest prices by comparing rates from different online travel agencies and hotel websites.
• Filters & Sorting: Users can refine their search results using filters based on price, star rating, amenities, location, review scores, and more.
• User-Friendly Interface: It generally has a simple and intuitive interface, making it relatively easy to use.
• No Direct Customer Service: Since it doesn t handle bookings directly, Hotellook doesn t have dedicated customer service for booking issues. You d need to contact the OTA or hotel you booked with.
• Mobile App: It has a mobile app for searching and booking on the go.

Revenue Model

Hotellook operates on a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) model. Here s how they make money:

• Referral Fees: When a user clicks on a hotel offer from a specific OTA or hotel website via Hotellook, Hotellook gets a commission for that referral. They are essentially an affiliate marketer, earning a small percentage for each lead they send.
• Paid Placements: They might offer paid placement options to some OTAs or hotels to gain higher visibility in search results (though this is typically less pronounced than on a direct OTA).
• Data and Analytics: Like other metasearch engines, they collect data on user behavior, which may be used to understand travel trends and for further business decisions.

Alternatives to Hotellook

There are many hotel metasearch engines and other ways to book hotels. Some of the popular alternatives include:

• Google Hotels: A strong competitor, Google Hotels is integrated into Google search and maps, offering hotel prices, reviews, and location information.
• Trivago: Another well-known hotel metasearch engine.
• Kayak: A metasearch engine that includes hotels, flights, and rental cars.
• Skyscanner: Similar to Kayak but is very popular for flights and hotel searches.
• Momondo: A travel metasearch engine that compares flights, hotels, and car rentals.
• TripAdvisor: Along with its user reviews, TripAdvisor also has a price comparison feature for hotels.
• Direct Booking with Hotel Chains: Booking directly through a hotel chain s website can sometimes offer better rates or loyalty program benefits.
• Online Travel Agencies (OTAs): Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, etc., are not metasearch engines; they sell bookings directly.

Pricing Strategies

Hotellook doesn t set the price of the hotels; it finds the prices set by OTAs and hotel websites. However, here s how pricing generally works:

• Dynamic Pricing: Hotel prices are dynamic and can fluctuate based on demand, availability, seasonality, and special events. The prices you see on Hotellook are reflective of the prices on those third-party websites.
• Comparison: Hotellook allows you to compare prices from different providers for the same hotel, highlighting the cheapest offer.
• Price Tracking (Sometimes): Some metasearch engines (including Google Hotels) offer the option to track the price of a specific hotel over time, which can help you identify the best time to book. Hotellook may provide similar tools or features.
• Promotions and Deals: OTAs and hotels themselves frequently offer promotions, discounts, or packages, which will be reflected in the prices shown on Hotellook.

Customer Care Details

• No Direct Customer Service: Hotellook itself doesn t offer direct customer support for booking issues, cancellations, or changes to reservations.
• Third-Party Responsibility: If you experience an issue with your booking, you would need to contact the customer support department of the specific OTA or hotel website you booked through.
• Contacting OTAs or Hotels: After you are directed from Hotellook to another website, you are under that website s terms and conditions and customer care processes.

In Summary

Hotellook is a useful tool to quickly compare hotel prices from numerous sources. It is a very good resource to find the best hotel prices as long as you understand its limitations as a metasearch engine. If you need help with an actual booking, you ll need to directly engage with the provider you ve ultimately chosen.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!