@hotel

@hotel is a Chicago-founded online travel agency focused on hotel discovery and booking through social media. The business began in 2015 as TripScout, a walking-tour and travel-planning application created by Konrad Waliszewski and Andy Acs. Its early product was intended to help travelers explore destinations, while the founders used direct contact with users to learn about travel needs and behavior. According to the company’s account of its early development, the founders shared their personal telephone numbers with the first 250,000 users of the app, an unusually hands-on approach to product research and customer engagement. The business later expanded beyond an app-based travel guide. During the COVID-19 pandemic, TripScout built a substantial audience through travel videos distributed on Instagram Reels and other social channels. The social content allowed the company to remain connected with travelers while conventional tourism was heavily disrupted and positioned it to benefit from renewed travel demand after the pandemic. Reference material describes the company as having attracted more than 30 million followers across its brands during this period, although the precise composition and current size of that audience are not specified. TripScout raised $2.3 million in a seed-plus financing round in March 2021 and a further $10.25 million in a Series A round in June 2022. In July 2022, the company rebranded as @hotel and launched a social-media booking service. The @hotel identity is used on Instagram and TikTok, as well as on the company’s website, athotel.com. The service enables users to discover and book accommodations through social-media interactions rather than relying solely on a conventional travel-booking interface. A distinctive feature of @hotel’s commercial model is its use of private group chats. Instead of publicly displaying contractual minimum prices, the company can share discounted hotel offers with members of private social-media communities. This approach is designed to provide discounts that may not be available through publicly posted booking channels, while using social distribution and community participation as part of the customer-acquisition process. Website users are required to register with an email address before using the booking service. The company continues to maintain the TripScout application as a travel-content product. The app provides a personalized feed of articles and videos intended to help users prepare for trips, complementing @hotel’s accommodation-booking activity. Taken together, the products connect destination inspiration, short-form travel media, personalized trip preparation, and hotel reservations. The available reference material does not identify a parent company, public listing, current chief executive, or geographic operating footprint beyond the United States. It also does not establish whether the TripScout name remains a separate consumer-facing brand or functions primarily as a legacy product name.

The company was founded in Chicago in 2015 by Konrad Waliszewski and Andy Acs under the name TripScout. Its original product was a walking-tour application designed to help travelers explore destinations. The founders sought direct feedback from users and reportedly gave their personal phone numbers to the first 250,000 customers, using close customer contact to understand traveler expectations and improve the product. TripScout subsequently developed into a broader travel-content business. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when international and domestic travel were disrupted, the company attracted attention through travel videos distributed on Instagram Reels and related social channels. This content strategy helped it build an audience in anticipation of renewed travel activity after the pandemic. Reference material states that the company had more than 30 million followers across its brands, although no detailed breakdown of that figure is provided. The company raised $2.3 million in seed-plus funding in March 2021. It later raised $10.25 million in a Series A financing round in June 2022. In July 2022, TripScout rebranded as @hotel and launched an accommodation-booking service centered on Instagram and TikTok. The company also operates through athotel.com. @hotel’s model differs from a conventional public booking marketplace by using private group chats to distribute hotel offers. Because the company does not publicly post contractual minimum prices in the same manner as some booking services, it can present lower prices within private social-media communities. Users accessing the company’s website must register with an email address. Alongside the booking operation, the TripScout app remains associated with travel preparation, providing a customized feed of articles and videos. The available sources do not specify a current executive roster, parent company, public-market listing, or later ownership changes.

• 2022

  Series A financing

  [1]@hotelen.wikipedia.org

  The company raises $10.25 million in a Series A round in June.

• 2022

  Rebrand to @hotel

  [1]@hotelen.wikipedia.org

  TripScout adopts the @hotel name and launches social-media hotel booking in July.

• 2021

  Seed-plus financing

  [1]@hotelen.wikipedia.org

  TripScout raises $2.3 million in a seed-plus investment round in March.

• 2015

  TripScout is founded in Chicago

  [1]@hotelen.wikipedia.org

  Konrad Waliszewski and Andy Acs establish TripScout as a walking-tour application for travelers.

A social-first online travel agency that combines travel inspiration with hotel booking and uses private communities to distribute discounted offers.

• Travel-planning application · 2015

  TripScout app

  The TripScout application began as a walking-tour product and later provided a personalized feed of travel articles and videos. Its role is primarily destination discovery and trip preparation, complementing the company’s accommodation-booking activity under the @hotel identity.

• Online hotel booking · 2022

  @hotel social booking service

  The @hotel service enables hotel discovery and booking through Instagram and TikTok, with additional access through athotel.com. Its social-first model uses private group chats to distribute discounted offers to members rather than relying exclusively on publicly displayed booking prices.

• 2022

  Shift from TripScout to a social-first hotel marketplaceStrategy

  Background

  The company had built a large audience through travel videos during the pandemic and sought to participate in the expected recovery of travel demand.

  Action taken

  TripScout rebranded as @hotel and introduced hotel booking through Instagram, TikTok, private group chats, and its website.

  Aftermath

  The change broadened the business from travel content and walking tours into a social-media-driven online travel agency.

  Source

1. 1@hotelen.wikipedia.org