Marriott International Brings Quick Hotel Booking To The iPhone
Marriott International (Free) by Marriott International offers a quick and convenient way to find a Marriott hotel in a truly staggering number of countries.
With access to nearly 4,000 hotels worldwide, the app is a handy utility for the rewards point hound on the go.
As a travel utility, Marriott International provides quick access to everything the weary business person needs to book a hotel, check a reservation, or view rewards points. The app also comes with a whole heap of extras: Users can check city guides for information about their destinations, or view information about the company itself, including Marriott’s other mobile applications.
Booking a hotel with Marriott International is an easy affair. Using the built-in “Find a hotel” tab, users can either specify a destination for their query, or use the iPhone’s GPS capability to find nearby Marriott locations. Once a search has been completed, Marriott International arranges the results in a tabbed list, making it easy to select a venue for further research.
Each entry comes with pictures of the hotel, rate information, location of the building, and a phone number for quick access. Once the user has selected a hotel, dialing the included digits is done with one click. Booking the room online can also be done entirely in-app, which is a tremendous advantage for Marriott International.
As a heavy traveler, and a Marriott Rewards member, I found Marriott International extremely useful, and I will even be using it in my upcoming voyages. I particularly enjoyed the app’s packaging, which arranges all the necessary features in a conveniently easy to use and touch-oriented manner. I also appreciated how easy it was to book a hotel in-app, saving me a trip to mobile Safari.
However, Marriott International isn’t yet up to par with its major competitors in the speed department. When compared to apps like TripAdvisor (a mainstay in my travel pack) Marriott International is slow to load, and particularly bug-ridden. My first few pokes and prods at the app sent me back to the home screen with a resounding crash.
That being said, the more I played the fewer bugs I experienced. However, the possibility of crashes, especially when a reservation is being placed, can be dangerous, not to mention annoying.
Lag complaints aside, Marriott International is easily the best utility for the Marriott traveler on the go. The app makes it a cinch to book a hotel from the company, check upcoming reservations, and manage rewards points.
If you’re a fan of the hotel chain, or just a frequent traveler, you owe it yourself to give this free app a go.
