With your bags packed and kids in tow, you finally arrive at your hotel. You check-in, only to realize the partial ocean view room you splurged for has a better view of the parking lot and you can only see the ocean if you lean over the balcony. If you’ve ever experienced the post-booking blues upon arrival to your hotel room, then Room 77 may be just the ticket.
Room 77, a new site that launched today, bills itself as the world’s first hotel room database and search engine. Room 77 focuses on three to five star properties and provides travelers with specific details about each hotel room at a property, including the room category, square footage, bed type, elevator proximity and if it has a connecting room.
The new service helps you take a closer look at the actual room you are booking, and make a more informed request to book that perfect hotel room. Room 77 is currently in public beta and has indexed data on more than 425,000 hotel rooms in 2,500 properties, in more than 16 destinations in North America and the United Kingdom.
Find the Perfect Hotel Room for Your Family
Request a room tips (click to enlarge)
For families traveling with young kids, having the right hotel room can make or break a vacation. One of my favorite Room 77 features is the Room Rank feature that allows you to input your preferences, including high or low floor, distance from elevator, view importance and need for connecting rooms. Each room is then scored with a color-coded match percentage indicating: “strong match” (green), “fair match” (yellow) and “weak match” (red). These colors also correspond to an interactive floor plan map that highlights each room’s precise location within the hotel. Once preferred rooms are identified, Room 77 makes it easy for you to turn this data into action through its “Request a Room” link (located at the top of each page next to the hotel’s information). This section reveals helpful insider tips on how to request room(s) directly from the hotel and increase the probability of securing that perfect room.
“When traveling with your family it is even more important to know exactly what room you are going to get,” said Kevin Fleiss, Room 77’s GM and VP of Product said in a recent interview. “We take the mystery out of booking a great hotel room.”
At the Front Desk
The Room 77 iPhone App also comes in handy before and during check-in. You can call ahead to request a specific room, or when you arrive, you can enter your room number and Room 77 instantly advises if you should “take it” or “leave it” based on your saved preferences.
You can’t book a hotel room on Room 77 yet, but you can help the service add more hotels to its service with its mobile “sleuth it” feature. If you come across a hotel that doesn’t have any information in Room 77, upload a photo of the floor map (usually posted on the back of your hotel door), and enter your room and floor number and they will input it for future travelers to find the perfect room. Room 77 also links you directly to the hotel to make a reservation.
Room 77 expects to add new features, data, mobile platforms and cities in the months ahead. The 16 destinations with concentrated data at launch include: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Maui, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.