A new travel Web site called hotelbook.com(TM) dedicated to helping travelers discover and book unique, independent hotels around the world was officially launched today by Pegasus Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq:PEGS), the company that first pioneered online hotel booking in 1994.
Focused on independent hotels that have unique personalities and small hotel groups with one-of-a-kind properties, hotelbook.com features rich search criteria that allow travelers to identify the best possible hotels to meet their travel needs.
"Although many travelers are loyal to the major chains, some prefer to stay at independent hotels," explained Pegasus COO Bob Boles. "Additionally, some of the more exotic destinations around the world do not have major chains represented. For these reasons, we designed hotelbook.com to allow travelers who want something special in their accommodations to find hotels with their preferred amenities quickly using a combination of more than 30 separate search criteria."
Search criteria at hotelbook.com include country, city and region, as well as:
-- Type of location such as city center, rural/country, mountain, lakeside, beach or airport;
-- Hotel style including small hotel, chic/boutique, luxury, apartment or resort;
-- Things to do such as golf, water sports, skiing, spa/beauty, racket sports, fishing, casino or dancing; and
-- Amenity options including swimming pool, bar, business center, disability services, fitness center, Internet access, pets allowed, restaurant, room service and parking.
Using these rich criteria, travelers can search a database of some 5,000 unique hotels -- including both luxury and value hotels -- and immediately book them online and receive real-time confirmation. They also have the option to save them for future reference in a "My Hotels" section of the site, allowing for quick access to previous search results to enhance the decision-making process.
"Consumers are becoming more comfortable booking their accommodations online," Boles noted. "In fact, online hotel bookings now account for one in five bookings, up from one in 12 just three years ago. Hotelbook.com enables independent hoteliers, who have a uniquely valuable product to offer, to compete with the major brands in attracting these travelers -- especially those who have a more independent spirit and who are looking for something different."
Hotelbook.com also provides detailed destination information for locations where it has hotels, including information on local events, climate, airlines that serve the destination, passport and visa requirements, and currency rates. The site includes hotels in 144 different countries and 1,564 cities, with 2,000 of them in the Americas, 2,500 in Europe and more than 500 in the Asia/Pacific region.
Pegasus defines an independent or boutique hotel as one that is not affiliated with any corporately run, franchise or chain program. The hotels may be members of small groups, but the name of the hotel is generally unique to that hotel. Hotelbook.com is promoted as The Official Site of Independent Hotels, and with its tagline, asks travelers to "Stay Independent."
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