Why can’t hotel websites properly map their property locations?


I’m headed to Istanbul tomorrow and, as is often my habit, I’m looking over the plans I’ve made and considering changing them. Specifically, I’m looking at changing my hotel. I’m currently booked in what appears to be a pretty solid option in a great location in the Sultanhamet neighborhood but I’m always looking for other options. And with three nights in town I don’t feel all that guilty about hopping to another hotel for part of the stay.

And, while I don’t generally love the site, I figured I’d give RoomKey.com another chance, just to see if they had something I hadn’t otherwise considered. I switched to the map view and zoomed in on the Taksim Square area and was ecstatic to find a property listed at $120 all in. That’s a tremendous bargain for a decent quality property in that neighborhood.

I cannot express how happy I am I didn’t book it.

I decided to cross-check the rate, just to see if there was anything similar available on my favorite booking site, hotels.com, so I could also get my booking rebate and WelcomeRewards credit. Hotels.com had the same property listed but when I zoomed in on the map there I didn’t see hotel. So I took the address and headed over to Google Maps to figure out which one is correct. Point A is where RoomKey mapped it; Point B is from Hotels.com.

image

Only 4 kilometers off. And nowhere near mass transit options. No big deal, right!?

I’m really, really happy I didn’t change my reservation. I’m also still reasonably convinced that RoomKey.com sucks.

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Seth Miller

I'm Seth, also known as the Wandering Aramean. I was bit by the travel bug 30 years ago and there's no sign of a cure. I fly ~200,000 miles annually; these are my stories. You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

8 Comments

    1. Problem with a discount code is that, per the rules, it precludes WelcomeRewards credit. That’s worth 10% back so I’d need the discount to be better than that to want to use the code. I’ll take the 5% booking rebate through my link above plus the 10% WelcomeRewards rebate just about every time.

  1. Seth, good to know that tomorrow you’re heading to one of my favorite international cities. I really look forward to reading the trip report that will follow. Have an awesome time!

  2. Wow, big difference proving it’s important to check what’s important to you. Cant wait to hear your trip report and even more, can’t wait ’till I return to IST in Feb.

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