This month’s roundup of the most interesting and innovative hotel apps includes offerings from La Quinta Inn & Suites, Google Translate, Hotel Tonight, Calliflower and iRiS Valet.
Editor’s note: Each month, HotelNewsNow.com’s Samantha Worgull highlights the five best, most interesting, unique and otherwise downright cool apps in the hotel space.
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La Quinta Inn & Suites
Brand booking apps are a dime a dozen these days, but La Quinta Inn & Suites’ newest update to its application showcases an innovative new feature that stands out from the pack. Dubbed “LQ Instant Hold,” the feature allows guests to search and hold rooms for up to four hours with nothing more than a mobile number. The service, which debuted on La Quinta’s mobile website and has now made its way to the app, is designed for last-minute bookers and on-the-go guests who don’t want to stop to dig out their credit cards and enter the pesky 16-digit codes.
Available in: App Store
Cost: Free
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Google Translate
Hoteliers are no strangers to the dreaded language barrier between international travelers and staff. The Google Translate app is an easy way to help eliminate that problem. With this app, users can translate 64 different languages through text and speak and translate 17 different languages. So the next time the front-desk staff is having trouble telling the international traveler where the closest gas station is, they can type it into Google Translate. The app even allows for full-screen display mode of the translations to make it easier to show guests.
Available in: App Store, Android
Cost: Free
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Hotel Tonight
Hotel Tonight already has made waves in the United States with its slick presentation and cost-crushing, last-minute booking structure. But now the infamous app is headed to the United Kingdom, bolstered with an additional $23 million in funding from investors. For my colleagues across the pond who aren’t yet familiar with this channel, Hotel Tonight picks the three best deals in a participating city per night and makes them available to users until 2 a.m. local time. The app also features 24/7 customer-service support; users can chat via phone, email or by using app-chat function. While it might not yield the highest dividends for your bottom line, Hotel Tonight is certainly gaining traction with the traveling public. Its ease of use has garnered this app close to a 5-star rating in the App Store—and that’s with 5,453 ratings.
Available in: App Store, Android
Cost: Free
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Calliflower
Calliflower is unlike any app we’ve featured before—and not just because of the $50 monthly subscription charge. The impressive tool allows users to host online meetings, webinars and conference calls for up to 100 people at a time. It even allows users to send invitations and schedules the meeting in invitees’ calendars. Other nifty features include unlimited use and document sharing, as well as a reach that stretches to 34 countries and 180 cities. Talk about getting what you pay for!
Available in: App Store
Cost: $50 per month, unlimited
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iRiS Valet and Mobile Valet
iRiS Valet, which launched at last week’s HITEC conference, allows guests to view—and, more importantly, book!—the complete range of facilities and services at a hotel. The multi-lingual app replaces the traditional guest welcome pack with up-to-date, live destination information, such as the hotel menus, spa availability, chef specials, local maps and attractions, festivals and events, opening times, even airport and flight information. Changes can be made on the fly, so hoteliers can update the app with new messages or promotions to drive incremental revenue. Even better? The app is fully integrated with most IPTV, POS and PMS, plus external Web-based bookings and reservations systems.
Available in: App Store, Android
Cost: According to Jason Jeffreys with iRiS, the app has a start-up fee of $10,000 and a monthly fee of $5. The company shares with hoteliers any revenue received from advertisers.
