Hostel-Finding Travel App Shows Who Else Is Staying There Too

by Chris Owen on

Browse, Book and Start Making Friends are the three steps needed to use WeHostels, a new iPhone travel app that is about as easy as it gets to book a no-frills place to sleep for the night. Like a HotelTonight for hostels, WeHostels has some unique features worth a look.

Testing the app for my hometown of Orlando produced four good results based on my current location. At one property, close to Orlando International Airport (MCO), a basic tent with shared bathroom came in at $15 per night. Typical of other listings, additional choices included a standard four-bed male dorm, standard four-bed female dorm or a deluxe six-bed female dorm suite for $25 per night.

Looking down the road, WeHostels users can enter their next destination to line up a hostel for the next place they may be going in advance too. Once found, booking is easy via the app for regular hostel guests who don’t need to know more and just want to tie down a place to sleep for the night. Contact information for the property is also included for those who want to know more.

So what’s different about WeHostels over finding a hostel from another hostel source, say Hostels.com or HostelWorld.com?

In addition to the handy travel app, WeHostels boasts a social element where we can check out who might also be staying at a chosen location before we get there.Like the crowd-sourcing element of other apps, the quality of that information will depend on who has and uses the WeHostels app. Still, on the hostel choices I had for Orlando, someone had checked in to three out of the four property choices. In advance of arrival I would have the name, a photo, the hometown and some other information about others I would spend the night with.

Available right now for iPhone, WeHostel plans for the launch of a general mobile site soon to enable Android users. Save more at WeHostel now; enter the code “GADLING” for $10 off.

Want to know more about WeHostels? Last June, the WeHostels product team moved together into a house in the mountains of Colombia. The team isolated from society with the goal of hacking full-time and developing the WeHostels first mobile app.


Chile’s Valle Nevado Resort Launches Early Bird Promo For North American/UK Skiers

by Laurel Miller on

One of South America’s top ski destinations is Valle Nevado, located just 20 miles east of Santiago, Chile. Already the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere, Valle offers access to over 7,000 acres of Andean terrain, as well as a full-service, self-contained resort.

North American and UK skiers can get in on some serious savings with purchase of Valle’s Early Bird Promo packages before March 15. The savings include up to 35% off on lodging, lift tickets, half-board and après ski activities.

Accommodations include three hotels ranging from budget to luxury, dining at all price points, boutiques, a spa/fitness center, and South America’s most modernized lift system, as well as a new gondola.

Valle also offers the continent’s best heli-skiing, with up to 5,000 vertical feet in one run. The resort season is June 28 to late September, so if you’re already mourning the advent of our spring, get in on this deal. Savings include 35% off stays of a minimum of three nights during specific dates; 25% off seven-night stays from July 12-19 and September 13-20; and 20% off minimum three-night stays August 2-16 (at neighboring Tres Puntas Resort only), and August 16 to September 13. Other restrictions apply.

To book a reservation or for more information, contact Valle Nevado reservations at toll-free at 1-800-669-0554 (U.S.), or 1-888-301-3248 (Canada). You can also email reservas@vallenevado.com, or click here.

[Photo credit: Azure PR]

Get inspired watching this heli-skiing clip of Valle Nevado, courtesy of PowderQuestTours:


Hotel News We Noted: January 25, 2013

by McLean Robbins on

Welcome to this week’s edition of “Hotel News We Noted,” where we round up the week’s best, most interesting and just downright odd news of note in the hospitality world. Have a tip? Send us a note or leave a comment below.

News of Note: Hotel Industry Rebounding
Good news for the hotel industry, although perhaps not so great news for consumers seeking a deal. Early reporting from Smith Travel Research show that the hotel industry is growing, perhaps even rebounding to pre-recession levels. Houston, Nashville, New Orleans and Oahu are doing particularly well.

Hotel Opening of Note: Hard Rock’s new MEGAPOLIS in Panama
Panama has been a buzzy destination of late, with openings from brands like Westin and Trump, as well as a slew of other planned developments. The latest is the 66-story Hard Rock Panama Megaopolis (originally slated for 2011), featuring 11 bars, for restaurants and a nightclub, meaning the hotel is basically a mini Las Vegas or Atlantic City in Panama. The modern decor features a graphic rock artist wall that varies by floor and “tribal tattoo” themed carpets, HOTELS Magazine reports. Colors are bright, with orange, pink and purple playing a starring role. What do you think? Would you stay here, or leave this to the cast and crew of “The Jersey Shore”?

Openings We’re Excited About: The LEGOLAND Resort
If you’re a parent and reading this, we’d suggest you hide your screen from the kids. California is getting its first LEGOLAND Resort this spring (April 5, 2013, to be exact) and Mashable has a video (OK, really more like a glorified ad) that makes us wish we were 12 again. From a pirate ship and a castle to a bar just for the adults, this first Lego hotel in the United States is sure to be a kitschy yet clever hit. Think you’ve seen this before? Maybe you have – there are other hotels outside of the U.S., and a LEGOLAND theme park in Florida.

Weird Hotel Rooms Around the Globe
We sadly can’t take credit for this great roundup, but one of our favorite parts about this column is being able to share great hotel news we find ’round the web with our readers. A thanks to The Atlantic Cities for this package on the weirdest hotel rooms found worldwide, from former prisons transformed to hotels to ice hotels and capsule rooms. Have you seen a weird room not reported on in this column? Let us know and we’ll share it next week.


Coming up, we’ll round up some of the best over-the-top Valentine’s Day packages … so if you have an idea for sweet suite-style romance, send it over.

[Image Credit: LEGOLAND California Resort]

New Survey Reveals Travelers Think Grocery Stores Offer Better Loyalty Programs Than Hotels; Airlines

by McLean Robbins on

Loyalty has gone out the window, a new Deloitte survey finds. Only eight percent of survey respondents say that they always stay at the same hotel brand, while just 14% say they always fly the same airline.

“With heightened competition and eroding customer loyalty, hotels and airlines, now, more than ever, need to focus on enhancing and personalizing the consumer experience,” said Adam Weissenberg, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and U.S. Travel, Hospitality and Leisure leader in a release.

Despite most hotel brands touting that loyalty and reward programs drive travel, these programs ranked low on the list of consumer influences – value and past experience were much higher priority items. That said, more than half of survey respondents (55%) ranked loyalty programs “high importance” for airlines and just under half (45%) ranked loyalty programs high importance for hotels.

Why? Perhaps it’s because travelers find that loyalty programs just don’t offer that much. Most consumers actually believe that grocery store loyalty programs offer more bang for their buck than their travel reward program of choice.

Deloitte researchers also suppose that travelers have become more pragmatic in light of the economy, seeking value for money, comfort and location when choosing a hotel, while on-time arrivals and departures, safety and value for money are the most important factors for choosing an airline. One thing is for sure – value rules. In this vein, half of survey respondents (49%) said that they have used flash sale sites, although most admit to booking directly (61% for hotel; 59% for air travel).

What does this mean for the consumer? Not much – yet. But it doesn’t bode well for the travel industry. Brands wanting to up their loyalty membership engagement should focus on those things that really matter to the traveler – experience and value – rather than perks that sound good on paper but offer no real benefit.

The web-based survey was commissioned by Deloitte and polled 4,000 hotel and airline customers, based on hotel stay and/or airline travel during the past 12 months.

[Image Credit: American Airlines]