Hotel ecommerce service provider Travelclick Inc. has teamed with mobile travel applications developer Mobiata to launch the new free mobile commerce application StayHip.

StayHip, the first bookable application for boutique hotels, features hundreds of hotels across more than 170 cities in 45 countries worldwide and is available for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch, as well as Google’s Android. 

“The partnership makes perfect sense—Travelclick is a leader in providing intelligence, distribution and digital agency solutions to drive hotel revenue and enhance guest experience,” said John Hach, senior vice president of digital at Travelclick, Chicago. “Mobiata is the leading developer for mobile travel apps for that same guest group.

“The goal is to provide a unique hotel-populated app based on the marketing needs of non-chain hotels that are looking to target a niche consumer and stand out amongst the saturated hotel-booking market,” he said. “The word ‘hip’ reflects the hotels included in the app.

“Each hotel has aspects about it that personifies urban, contemporary and, of course, hip.”

In addition to StayHip, Mobiata has created FlightTrack Lite, FlightTrack Pro, HotelPal and TripDeck.

Hip commerce app
Today, nearly two-fifths of smartphone owners are researching leisure travel on their mobile devices, according to Web analytics company Compete Inc., while more than one-fourth have used their phone to book a hotel room.

Mobile booking revenue for hotels is expected to surge to $76 million in 2010.

The partnership combines mobile application design from Mobiata with hotel search experience and booking technology from Travelclick to create an application designed for a niche community of travelers who want to search for and book a more stylish or chic hotel stay experience.

The target demographic of StayHip is on-the-go travelers and mobile-reliant consumers who particularly enjoy the boutique hotel experience

“StayHip allows them to search only the type of hotels they want so they don’t have to scroll through tons of non-desirable options,” Mr. Hach said.

StayHip offers mobile guests multiple ways to search for hotels, including search by city name, price or keyword—for example, contemporary, luxurious or urban.

The “Hotels Near Me” feature on StayHip instantly finds the nearest boutique hotels using guests’ GPS location. 

Each hotel listing features property details, including a description, photo gallery with images viewable at full screen with one touch, as well as streaming video.

StayHip users can also choose to view rates, room types and availability—all accessed in real-time within the application.

When a guest decides to book a stay, the booking is completed 100 percent within the application.

Email confirmations are sent based on the user’s personal contact information.

Guests have the option to share their booking information with friends on Facebook and Twitter.

For future reservations, user information is stored on the user’s device for a faster, more efficient booking process.

StayHip works with iHotelier, the Central Reservation System platform from Travelclick, providing a reservations service for boutique hotels targeting guests in the mobile space.

Consumers can access the app at http://www.mobiata.com/stayhip, as well as in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market.

In addition to StayHip, Travelclick’s mobile platform also includes mobile Web sites, mobile booking engines and mobile advertising—all designed to help hotels reach the rapidly expanding mobile market.

There are currently no paid search placements. StayFit operates on a commission-per-booking model.

“In conjunction with the StayHip going live on the iTunes store last Monday, both companies will be using their respective strengths to increase awareness for the app,” said Ben Kazez, president of Mobiata, Ann Arbor, MI.

“Travelclick is working with hotels featured in the application to promote the app via badges and banner ads on their sites and their social media outlets to communicate their presence on the StayHip community,” he said.

“Mobiata will be cross-promoting using our extensive mobile consumer-base as well.”