HotelTonight, the startup that lets users make same-day reservations at nearby hotels, just launched a version of its app that’s optimized for Android tablets.
When they’re thinking about tablets, startups are usually focused on the iPad, and indeed, HotelTonight launched its iPad app nearly a year ago. However, HotelTonight said that it’s responding to customer demand, and that the Android side of things is “a significant growth market,” pointing to a Gartner report last year saying that there will be 665 million tablets in use by 2016, and that Android will account for 37 percent of them.
The Android tablet app is based in part on the iPad app, and on what the company has learned about how people use it. Tablet users tend to spend more time browsing the app (particularly the larger pictures), browse more hotels, and return to the app more frequently. When I asked about how the iPad and Android tablet versions are different, a company spokesperson told that while the Android version also places a big emphasis on photos, it adds the ability to view them in either landscape or portrait mode. The interface is also designed to take advantage of Android’s 7-inch and 10-inch screens, they said.
“Many hours and cups of Blue Bottle went into building it in a way that preserves the beauty and simplicity of HotelTonight while adhering to Google’s tablet design guidelines, and we’re thrilled with the outcome,” said HotelTongiht’s lead Android engineer Justin Schultz in the announcement press release.
HotelTonight deals become available at noon local time every day, with hotels in the Basic, Hip, or Luxe categories, as well as personalized recommendations. The company said it now supports more than 80 destinations worldwide, and the app has been downloaded more than 4 million times.
You can download the Android version of HotelTonight here.
