Requesting a Hotel Index
Business Description
Returns a comprehensive list of properties for a specified city, reference point, or postal code, regardless of availability.
Request
The request must include the check-in date, check-out date, and destination city code. The default index search is made by city code; however, several modifiers can be added to the request to narrow the list of potential properties in the response:
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Reference points, which are specific locations in a city or metropolitan area, such as an area attraction, business center, hospital, or government office. A search by US or Canadian postal code can also be made in the reference point request.
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Hotel search qualifiers, such as amenities, distance or direction from a specific location, rate categories, AAA rating, and property types.
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Alternate currency preference.
Note: HotelIndex_9 also currently requires a <Control> element that defines the number and type of data structures in the request. See Step 2: Requesting a Hotel Index for a more detailed description.
Response
The response includes the name, address, and distance from the search location for each hotel properties. Properties are returned in a random sequence based on distance buckets.
Note: Because availability is not provided for the properties listed in the index, an availability transaction must be used if availability is desired. For example, the user can follow up with a Complete Availability request for a specific property listed in the index, if appropriate dates are included in the index display.
Recommended Use
Hotel indexing is most appropriate if :
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The end user or client application does not have a preference for a specific hotel property or chain.
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If the properties in the requested location are unfamiliar to the end user.
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If the end user has very specific requirements for property attributes.
Technical Overview
Associated Transactions
For more information about the functionality of this task, see the associated transaction: HotelIndex_9.