Customization Hits Travel Booking: Hotel Rates Based on Your Social Network & Loyalty Programs

There's a new travel booking start-up that aims to capitalize on the popularity of social networking, loyalty programs and personalization.  The booking site, Hotelied, offers customized discounts on a limited collection of luxury hotels in select markets based on your social and loyalty footprint. 

When you sign up you're asked to link up your social network profiles as well as airline and hotel loyalty programs.  The amount of a discount you're able to receive appears to be based in part by how many program and networks you've linked up to your Hotelied profile.  The site is equipped with a personalization engine that appears to run algorithms to suggest hotels based on your profile.

According to the site, the personalization allows hoteliers to restrict their discounts to specific guest profiles they're aiming to attract while giving you access to unpublished lower rates:

Hotels are willing to offer discounts to influencers: individuals from high profile industries, desirable markets, or frequent travelers. The information you provide to Hotelied allows us to match you with those hotels that want you as a guest.

Hotelied's profile completion and personalized discount rate

While I haven't personally booked a hotel yet, I am intrigued.  After signing up tonight, the first hotel that was offered to me was Como Metropolitan in Miami.  It's a relatively new luxury hotel that friends of mine recently visited and have highly recommended to me.  In terms of discount, the site indicated that I'd have access to up to a 40% discount.

Through Como's direct booking engine, a stay of one night on October 5 was pricing at $330
excluding taxes and fees with a 72-hour cancellation policy (the $311 rate was pre-paid):

Como's direct booking engine offered a rate of $330

Via the Hotelied site, I was being offered a rate of $234 with the same 72-hour cancellation policy, for a savings of 29%.  While it's not as much the max discount cited, that's a hefty savings especially since it still honors the 72-hour prior to check-in cancellation.

Hotelied offered me a "personalized" discount of 29%

The site indicates that the participating hotels will be upscale or luxury class lifestyle brands and independently owned hotels.  You can't rely on it for all your travel needs since as of tonight I only saw hotels being sold for NYC, Miami, Los Angeles and Portland.

The company was founded by a former Cornell Hospitality Administration alum with hotel & real estate acquisition experience as well as a former Goldman Sachs portfolio manager.

I'd keep an eye on this site as it could be great for some luxury experiences at attractive rates, but at present the inventory is too limited to be used as a primary portal for hotel discounts.  I was pleasantly surprised that the first hotel recommended to me was one that I have been intrigued by recently and also offered at a 29% discount!

Tip of the hat to my friend Joe for making me aware of Hotelied.