Dallas—Last year, six of the world’s leading hoteliers came together to create Room Key, a search engine that would deliver relevant hotel information tailored for ease of hotel shopping. In keeping with its mission, the site released Room Key Hotel Travel Pulse, a survey of 1,001 respondents that explored what people are looking for in booking hotels online.
“There were three major takeaways that we gleaned from the survey: Value is king, with Americans searching beyond great rates for value adds, travelers seek a trusted partner for the hotel search and book journey and easy-to-use and clutter-free sites would help speed up the hotel/book search process,” Stephany Verstraete, CMO of Room Key, told Hotel Business. “We were pleased to see that what matters most to consumers ladders up to what the industry has created Room Key to deliver.”
In keeping with post-recession trends, the findings revealed that travelers are consistently seeking value when making travel plans. The survey showed that 33% of those researching hotels online are worried that they are not getting the best deal.
“Value reigns supreme, and it’s something we deliver everyday at Room Key. The survey underscored the fact that today’s traveler is savvy—looking beyond room rates to perks that only the hotels can bring to the table such as value-add amenities, the ability to earn coveted loyalty points and control over room choice or type (such as ocean view, or two double beds),” explained Verstraete. “Room Key’s experience makes it easy for consumers to compare the full value equation each hotel has to offer.”
The most startling result of the survey was the realization that Americans spend upwards of 15 hours per booking occasion researching hotels.
“In the industry, we are aware that consumers visit multiple sites in their search process and we know this is frustrating for consumers,” Verstraete said. “It’s not something they are doing because they want to, necessarily, but we didn’t realize just how much time they were spending doing this.”
In fact, when respondents were asked about their frustrations with booking hotels online, 22% of those surveyed named “the time it took to search multiple websites” as their greatest concern. When asked for possible solutions, more than half of the travelers suggested a more user-friendly hotel search and booking website, 40% wanted a clearer picture on the hotel’s amenities and the same percentage also wanted to easily identify the distance from the hotel to main attractions. Another 35% preferred easier access to third-party/user reviews.
According to Verstraete, these are all needs that Roomkey.com fulfills for consumers during their search and book process, as it offers a clutter-free site, advanced mapping technology, robust amenities information (including the ability to search for and compare hotels based on amenities), and integrated consumer reviews.
Another worry, the survey revealed, was with travelers struggling to trust the information they uncover during their hotel search and booking journey. Not being able to trust the information available online and that their room or hotel would be as expected, was cited by 41% of travelers as a concern. Additionally, 18% fret there will be a hidden fees sand 16% fear the location will not be what they expected.
“Room Key offers travelers peace of mind by providing accurate, transparent details direct from the source—the hotels themselves,” Verstraete said. “Instead of worrying that their hotel reservations might get lost, requests like two double beds or an ocean view might not make it to the hotel or canceling might be complicated, guests using Roomkey.com book direct with hotels and feel confident that their reservation is secure with the hotel and their stay preferences will be honored. They also know that they will get what they expect and trust that they won’t be hit with hidden fees or charges.”
As it moves into its second year, Room Key is committed to helping travelers find the right hotel, and will be utilizing the experience and background of its founders to make hotel shopping the best it can be. Room Key also enables guests to book directly with hotels, thus ensuring the consumer’s loyalty points are earned and room preferences are honored whenever possible.
“With hospitality in our DNA and our singular focus on hotels, Room Key has been committed to understanding and delivering what today’s hotel guest wants in a hotel search and book experience,” Verstraete said. “May marks our one-year anniversary, so we conducted this survey to commemorate this milestone with an in depth look at travelers’ preferences.”
In early May, Room Key released another study focusing on summer travel habits for the 2013 season, examining data such as how many nights Americans will stay in hotels this year, what types of trips they have planned, who they are traveling with and more.