Airbnb announced it acquired the last-minute, hotel-booking service HotelTonight for an undisclosed amount on Thursday. HotelTonight will expand Airbnb's lodging portfolio with an on-demand booking option for boutique and independent hotels.
Airbnb said in a statement that it, "will offer guests an unparalleled last-minute travel experience that provides unique, memorable hospitality on every trip, on any schedule, at any time."
Through the acquisition, Airbnb said that by adding more boutique hotels to its online platform, it will provide "guests the authentic, local experience they have come to expect on every trip." Airbnb also hopes to offer more "choices" to its customers when looking for last-minute places to stay, building off of the acquisition's "deep relationships with boutique hotels."
According to Airbnb, it has seen a growing demand for hotels that want to offer a "truly personal hospitality." In 2018, the company doubled the number of boutique hotel, bed and breakfast, hostel, and resort rooms offered on its site while seeing guests book three times as many nights in these types of lodging compared to 2017.
Airbnb also said that nearly 90 percent of guest who first use its service to book a hotel room, return to the site for a second booking. The HotelTonight app and website will continue to operate as it previously did through the acquisition, Airbnb said.
Following the completion of the acquisition, Sam Shank, co-founder and CEO of HotelTonight, will report to Greg Greenly, Airbnb president of homes and lead on the company's boutique hotel category.
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