GroupBookers
Your name: Nancy Chen-Salgado
Company/Tool Name: GroupBookers
Website: www.GroupBookers.com
Twitter: @GroupBookers
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GroupBookers
What is the “problem” that your tool seeks to solve?
Hotel websites are primarily designed for individual travelers. What if you need to book more than 10 rooms and/or a meeting space? It is a time-consuming and daunting process. After spending hours on the Internet researching hotels that can accommodate your group, it can take even longer to contact each individual hotel, gather group specific info and fill out numerous RFPs. Then, getting all the hotel proposals not only takes several days but having to decipher and compare them in their distinct formats also takes time. In all, this whole process is inefficient and frustrating.
GroupBookers.com aims to simplify this process by allowing you to search and filter hotels based on your group’s needs, all on one site. After selecting your ideal hotels, just fill out one RFP that then gets sent to the hotels. Within 24 hours, you’ll receive offers that can easily be compared side by side.
What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?
The site is versatile in its ability to connect any planner looking to produce an event to a hotel that can actually host their event. However, we expect a good portion of our business to come from planners of all experience levels, who are looking to book mid-size events and group stays.
What does your tool help event planners do better?
Most importantly, GroupBookers.com will cut down on wasted time and frustration by streamlining the daunting task of finding and researching a hotel. Not only will the process be simplified and more efficient, but this will also help the planner select the right hotel for their group.
How is your tool different from/better than the competition?
We’re focused entirely on the user experience for both the planner and the hotelier.
? Ease of use: Straightforward and intuitive
? Relevant content: Info important to planners, such as capacity charts, room type counts, etc.
? Visually appealing: Clean and simple design with large, high impact images
? Customer Service: Available via live chat and email responses guaranteed by end of day
What is the single coolest feature of GroupBookers?
The certified reviews and ratings system is our coolest feature. To date, there are no sites that allow planners to rate hotels on things that actually matter to them. The rating system will give planners perspective in ways they would not otherwise have. Further, by certifying each and every review (anonymous or not), the ratings will maintain a level of professionalism that is not present on many of the current travel rating sites. This means we will contact the hotel to verify a group’s stay before we post the review.
Anything else we need to know?
We will be launching a private beta in a few weeks! To become a private beta tester, please sign-up at GroupBookers.com and like us on Facebook. You can also reach me directly at nancy@groupbookers.com or on linkedin.com/in/nchensalgado.
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Group Bookers - Life Saver!
Response: Hotel group booking and event venue rental might seem like an easy task. However, it could easily turn into a nightmare, as I learned from my experience. As the senior VP of the Marketing Association, I was in charge of planning the graduation for the marketing department with over 800 attendees. I used a website that was supposed to contact the venues of my choice. The experience turned out to be a disappointment. After filling countless forms and summiting them over the Internet, I grew upset because the venues didn’t call me back. I decided to take matters into my own hands and I personally called the venues. Not only calling them was time consuming, but also it was very frustrating because several venues didn’t contact me at all. This whole process wasted about 3 weeks of time. GroupBookers simplified this nightmarish experience into a painless and seamless process. Just fill out 1 form, which will be sent out to your hotels and venues of choice and get a response within 24 hours—all for free!! I wish I could have used GroupBookers for booking my venue!
