This site advocated a Yapta for hotels in June last year and is pleased to note that Yapta has done just that recently.

CNET reports that "Online travel shopping service, Yapta, announced Friday that it has launched a new hotel price tool that will allow users to track and compare pricing on national and international hotel rooms.

According to the company, users will be able to choose the hotel they're interested in and then sign up to be alerted when rates drop. The site checks the hotel prices daily and compares them to find similar properties.

Once a customer's specified threshold of affordability is reached, they can be alerted to the price drop and acquire a room. The tool is available now".

As noted last year on this site "Such a trend (as when Orbitz announced last year that it will reimburse some customers if airfare later falls) can have material consequences for hotels, most of whom practice the yield management of yore. So far, there is no YAPTA (an acronym for our "Amazing Personal Travel Assistant") for hotels as hotels' "best rate guarantees" usually pertain to the period when booked.

Some such as Marriott's "Look No Further® Best Rate Guarantee" have a 24 hour period for the prospective guest within which a better rate, if found, is the chain not only matches the price but gives a further 25% discount. But no nationally recognized hotel chain leaves that period open ended like the airlines have begun to do.

Were that to happen, no doubt in response to straitened economic times, there is little doubt that a YAPTA like site, if not YAPTA itself will emerge".

Yapta certainly seems to have its ear to the ground and is ahead of the curve in discerning customers' needs.

Vijay is Chief Operating Officer and part-founder of Apple Core Hotels- a chain of 5 midtown Manhattan hotels offering value and comfort in the heart of the city.Member of the board of Directors - Hotel Association of New York.

www.vijaydandapani.com