Hot on the heels of receiving $8 million in a Series B round, hotel comparison service Top10 is launching its mobile application.
The claim is that the app (released for Apple devices) makes finding and booking a hotel as easy as booking a taxi and co-founder and CEO Tom Leathes says mobile is the area the startup (TLabs here) is most excited about.
Why? Because there's apparently lots of room for innovation and, according to Leathes, the big players haven't "nailed it yet" in terms of the user experience.
There's also some science behind the mobile service with algorithms for each hotel category - boutique, business, budget etc - to avoid sliders and tick boxes and ensure users are getting the best 10 matches.
The idea is that the app, which is image heavy, will get smarter as time goes on enabling users to compare not just hotels but rooms.
On the question of whether Top10 would consider an instant booking feature akin to TripAdvisor's recently launched service, Leathes says yes but in a 'slightly different way' enabling it to remain 'independent and completely transparent'.
One other interesting feature on the app is the integration of Foursquare tips which is part of the company's bid to create personalised lists of hotels as well as move away from long-form reviews.
A trending feature on the app also plays into this so that data pulled in from online travel agents, social networks and searches on the Top10 app is used to help others find the hotels.
Leathes says:
"Generally the experience of booking a hotel on mobile is not enjoyable. That's the primary thing we are trying to nail but there are other hidden benefits in terms of how we are recommending hotels to people which should set us apart."
He adds that mobile is getting more interesting as a means of distribution because while Google dominates the PC/laptop space, with mobile there are still opportunities to get ahead.