Amazon Introduces Hotel Booking Service in 3 U.S. Metro Areas

Amazon.com Inc. on Monday launched a new travel and hotel service that offers lodging choices in the Northeast, southern California and the Pacific Northwest, expanding its efforts to break into the lucrative travel market.

The service, known as Amazon Destinations, allows hoteliers in those areas to offer rooms through Amazon at their published rates or at discounts and packaged deals. About 150 properties are listing rooms on the site, primarily independent hotels but also some of the large brands that are looking for an additional outlet, say people familiar with the matter.

Amazon has been experimenting with hotel rooms since 2012, when it posted some lodging options at deeply discounted prices in a few major U.S. cities.

The new Amazon Destinations service still offers only select days at most of its hotels, but it allows the hotel owners more flexibility in terms of price.

Amazon spokesman Tom Cook said its main appeal would be to locals from these areas that were looking for short getaways, an area Amazon believes has been underserved by other hotel booking sites.

"These are all handpicked properties that have been visited by someone at Amazon to make sure they meet our quality," says Mr. Cook.

Mr. Cook declined to say what Amazon was charging the hotel owners for rooms booked through its service, but he said it would be "competitive" with the online travel agents like Expedia.com and Booking.com. Those services typically charge commission between 10% and 25%.

Write to Craig Karmin at [e-mail]

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