Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Finding Hotels on Google Maps

Cheaperthanhotels

Travel website Cheaperthanhotels have today unveiled a new Google Maps interface that allows travellers to compare hotel prices and locations at the same time. Apart from a few teething problems (some very weird things happen when you view the site in FireFox and Yosemite National Park has been mapped just off the coast of Nigeria) this is a good implementation of using Google Maps to search for hotels.

By combining their own dynamic pricing technology and the Google Maps API, Cheaperthanhotels enables travellers to search for accommodation using a variety of criteria and then display the appropriate hotels on a Google Map alongside the average prices.

Along with price and location comparison, the maps also incorporate:
  • A route planner – specify a journey between two or more points then view hotel options and prices mapped out along the route
  • Distance calculators – see how long it takes to travel – by foot or car - between a hotel and key attractions and/or other properties
  • Advanced filters – filter search results through a range of criteria (including hotel facilities) to pinpoint the most relevant properties
  • Google search – explore dining and entertainment options around each hotel using Google Search
Cheaperthanhotels also uses Google Street View, where available, so it is possible to get a view of the outside of the hotel and get an idea of the locale.

Via: infonews.co.nz

________________

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Keir , We are expecting a V2 very shortly that will address issues with other browsers. The one thing we grapple with is the address data that we're provided with by hotels and Google's interpretation of the address and regions.

City Data in key areas is generally better. We're intending to come up with some workarounds to try and get those regions to plot better as well without creating an enormous data task.

Anonymous said...

.... oh ... and i couldn't help myself , if you choose some of the sub locations in Yosemite , and then select the hotels on the right column , the hotels will plot onto a map of the location , with indicative pricing , by yes , more work certainly to be done , but a good start by the development crew here.

Anonymous said...

Really interesting article. I would suggest to try a new hotel search on google maps