HotelDescription_5_0

*Archived Transaction*

Quick Info

This function supplies additional keyword information about a hotel property that can be used to determine a hotel selection. The hotel description can be used as a follow-up request for a specific property in a list retrieved through a hotel index or availability function.

Description information includes:

Check-in and check-out times.
Directions to the hotel from the east, west, north, and south.
Hotel amenities, such as health club, swimming pool, or babysitting services.
Room types and descriptions, including mini-bar or coffemaker.
Promotional information, such as special event rates or weekend packages.
Location information, such as whether the hotel is in a historic district, near shopping, or near sports venues.

See the following topics for additional information for hotel processing.

View the Hotel FAQ for answers to the frequently asked questions regarding Hotel Availability, Hotel Complete Availability, Hotel Rules, Hotel Index, and Hotel Description.
View the Hotel Codes table to see a list of codes for hotel amenities, property types, rate categories, property location, and transportation.
View the Hotel Sell Optional Field Data table to see the list of options for hotel sell.

Hotel Chain Keywords

Description information is provided via keywords. Each four-character keyword references a specific topic. The keywords appear in a numbered menu and can be retrieved either by their four-character code or by the item number. Keywords are available for hotel chains and properties. Not every hotel property or chain provides data for every keyword topic. For example, chains that only have properties in one country may not have information for the INTL (international) keyword. The data provided, however, can be extremely useful to travelers and travel professionals.

The list of keywords changes frequently. To retrieve a current keyword list, use the <WantKeyworkList> tag in <HotelDescMods>. An example of a keyword list retrieval is demonstrated in example: HotelDescription_5_0_2.xml.

Although most of the keyword topics duplicate the type of information available for individual properties, there are some differences.

The following list is an example of a Hotel Chain keyword list.

Keyword	Description
0 BOOK	Booking Guidelines
1 CANC	Cancellation Policy
2 COMM	Commission
3 CONT	Contacts
4 CORP	Corporate Rates
5 CRED	Credit Card Policies
7 DPST	Deposit Policy
9 FAMI	Family Plan
10 FREQ	Frequent Traveler
11 GRPS	Group Info
12 GUAR	Guarantee Policy
13 HELP	Customer Service
14 HOUR	Hours of Operation [at the corporate reservations centers]
15 INDX	Index
16 LINK	Inside Link [indicates whether this hotel chain participates at an Inside Link vendor]
17 NEW	News [used when the hotel chain wants to spotlight a particular property]
18 OPTI	Optional fields [indicates whether this chain accepts certain optional fields available from RoomMaster]
19 PROM	Promotional Information [indicates whether the chain is offering any special package deals and how to book them]
20 FACT	Facts [normally this is information relevant to travel professionals, such as consolidated commission programs, etc]
21 ROOM	Room/Unit Types [typically offered by properties belonging to this hotel chain]
25 TRVL	Travel Industry Information
26 INTL	International Travel Information

Hotel Property Keywords

Keywords are used in conjunction with HotelDescription_5_0 to provide descriptions of hotel properties. Keywords are also available for individual properties. The list of keywords changes frequently. Use the HotelDescription_5_0 transaction to retrieve the current list. This list differs slightly than the Hotel Chain Keywords list.

The following list is an example of a Hotel Property keyword list.

Keyword	Description
0 BOOK	Booking Guidelines
1 CANC	Cancellation Policy
2 COMM	Commission
3 CONT	Contacts
4 CORP	Corporate Rates
5 CRED	Credit Card Policies
6 DIRS	Directions to Hotel
7 DPST	Deposit Information
8 FACI	Facilities
9 FAMI	Family Plan
10 FREQ	Frequent Traveler
11 GRPS	Group Info
12 GUAR	Guarantee Policy
13 HELP	Customer Service
14 INDX	Index [Retrieves promotional and contact information for the hotel chain affiliated with this property]
15 LOCA	Hotel Location
16 MEAL	Meal Plans Available
17 DESC	Hotel Description
18 OTHR	Other
19 PROM	Promotional Information
20 RECR	Recreation
21 ROOM	Room/Unit Types [Available at this property]
22 SERV	Services Available
23 TAXS	Tax Information
24 TRAN	Area Transportation
25 TRVL	Travel Industry Information

Related API Developer Notes

API Developer Notes can assist you when developing applications that use Galileo Web Services and XML Select. The following table lists the API Developer Notes that are applicable to this transaction and provides a description. Each document is a link to the PDF file:

Document	Description
Hotel FAQs	Questions about Hotel functionality.
Hotel Shopping and Booking	Shop for and book hotels.