Airbnb announced on Thursday it has signed an agreement to acquire HotelTonight, in a move that ramps up Airbnb’s boutique hotel offerings and helps diversify its business ahead of an expected public debut. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Working with the incredible team at HotelTonight, we will offer guests an unparalleled last-minute travel experience that provides unique, memorable hospitality on every trip, on any schedule, at any time,” Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder and CEO, said in a statement.

HotelTonight, an app that enables travelers to book discounted hotel accommodations at the last minute, will remain a free-standing entity once the deal is approved. A spokesperson clarified that some HotelTonight rooms may be found on Airbnb, and, in some cases, users cruising the Airbnb platform may be redirected to HotelTonight if they can’t find what they are looking for on Airbnb.

“Together, HotelTonight and Airbnb can give guests more choices and the world’s best boutique and independent hotels a genuine partner to connect them with those guests,” HotelTonight Co-Founder and CEO Sam Shank said in a statement.

The acquisition is still subject to review, but an Airbnb spokesperson said the company expects the purchase will be approved in about 30 days.

Airbnb’s move confirms a January report from The Wall Street Journal that the two companies were in talks as part of Airbnb's strategy to expand its brand beyond just peer-to-peer apartment bookings. The Journal also reported that Airbnb was separately considering building a HotelTonight rival platform, as well as forming joint ventures with small hotel chains.

The HotelTonight acquisition isn’t Airbnb’s first foray into boutique hotel bookings. Airbnb has long allowed boutique hotels to list on its open platform. Plus, in early 2018, the company made a push to meet increasing demand for unique accommodations including small hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, and resorts by more than doubling these kinds of offerings and making it easier for those businesses to list on its platform. The company said guests responded "enthusiastically," booking three times as many nights in boutiques in 2018 as they did in 2017.

But Airbnb isn’t only looking at accommodations. The company’s ultimate goal is to build an end-to-end travel bookings platform for accommodations, activities, and transportation. The platform already offers accommodations and activities that it calls “experiences,” and in early February, the company made a decisive move toward transportation offerings by hiring airline industry veteran Fred Reid as Global Head of Transportation.

Airbnb was last valued at about $31 billion, following a funding round in 2017, and HotelTonight was valued at about $463 million the same year. Chesky told Recode in 2018 the company would be ready for an initial public offering sometime in 2019, but said he wasn't sure it actually would. Recode later reported Airbnb was mulling a direct listing.

Share:
More In Business
Michigan Judge Sentences Walmart Shoplifters to Wash Parking Lot Cars
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
State Department Halts Plan to buy $400M of Armored Tesla Vehicles
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
Goodyear Blimp at 100: ‘Floating Piece of Americana’ Still Thriving
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
Load More