We’d like to introduce you to another travel startup, HouseTrip.com. We met the founders Ben and Arnaud at the Google Travel Conference in Zurich back in November, and we thought you’d like to hear about them…
HouseTrip is an online platform for booking holiday apartments for short stays in top European cities. Holiday apartments are a good option if you want an alternative to a hotel, particularly if you’re in a group of family or friends, or you’re planning on staying somewhere more than a night or two. Since you get a kitchen, lounge and dining area, as well as bedrooms, there are much more options during your stay.
The problem that HouseTrip’s founders identified is that booking an apartment can be surprisingly difficult. First, you have to find a suitable apartment, and it’s hard to know where to look. Most people will start their research on Google, where you’ll find a variety of small local websites and large classified advertising sites. But the policies (such booking, payment and cancellation policies) are very varied. You will normally have to pay a substantial amount of money up front, then pay the rest of the money in advance of the stay. Some owners will accept cash on arrival, but there is normally no guarantee of what will happen if you cancel or you are unhappy when you arrive.
HouseTrip aims to simplify the process. HouseTrip handpicks their holiday apartments from sites across the internet and offers a comprehensive booking and payment solution, unlike most of their competitors, which makes booking an apartment easier and safer. Guests simply enter their dates and number of guests, then they send availability enquiries to owners to check that the dates are still available. Once they have received positive replies, guests book through HouseTrip, paying at the time of booking. HouseTrip then holds this money until after the guest has arrived at the property, leaving a minimum of 24 hours before transferring the payment to the owner. This protects the guest against fraud. HouseTrip also offers standardised cancellation policies, so if guests need to cancel, they know what the policy is.
HouseTrip won “Best Travel Startup” at the Get Funded Show @ World Travel Market held in November 2009, an award which we won at the previous event, and they are going from strength to strength. They are adding more direct booking properties all the time, which eliminates the need to send availability enquiries – these apartments can be booked immediately. It’s a really good site (we like it!), and recommend you check it out.
- Posted by Alexandru
