Who’s up For Mending the Broken Travel Industry?

People who love to travel, love to plan their travel as well. In fact, it’s quite an exciting part of the travelling affair. We love to personalise our trip according to our likes and dislikes. Some like to micro plan every aspect of the journey, stay and to-do things, which is largely possible today given the number of travel websites and the information available online. Others set off wherever they wish, any day they wish to revel in the unknown. Such people like to indulge in a love — hate relationship with making decisions on the go.

A major part of the planning revolves around where-to-stay. This is the part that still needs some disruption, I believe. Online hotel booking portals abound: cleartrip.com, makemytrip.com, yatra.com, goibibo.com, tripadvisor.in, etc. You can look at the photos, check availability for your dates, read reviews, and narrow down to that perfect hotel you think fits rightly with your budget and expectations. The experience is smooth. Some websites like trivago.com even help you find all the deals available online in one place so you can make a comparison and better selection. You think you are assured of a great stay.

Let’s fast forward to the day of your travel. You navigate your way to the hotel using maps. To your surprise, the hotel or the room you had booked is nothing like the photos you had seen on the web. You had seen a beautiful room with a window, opening up to the Doon valley, a wonderful view you thought you will wake up to the next morning. None of it is there, the small window opens up to a blank white wall and the room is so small, two people can sit on the bed and bump their knees against the wall.

There is no way you would ruin your holiday by taking this room, you put so much effort in selecting this hotel! The reviews said it was fine. You made sure to call up at the hotel and confirm the availability of a good room with a view of the nature outside for your dates. Well now that’s about what you can do!

I wonder if there is any online booking portal which gives you a realistic view of what you are in store for. Any travel website startup which connects the traveler to the hotel authorities and addresses their queries? Any online place which has infrastructure for noting special requirements of the traveler like say “good view from room necessary” and providing him exactly the kind of room and services he would like?

The link between the traveler and the hotel authorities is broken; the middlemen in the form of online portals are distant, unconcerned third parties in this affair. Even if a special requirement was made to the hotel by a traveler directly, they have no way to know which booking it belongs to.

Is there a future with tailor made room renting deals?

Or there exists a better solution for such problems? Connect directly to hotel people and book a particular room that you like, not just any “executive room” that the hotel authorities wish to allot as they wish? There has to be a way to forge a direct communication between the two parties involved in this business.

Here is hoping better hospitality experiences and great stays!