rewrite this title What to Know Before Booking with Hotel Tonight – NerdWallet

HotelTonight is a hotel booking app and website designed for travelers who need a place to stay on short notice. It specializes in last-minute hotel deals, offering unsold rooms at discounted rates — sometimes significantly lower than standard pricing.

That makes the platform a strong option for spontaneous trips, unexpected travel disruptions or same-day bookings. However, the savings come with trade-offs. Most reservations are nonrefundable, room selection is limited and available inventory is typically smaller than what you’ll find on traditional booking platforms like Expedia or Booking.com.

Here’s what you should know before booking with HotelTonight.

HotelTonight is designed for travelers looking for a room on short notice — usually the same day or within a few days of arrival. Hotels contract with the platform to list unsold rooms at discounted rates, and the biggest price drops are found closer to check-in. That makes HotelTonight a potentially great tool to save on unplanned, last-minute stays.

For example, the app could be useful if your flight is delayed or canceled, you’re working late in a big city and don’t want to commute home, or you’ve taken a spontaneous trip somewhere and need a last-minute hotel. However, if you’re planning a trip in advance, you’ll probably find better selection and pricing with a traditional booking site.

One of the biggest trade-offs for receiving a discounted hotel room with HotelTonight is a stricter cancellation policy. Most bookings are nonrefundable and can’t be changed once they’re made. If you’re immediately heading to the hotel after booking, that may not be a problem, but if your plans might change, you might do better finding a room with a more generous refund policy.

Only hotels that partner with HotelTonight will be available through the app. That makes the hotel selection relatively limited compared to other platforms. If you’re looking to stay in a specific neighborhood or at a particular property, you’ll probably find more selection with a different platform.

My hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, has over 400 hotels in the immediate vicinity of the city. I used HotelTonight to search for a midweek, one-night stay and the platform only showed 16 available properties. By comparison, the same search on Booking.com returned 52 available properties. Of those 16 properties, 10 hotels were up to 23% cheaper on HotelTonight, while six were up to 31% more expensive.

HotelTonight lets you search for rooms by number of beds and groups available properties into categories like basic, hip, luxe and high-roller, rather than offering traditional search filters. You also typically won’t be able to select your room type and will be assigned at check-in. This can be fine if you’re not particular and need a room quickly, but it may feel limiting if you like to know exactly what you’re booking.

A new feature with HotelTonight is the ability to earn 10% back in Airbnb credits on qualifying stays. Airbnb credits expire one year from the date of checkout from the hotel and may have other restrictions. To earn Airbnb credits, you must link your Airbnb account to your HotelTonight account. Once connected, credits will automatically be deposited into your Airbnb account.

If you book through HotelTonight and find a lower price elsewhere for the same hotel room, HotelTonight will issue you the price difference in credits towards a future stay. The lower rate must be publicly available and for the same dates, in the same room type and with the same cancellation policy. Additionally, the lower price must be found and submitted for review within a certain time after booking through HotelTonight:

Possibly. HotelTonight could be a good choice for your next stay if you are booking at the last minute, don’t mind paying for a nonrefundable room and aren’t particular in choosing your room type. The ability to earn 10% back in the form of Airbnb credits could also be lucrative for travelers who book short-term rentals. But if you prefer to have more control over the property you select and the room you stay in, you’ll probably do better booking directly with the hotel or through a traditional online travel agency.

About the author

Craig Joseph is a NerdWallet credit cards and travel rewards expert. He has degrees in geology from West Virginia University and oceanography from Oregon State University and has published in academic journals, newspapers and blogs. Craig is passionate about personal finance and wants to enhance the financial literacy of everyone he meets. He’ll probably also try to convince you why rocks are cool.