While all trips should include a bit of mystery, some trip planning is an essential part of any vacation. Most travelers know which landmarks they want to see and where they’d like to travel while visiting a destination, but finding a hotel or other accommodation, near that landmark can be next to impossible. Often, travel sites list hotels according to specific areas, though a traveler who’s unfamiliar with borough names or streets may become lost when searching for the right hotel room.

Google has decided to make finding the right hotel easier. Last year, Google launched its Hotel Finder Tool that allowed Google searchers to find a hotel in a specific city or other spot. Now, Google has made the Hotel Finder Tool a bit more specific. Instead of simply searching for a hotel, travelers can now search for accommodations according to certain landmarks.

How It Works

Let’s say, for example, that you’d love to stay near the Latin Quarter in Paris. The only problem, of course, is that you aren’t familiar with the streets that run in and out of the Latin Quarter. So, how can you find a hotel that’s near this part of town by simply picking and choosing a hotel on the Internet? Well, now you can type “Sorbonne” into Google’s Hotel Finder Tool, and any available accommodations near the Sorbonne (Latin Quarter) will pop up. Of course, you can do the same for most major landmarks around the world – wherever your destination may be.

Not only is Google’s new addition to the Hotel Finder Tool innovative, it’s also a type of search that many other travel sites (and there are plenty of those!) haven’t thought about. While Google seems to be a bit behind these days, this new landmark search tool is bound to attract a lot of different types of travelers from all around the world. Whether you are headed to London or NYC, find out how long it will take you to get from your hotel to those important landmarks using Google’s new Hotel Finder Tool.

The Marketing Angle

What? You didn’t think that Google would offering up this kind of valuable hotel information without having some kind of marketing angle, did you? Even though Google hasn’t said anything regarding the topic, it’s relatively easy to see where this new travel search is headed. Purely assumption based, hotels might be able to bid for a spot on that Google hotel list. Any large chains seeking a piece of the travel pie may also pay for a high ranking on the Google list. This reviewer is sincerely hoping that Google doesn’t go in this direct, but it would be one way for the search giant to make money off of its newest travel site plans.

As a consumer, or traveler, the rules remain the same. Sure, you can use Google Hotel Finder to locate a hotel near that landmark, but make sure that you’re still taking the time to review that hotel by reading various reviews (look towards the bottom of the Google page in order to do so). Whether or not Google’s new travel tool is marketing based remains to be seen, but travelers will (no doubt) get a lot out of Google’s new innovation.