The world’s most comprehensive hotel search engine includes the unique‘Every Hotel on Earth’ program

Kayak, the world’s largest travel search website, today announced the addition of hotel search to the UK site, following the successful launch of Kayak.co.uk’s flight search and Buzz product earlier this year. UK travellers will now have access to online travel’s most comprehensive database of hotels.

While other travel websites only sell the products that make them money, Kayak’s ‘Every Hotel on Earth’ program is a promise to provide travellers with details of any hotel, anywhere in the world. Consumers and hoteliers can easily add a hotel to Kayak’s extensive database, including hotels without a computer reservation system. Today the database includes more than 158,000 hotels, 15,070 of which are user or hotelier added. As with air, Kayak’s MultiBook™ technology allows travellers to choose where to make their purchase, directly from the hotel, from an online travel agency or through a consolidator.

To enhance the quality of its information, Kayak offers an ‘accuracy promise’ to ensure that every hotel is presented on the site with correct and trustworthy information. Additionally, anyone can request an edit to a hotel listing if, for instance, the pool is closed for renovations or parking is no longer free. Kayak verifies the information before editing the listing.

Steve Hafner, CEO and co-founder of Kayak says “At Kayak, we understand the importance of choosing the right hotel, and believe consumers are entitled to see all the estimated 300,000 hotels worldwide, not just the 15% that are marketed through other travel sites. Travellers consider several variables while searching for hotels and only Kayak offers a comprehensive list of options and the filtering tools needed to quickly and easily narrow in on the perfect hotel.”

Kayak.co.uk also uses a mash-up with Google Earth to integrate search results so consumers can see the exact location of any hotel. Users can then check the satellite image to see exactly how close they really are to the beach or airport, or use the ‘custom address’ link to choose a minimal distance from a specific address or location.

The Hotel search includes the same award-winning sorting and filtering tools as available when searching for flights:

*Distance: Use the drop-down menu to search for distance from a landmark, such as a museum or train station, or specify the address of a friend’s home or business meeting. The results are integrated with the Google Maps.

*Sliders: Consumers can set a minimum or maximum price to fit their budget.

*Star Ratings: Kayak averages star ratings from across the Internet to provide objective rankings.

*Brand: Submit the name of a hotel or use the drop-down menu to search by brand. Travellers participating in a loyalty rewards program can search for hotels across the parent company. For instance select Starwood to see all Starwood-owned brands.

*Check boxes for Amenities, Property Type and Neighbourhood allow users to choose one option or cherry pick multiple options.

*Hotel Details: Click on the ‘details’ link to access photos, hotel overview and a list of amenities. Need more advice? Click on relevant links to read consumer reviews and articles from guidebooks, newspapers and magazines.

The new service tailors content for the UK by driving traffic to UK-specific provider sites where possible, as well as offering local details such as prices in UK Sterling; local time and date formats and incorporating all localised UK spelling and grammatical nuances.

Hotel groups already listed on Kayak.co.uk include leading hotel brands Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Le Meridien, Marriot Hotels & Resorts, Ramada Worldwide, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts, and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, and online travel agencies such as Venere.com and OctopusTravel.com. Kayak.co.uk continues to add new hotel and travel agency partners.

Hoteliers interested in speaking to Kayak about partnership opportunities can contact Annie Wilson on +44 (0) 7930 357 617 or email:annie@kayak.co.uk.

Kayak.co.uk will be launching its hotels search with a promotional competition for users to win a luxury trip to Paris. Rental car and package search are in active development and will launch this year.