Six major hotel chains want you to book rooms on their websites rather than through online travel agencies. Witness the birth of Roomkey.com.
The website, which went live this week, reveals search results for whatever these chains offer in a given city, then links you directly to the appropriate individual site for booking. A nice feature: Roomkey.com shows you the room rate and estimated taxes/fees with the initial search results. Bravo! It does not include customer reviews.
The founding chains are Choice Hotels International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, Inc. and Wyndham Hotel Group. Best Western became the first commercial partner. CEO John F. Davis told HotelNewsNow.com that the groups represent at least 23,000 hotels, with a goal of reaching 80,000 properties by the end of 2012.
As with airlines, hotel executives want you to book products from their sites whenever possible. In theory, Roomkey.com greatly increases the odds of that desired scenario for these chains. But it has some obvious drawbacks for travelers. You won't find independent hotel properties listed here, only rooms in participating chain hotels. That's a big disadvantage in some destinations, especially for budget travelers on vacation.
There are estimates that the hotel industry pays online travel agencies billions of dollars each year to market rooms. If those marketing rates are lowered, will we as travelers pay smaller hotel bills?
It's a question worth pondering, and Roomkey.com is a website worth watching. You can be certain the online travel agencies will keep a close eye on this in the months to come.
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