The same-day hotel discount app HotelTonight has grown by leaps and bounds since its debut in 2011, going from a coverage of just a few cities to now around 200 locations around the globe.
If you're not familiar with it, the app works like this: On the same day that you need a hotel reservation, you check the app to see which handful of hotels need to unload last-minute rooms for cheap. Some rooms are only available for the night and sometimes, they can accept bookings for a few nights. HotelTonight has a team of workers who vet every property, so there's rarely a clunker among the selections.
The savings can be pretty good. Last weekend, for example, rooms at a Holiday Inn Express in New York City were going for around $120—a steal any time of year in a city where basic rates easily jump to twice that.
Up to now, you had to wait until noon each day for the app to unveil its daily deals. The app just gave users three more hours to choose: Daily deals are now unveiled at 9am, and they're good until 2am, when the window closes for seven hours and the next day's selection is revealed.
By moving the clock forward, HotelTonight just made it a much easier for road-trippers and for other people who feel more comfortable knowing their evening plans before they set out for the day.
Will the earlier post time mean its deals will also sell out earlier, making them easier to miss? That remains to be determined.
HotelTonight is available for both on the iPhone and Android platforms. Click here for the download links. It's free to download; you only pay if you book a room.
