Krakow Start-up Bidroom Launches – Aims to Revolutionize Hotel Booking
Ever searched for a hotel online? The search results alone can be overwhelming. Wouldn’t it be amazing if hotels could find you? And even better if they could cut out booking fees?
This is exactly what Bidroom.com delivers. A new online service, co-founded by Krakow entrepreneur Mark Bradshaw, Bidroom.com asks where you want a hotel, when you want it, and a couple of details about the kind of place you’re looking for.
Rather than pulling up a list of hotels that match your criteria, Bidroom turns the standard model on its head. It contacts hotels in real time, lets them know you’re looking for a room, and invites them to offer their best price.
The clever part is that each hotel can see what other hotels are offering, and adjust their bids. A 24-hour countdown keeps hotels and potential clients focussed on reaching a deal, with the hotels doing the work.
How Bidroom.com works
For Mark Bradshaw, the great advantage of Bidroom for both hotels and their clients is that it cuts out a huge cost – the commission charged by middlemen like booking.com, expedia, or hotels.com.
“For years we have been hearing hotels’ complaints about the horrendous commissions they’ve been paying to booking sites – in some cases up to 25 percent,” said Mark, “It’s absurd. No other industry allows itself to be pushed around so much by the middlemen.”
Bidroom’s Michael Ros explained: “Since Bidroom is absolutely free for hotels and clients, hotels can pass on the savings to their customers. We’ve dumped the useless middlemen entirely and empowered hotels and travellers to communicate directly with one another.”
So, how do they plan to make money? “Right now, we’re focussed on making customers and hotels happy”, says Casper Knieriem, Bidroom.com’s financial brains. “We’ll be happy if we, our families and friends can finally get a good deal. Facebook, Twitter, Skype – they’ve all shown they can provide a great service without any charge. We’ll do the same.”
Is this really based in Krakow? The contact information shows an address and telephone number in London.
A UK-registered company, operating in Krakow – they are not unusual.
Good to see the Krakow Post getting to the story before The Guardian!
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/jan/23/bidroom-the-site-where-hotels-compete-for-guests
I interviewed with them for an internal position. Very unprofessional people.