MapQuest recently announced a new partnership with Priceline, which will give users the ability to book hotels directly from MapQuest search results. Per their April press release, this update includes "the ability to search, compare and book published-price hotel rooms at thousands of quality chain and independent hotels around the world. MapQuest travelers will also have access to Priceline's database of hotel specials, including instant discounts, free breakfast, free Internet access and more".
If you never thought MapQuest was a channel to pay attention to for your hotel, now is the time to change your tune.
MapQuest: Playing Favorites
It seems as though MapQuest has partnered with a number of hotel brands to specifically highlight as a user searches for hotels.
When you choose a specific brand above, it shows you the nearest hotels to your current location:
At this point, a user can get directions to the hotel, go directly to the hotel's website or book a room. These sponsored listings are pretty straight forward and take the user to the brand website to book.
What About the Other Hotel Brands on MapQuest?
If a guest is looking for a hotel outside of those sponsored brands, there is an option to search for all of the area hotels. This is more of a lion's den – and where the Priceline partnership and the optimization of your hotel's listing come into play.
Using Priceline's inventory, MapQuest shows price comparisons in search results for all area hotels:
A user can dive even deeper into a specific hotel by clicking on the hotel name to view its full MapQuest profile, which has photos, a description, Check-In/Check-Out information and more:
There are 2 ways to book from here – through the hotel website by clicking "Website" or through the Priceline network by clicking "Book Now".
In a perfect world, if a user was looking to book a hotel room from MapQuest, they would find their way to your hotel website and book directly with no cut of the revenue going to an OTA. However, the Book Now button is so much prettier! And it's telling me exactly what to do! By clicking the Book Now button, a user will be taken to the Priceline/Mapquest network atbookings.mapquest.com. The hotel information found on this network pulls directly from a hotel's listing on Priceline and Booking.com (a Priceline affiliate).
There's more… read on to learn how to make your hotel stand out
