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. 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 at bookings.mapquest.com. The hotel information found on this network pulls directly from a hotel’s listing on Priceline and Booking.com (a Priceline affiliate).
So, How Do I Make My Hotel Stand Out?
Great question! In order to be fully optimized on MapQuest, hoteliers need to do 3 things.
1. Claim & update your hotel listing on MapQuest
Search for your hotel on MapQuest. If it hasn’t been claimed already, you’ll have the option to Claim this Business:
Once you’ve gone through the steps to claim your business, be sure all of your hotel information is correct and up to date. Take this opportunity to add a hotel description, photos and a YouTube video from your perfectly optimized YouTube channel.
2. Update your hotel information on Priceline
If you need to remove outdated photos, add new amenities or update any of your hotel information on Priceline, just drop them a line. There is no extranet to manage your Priceline listings, but the content team can make any necessary updates. Shoot an email with your updated hotel details to merchantupdates@priceline.com, and you’ll be that much closer to full optimization!
3. Update your hotel information on Booking.com
Login to the Booking.com Extranet to update your hotel information. From here, you can submit new photos or remove outdated photos, add hotel amenities, update room descriptions and details or request updates to your hotel description. The description that displays on your hotel’s bookings.mapquest.com listing pulls directly from Booking.com, so be sure all of the information is correct.
Now you’re set! Your hotel is going to look great on MapQuest, and hopefully you’ll get a boost on your Priceline and Booking.com listings as well. The more complete and up to date your hotel listings are across the web, the more appealing your hotel will be to potential guests during their online research and booking phases. The OTA and Local Search landscape is always changing, so hoteliers need to be aware of how their hotel looks on the different channels and keep its information up to date. No one wants to lose business to a competitor across the street for something as simple as an out-of-date MapQuest listing!
