@hotel
Online travel agency
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
@hotel (sometimes written athotel), formerly known as TripScout, is an online travel agency which allows users to book through Instagram and TikTok, as well as its own website.
 | |
| Formerly | TripScout |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private company |
| Industry | Travel |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Washington D.C. |
Key people |
|
Number of employees | 40+ |
| Website | athotel |
Overview
The company provides booking under the handle "@hotel" on Instagram and TikTok, and its own website athotel.com. By doing business in private group chats, rather than posting publicly with contractual minimum prices, @hotel can offer greater discounts on its social media accounts than other booking services. Those using the website must sign up with their email accounts.[1] It also maintains the TripScout app, which provides users with a custom feed of articles and videos in preparing for trips.[2]
History
@hotel was initially founded in Chicago in 2015 by Konrad Waliszewski and Andy Acs as a walking tour app called TripScout.[3] To better understand what travelers wanted, the two co-founders gave out their personal phone numbers to the app's first 250,000 customers.[2]
After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, TripScout attracted an audience with travel videos on Instagram Reels, gaining over 30 million followers across all its brands.[3] The company gained traction in anticipation of a post-pandemic boom in travel, raising 2.3 million in a "seed+" investment round in March 2021,[4] and an additional $10.25 million in a June 2022 Series A round.[5] The following month, TripScout rebranded to @hotel, launching its social media booking service. [6][7]