Hotel Engine Corporate Lodging Platform Review
Getting affordable accommodation and lodging options that provide excellent services can take a lot of work, especially for people traveling to new places. For private travelers, this may only translate to minor inconveniences. It may also cause a significant waste of time and revenue for businesses.
Hotel Engine is one company concerned with helping businesses get the best rates for lodgings. This article will examine the platform’s features, integrations, plans and pricing, policies, and customer support options.
Hotel Engine Overview
Hotel Engine helps companies to locate and make reservations for the most competitive hotel prices. The solution attempts to give users access to fantastic deals at hotels worldwide.
After working in the tourism and hospitality industry for several years, Elia Wallen, currently the company’s chief executive, launched the platform in 2015. Today, the platform serves over 40,000 businesses and registers over 600,000 members across various industries. Hotel Engine also provides global services, featuring rates for over 700,000 hotels worldwide.
Besides the many hotels the platform offers access to, it streamlines the entire reservation process. Members can seamlessly make, book, and change hotel reservations with Hotel Engine.
In addition, the software solution provides a detailed admin dashboard with insights on travel expenses for monitoring and tracking. With managed payment options and other user controls, Hotel Engine is a modern platform for managing business travel.
Hotel Engine has already raised over $80 million from investors like Blackstone Group and Telescope Partners.
- Established: 2015
- Founder: Elia Wallen
- Office: Denver, Colorado
5 Core Features of Hotel Engine
Expert Opinion
Rating: 4.8/5
Hotel Engine offers a comprehensive suite of hotel booking features through its modern platform.
With Hotel Engine, booking is harmonized into one place. Users can access Hotel Engine’s reward program and other hotel-specific reward programs. This can help businesses save extra expenses, which are readily trackable on Hotel Engine’s managed dashboard. Hotel Engine also runs an Incidentals Coverage Program. With the program, companies can simplify incidental bills such as phone calls and room service.
Additionally, Hotel Engine gives users the option of PAYG (pay-as-you-go) or a single monthly bill. Members also receive invoices and monthly statements covering all trips.
Although it offers several payment options, Hotel Engine only provides a few more integrations besides the Expensify tool. We think Hotel Engine could use more integrations to help companies further optimize their tech stack.
Its personalized dashboard also captures travel data such as hotel stays and favorite hotels. The information provided allows you to find patterns and inefficiencies, providing a foundation for better travel decisions.
Hotel Engine also provides dedicated support options, with a 24-7 US-based team to respond to challenges through chat or phone. Email support and self-service options are also available. Besides its robust support options, Hotel Engine provides in-person training for administrators.
A challenge some people may find with its platform is that not a few hotels in smaller towns may not be included. Additionally, adding a mobile app would help with flexibility, as the platform is currently only available as a web app.
Notable Features of Hotel Engine
Hotel Engine offers several features to help businesses seamlessly integrate their lodging needs. Below, we will examine how these features facilitate business lodging and booking.
1. Global access to excellent lodging rates
Thanks to Hotel Engine, users can access thousands of hotels in more than 185 countries. This can reduce stress for organizations with international interests when employees must travel for work.
In addition to giving members access to hotels worldwide, the platform leverages its expertise and purchasing power to offer members better deals than rates available to non-members. The website allows customers to take advantage of hotel rate discounts, which helps the team save even more money.
The portal also offers opportunities to participate in brand-specific reward and loyalty programs. Additional benefits for frequent business travelers include the ability for members to earn Hotel Engine Rewards points. These offerings enable companies to reduce spending and travel costs.
2. Seamless booking and reservations
Hotel Engine provides a customized solution to ensure a smooth booking experience, whether for a sizable staff booking or just a few team members. Users may search hotels, choose one with only a few clicks, research rates and deals, and then book with a Hotel Engine account.
You only need a verified account on the platform to access the numerous deals Hotel Engine advertises on the platform. Hotel Engine additionally gives customers access to a knowledgeable travel staff for group reservations. By taking the burden off your shoulders, the team lessens the strain associated with large group reservations.
Hotel Engine also allows you to change or cancel reservations whenever the need arises. The company provides detailed information about that in its Terms of Use document. Hotel Engine offers additional details about each hotel, such as loyalty programs and cancellation rules. Such data allow users to make informed choices when reserving lodging for professional trips.
3. Speedy search and filters
The Hotel Engine platform connects its users to over 700,000 hotels worldwide. Navigating such volume with appropriate search tools makes the experience so much better. Hotel Engine ensures users can easily find their favorite hotels or the best rates by providing a search feature.
With the search tool, you can search specific hotels by searching their names in the search console. Thanks to the extensive filter tool, you can also search by location and filter down your search to target specific rates, discount options, and amenities.
4. Seamless payments from one place
Hotel Engine typically offers users several billing options. Users can pay for a room at the time of booking. Alternatively, they can opt for Hotel Engine’s Direct Bill program. Instead of making many monthly payments, program participants can pay their hotel bill in full at the end of each month.
Regarding the payment methods available, Hotel Engine supports Credit Card payments and other gateways. Hotel Engine offers invoices and monthly statements for each trip so you can track costs.
Users can export receipts and statements into a CSV or PDF file for additional analysis or accounting, making monitoring simple.
5. Admin dashboard for tracking and analytics
Hotel Engine offers a dedicated, modern dashboard to help businesses maximize their travel data. Through the dashboard, administrators can also observe all travel schedules, monitor all upcoming trips, and know hotels booked recently. This information enables you to understand company travel patterns and make critical decisions.
The dashboard also facilitates budgeting. It shows the user how much is left in the company travel budget so that you can make changes and manage expenses efficiently. The Hotel Engine dashboard also shows savings, with a snapshot of how much the business saved from discounts and reward programs.
It also provides qualitative data on hotel bookings, displaying details about the most popular hotels for your team. You can also save your team’s favorite hotels, facilitating easy rebooking for future trips.
Hotel Engine Integrations
Hotel Engine offers integrations for seamless hotel bookings, tracking, and payments. The product’s key integration is Expensify, a financial services solution for managing and tracking expenses. With Hotel Engine’s Expensify integration, users can sync travel expenses between traveling workers and the accounting team. Expensify automatically tracks expenses and creates a detailed report, which your accounting team can access.
To enable the Expensify integration, the company must have an existing Expensify account.
- Signs in to the company’s Hotel Engine account
- Opens the ‘Configuration’ tab.
- Click the ‘Connect’ button next to the Expensify integration tab.
- A prompt will pop up to sign in to the company’s Expensify account. After signing in, the process is complete.
Plans and Pricing
Hotel Engine is free across all its plans, charging only a small percentage of the hotel’s fees. Users of Hotel Engine pay no booking fees either, and no minimum spend is required. Therefore, there is no expense to the customer with the platform.
Across Hotel Engine’s plans for individual travelers, SMBs (small and medium businesses), enterprises, and government, users enjoy all features for free.
1. Individual plan
The Individual plan allows users global access to managed bookings and other perks such as rewards programs. The plan also comes with 24/7 customer support.
2. Small and medium businesses plan
The small and medium business plan has all the individual plan’s features. It also offers excellent analytics, custom fields, and admin dashboard facilities. Additionally, it can host an unlimited number of users.
3. Enterprise and government plan
This plan has all the features of the small and medium business plan and goes even further. Users on the Enterprise plan receive more personalized services, such as in-person training, dedicated account management, and single sign-on. It also offers customized onboarding services.
Plans and Features Comparision Table
| Individual | Small and medium businesses | Enterprise and government | |
| Price | Free | Free | Free |
| Global access to hotel options |  | | |
| Group bookings | | | |
| Access to hotel-specific rewards programs | | | |
| Unlimited users | – | | |
| Admin dashboard | – | | |
| Travel trend analytics and reporting | – | | |
| Custom fields and user controls | – | | |
| Historic folios | – | | |
| Direct Bill | – | | |
| Enterprise Administrator view | – | – | |
| In-person training for administrators | – | – | |
| Customized onboarding and support | – | – | |
| Dedicated account management | – | – | |
Terms and Policies
Hotel Engine’s Terms of Service govern how users access and use its services. Its terms clearly state that individuals must be 18 or older to become platform members, users, or administrators.
Individuals are also responsible for the safety of usernames, passwords, and other login data. Individuals using the platform also agree not to transfer their accounts to a third party without the company’s written consent.
Additionally, Hotel Engine’s terms of service state that refunds can only occur after the hotel has refunded the company. Where the hotel does not refund Hotel Engine, the user will not receive a refund.
It also states that Direct Bill confirmed bookings are made bi-weekly or monthly to members. Hotels may have additional terms for customers, which users of Hotel Engine agree to comply with.
Agreements are binding on companies and their staff using the platform.
Customer Support
Hotel Engine offers a variety of support options for users. Support resources include a self-help blog and FAQ section, email support, ticketing, and 24-hour live chat and telephone.
Hotel Engine’s self-help section contains information such as how to use the platform, information on group bookings, and answers to frequently answered questions.
You can also get support for urgent issues or make further inquiries through the company’s 24/7 live chat, which is available on the company’s website. Alternatively, you can share your questions or concerns with Hotel Engine by submitting a ticket on the website, and the company will reply by mail.
For urgent issues, users can call the company’s toll-free numbers:
- Ireland: + 353 1800 189 189
- UK: + 44 800 066 8697
Wrapping Up
Hotel Engine is a dedicated web platform that helps companies make bookings simple and seamless. Overall, the platform’s features, integrations, and robust support make bookings an excellent user experience. If you would like a conversation with their team, you can contact their team at comm@hotelengine.com.
Contributors: Victor Femi-Lawal (Technical Writer)