Google's new hotel finder

Google launched a new service called Hotel Finder this week, a hotel search engine with a different & rather interesting user experience (see pic below).

“To help you figure out where the action is, Hotel Finder shines a ‘tourist spotlight’ on the most visited areas of U.S. cities,” explains software engineer Andrew McCarthy. “We select an initial shape for you based on what’s most popular or you can draw a shape around the area where you want to stay, e.g. on the ocean or along Sunset Boulevard.”

“In the ‘Compared to typical’ section, you can see how each hotel’s price compares to its historical average, so you can tell if it’s good value for your stay,” he continues. “You no longer need to open a new browser tab for each hotel result, and then go hunting around for pictures. When you select a hotel in Hotel Finder, we show you a collage of images, Google Places reviews, and key information right within the list. You can even use keyboard shortcuts (“J” and “K”) to flip through the results quickly, just like in Google Reader and News.”

Google Hotel Finder is currently only available in the USA. Visit http://www.google.com/hotelfinder/ for more info and to use this new tool.

you're the best luke! you always have interesting links! thanks!

Typical Google. The motel I stayed at for 2 months and shot 10 movies and a dozen books, is not listed.

But a Google search on the motel name finds it just fine.

Google is notorious for charging for results, and listing the big ticket places.

But finally an "area" sort/filter result, rather than a text list by name or address - when we travelers have NO idea what addresses mean to an area. No idea where a city ends and a suburb begins. Or what is close to airport, train, bus.