Sometimes you just need a hotel room. You could be traveling, simply too tired to drive home, or looking for last minute deals. When this happens, you can search the Internet for unclaimed hotel rooms. Then again, scouring through endless websites looking for great room deals is exhausting. Thankfully, there’s a better option.

That option is called HotelTonight. HotelTonight is an iPhone and Android app that allows you to find last minute hotel deals in many cities throughout the United States. The HotelTonight website claims that this app has hotel rooms that are 40% less than those other last minute hotel room websites. So far, consumers who have used this app seem to agree.

How the App Works

Since I am located in Canada, the HotelTonight app could not find any hotels near my current location. Instead of showing me a “We’re Sorry” notice, this app sent me a coupon code for $25 in credits towards a last minute hotel. So, the next time I’m in NYC, for example, I can use that $25 credit towards a last minute hotel.

But, let’s assume that you are near a HotelTonight hotel. Select the “view hotels” tab, and then select the city that’s nearest to you (we’ll use Boston as an example). You can then view all of the hotel rooms in Boston that are currently available. HotelTonight lets you know if the hotels that you’re looking at are “Hip, Elegant, Boutique,” or other types of hotels, so you can look before you book.

Once you choose a hotel, you’ll find the address, photos, information, and a map to the hotel. You will also find the total price for one night after taxes (the cheapest room in Boston at the time of this writing was $287 per night – kind of pricey for a city with lots of hotels!). You can then choose to “Book a Room,” and the app will hold the room for you for ten minutes (a countdown timer keeps track).

After holding a room, you can decide to book the room (non-refundable) by entering your payment info. This is a secure app, so you don’t need to worry about your credit card information getting out. After you enter your information, your hotel will be waiting for you. The whole thing takes approximately ten minutes to complete, and the process is user-friendly.

Even Better

Not only is HotelTonight a great and simple way to book a hotel, but this app also holds all booking receipts for you. This is a very intelligent feature, since some hotels tend to lose bookings. If a hotel doesn’t have your booking, all you have to do is show your booking receipt through your device.

You can also share this app with your friends. When you send the app link to your friends, they will receive a $25 credit. You’ll also receive $25 when your friends book a hotel for the first time. I also love the fact that you can send app feedback to the support team simply by clicking on the feedback link. The whole HotelTonight process is fast and painless, which makes this an excellent app to have stored on your phone – just in case you need a hotel tonight.