Hotel Search

Hotel Search returns a list of available hotel properties. Depending on the supplier and provider, minimum and maximum rates for the property may be returned in the response. However, a Hotel Search must be followed by a Hotel Rate and Rule Search to retrieve all available booking codes for the property.

Schema

See the Hotel Search transactions:

Request

HotelSearchAvailabilityReq in the HotelService is used to request availability.

Minimum Required Data

The minimum required data for a hotel search is:

The default number of travelers is one Adult.

Optional Request Data

Additional modifiers can be added to a Hotel Search request to narrow the search results.

Response

The Hotel Search returns available hotel properties within the requested search parameters in HotelSearchAvailabilityRsp.

The following data may be returned:

A search response may contain a NextResultReference if the provider has additional response data that was not returned in that call. This reference token from the provider can be used in a subsequent request to obtain this additional data.

VendorLocation indicates a unique hotel property number. Because different providers use different numbering systems to identify hotel properties, the ProviderCode attribute indicates the provider associated with the property number. Hotels are returned in random order, unless one or more modifiers are added to the request. Universal API does not currently support "relaxation" of search modifiers, in which some requested modifiers may be removed during processing if no property that meets all of the requested parameters is available. Therefore, only properties that meet all requested parameters are returned.

Hotel Search Result

One or more HotelSearchResult elements are returned for each available hotel property, respectively. More than one instance of HotelSearchResult may be returned for a specific hotel property if more than one room/rate option is offered for that property. Each HotelSearchResult element contains minimum and maximum rate amounts for the requested property availability, as well as an indicators if the minimum or maximum rate changes during the requested stay.

Note: In some responses, a rate may not be returned by the supplier or provider. A subsequent Rate and Rule Search for a specified property is required to obtain rate information.

The following data may be returned in HotelSearchResult:

Rates and rate change indicators, for the maximum or minimum room rates, which indicates if the rate changes during one or more days of the stay. Additionally, the approximate minimum, maximum, and average rate amount, plus the minimum stay, is included.

  • Approximate values display Minimum Stay Amounts and a prorated Approximate Average Minimum Stay Amount for estimated nightly rates.

  • Universal API returns approximate amounts in new ApproximateMinimumAmount and ApproximateMaximumAmount attributes, which explicitly indicate the approximate value of the data.

  • @MinimumStayAmount indicates the minimum total for the stay. If there is a difference between the profile currency and the property currency, the converted minimum rate is returned only in ApproximateMinimumStayAmount. If the currencies are the same, and no conversion is made, the unconverted value is returned in both MimimumStayAmount and ApproximateMinimumStayAmount.
  • The @RateSupplier is added to all returned rates when AggregateResults is set to “True” even if only one provider has returned a rate. This provides clarity on which rate supplier provided the rate(s).

Each HotelSearchResult element also contains a HotelProperty element.

HotelProperty returns information specific to the property. The amount and type of data returned may vary by supplier.

Transportation indicator (HotelTransportation), which notes available ground transport to or from the hotel property.

The booking requirement, which indicates if a guarantee or deposit is required to hold the room/rate reservation.

Participation level, which indicates the contracted level of access between the vendor and the data source.

Availability Indicates Available, Not Available, Available for Other Rates, or Unknown if an availability indicator is not returned by the supplier.

Geo-coordinate location information, which indicates the latitude and longitude of the hotel property.

Amenities offered by each hotel, when data is available. Each amenity is presented as a four-character code.  

HotelType @SourceLink

Source Link indicates the supplier's participation level in the Hotel transaction in a specific response.

If a direct link between the provider and the supplier is temporarily disabled, cached data is returned from the provider's cached database. However, the Participation Level indicator (HotelProperty @ParticipationLevel) continues to indicate the default link connection, and does not change if the direct link is temporarily disabled.

Source Link allows customers to identify if content returned in an individual response is coming directly from the supplier or as cached data from the provider's database. Source Link implementation and Participation Levels vary by provider.

Exceptions

  • If a search includes a single permitted chain (e.g., HH Hilton), available Hotel Chain Brochure information is returned in HotelSearchAvailabilityRsp/MarketingInformation when it is sent by Galileo. This information is supported at the chain level, not the property level.
    Note: @MarketingInformation was changed from 0-unbounded to 0-1 in HotelKeywordRsp and BaseHotelSearchRsp.

  • Galileo's use of slot codes to prioritize request modifiers is NOT implemented in Universal API. See Hotel Search Modifiers for more details about how multiple modifiers are managed.

  • Galileo supports including up to eight rate categories in a single request.

  • For ratings, Galileo supports the AAA ratings provider. However, the availability of AAA ratings may depend on a supplier's contractual agreement with AAA.

  • Galileo does not support the following data in the request:

    • Search by Address (street, city).

    • Bed type.

    • Number of beds.

    • Relax indicator. Galileo supports "relaxing" hotel property modifiers if no property that meets all of the requested parameters is available. However, Universal API does not currently support relaxed modifiers, therefore, Universal API returns only properties that meet all requested parameters.

  • Apollo supports including up to eight rate categories in a single request.
  • Relax indicator. Apollo supports "relaxing" hotel property modifiers if no property that meets all of the requested parameters is available. However, Universal API does not currently support relaxed modifiers, therefore, Universal API returns only properties that meet all requested parameters.

For ratings, Worldspan supports the AAA ratings provider. However, the availability of AAA ratings may depend on a supplier's contractual agreement with AAA.

Worldspan does not support the following data in the request:

  • Exact Match Indicator

  • Priority Order

  • Relax Indicator

  • Next Results Reference
    Worldspan can return up to 99 properties in a single response. For Worldspan, no Next Results reference is returned in the response, but an additional request is considered to be a subsequent input.

  • Minimum/Maximum Amount Rate Change Indicators

  • Transportation Indicator

  • Best Available Rate Indicator

  • Featured Property Indicator

  • Booking requirement (guarantee required, deposit required)

  • Unmatched Search Indicators
    When the Hotel Availability request has search qualifiers, it is possible that the response will return options that do not match one or more of the qualifiers passed in on the request. Worldspan does not have an unmatched search support. Therefore, if no property can be found to match the search modifiers in the request, an error response is returned.

  • Hotel Chain Brochure

  • Validated rates in hotel details

  • PointOfSale
    Any value provided is ignored, and a warning is sent in the response: "Separate PointOfSale not supported by provider".