Hotels.com Has Got It Going On

Last week I took a short vacation. It was a quick decision to go, I didn't even plan it until four days before. My first task was to book a hotel. I went to hotels.com. I have been to the site in the past, but I had never booked a room there before.


I found a great deal at a great location and I booked it. While I was at it, I signed up to receive email communication from them. I know, I know, you're shocked...

The transactional message I received had great information, more than just my reservation confirmation, there was a picture of the hotel, a link for driving directions, and the weather forecasted during our stay, which incidentally was dead on.

Yesterday I received a message from hotels.com with a request to complete a survey about my recent stay. What I liked about this message was it wasn't waiting for me when I returned. I had 1,000 other messages that required attention and waiting a few days was a nice touch. Following survey best practices, the message told me how many questions there were and how much time the survey should take (10 questions and 1 - 3 minutes). Perfect!



I have received three marketing messages from hotels.com. Maybe a bit much, but the emails look really nice. The email messages are personalized, contain several offers including an "Expert Pick" that falls above the fold. Search functionality, a link in case the functionality doesn't work, and an inviting graphical forward to a friend link at the bottom of the message.



The only area for improvement I see is the Expert pick in the latest message. I'm not sure how the pick is selected, but I was disappointed to see that the "Expert" selected a hotel that is roughly 30 miles from where I live, and about 100 miles or so from where I last booked with them.

From what I see Hotels.com has a decently thought out messaging strategy. With a clean look and lots of places to click.

Well done!