Trivago.com

Is Trivago trustworthy and legit?

If you are anything like me, then there is a good chance that you are already thinking about and/or planning your post-lockdown vacation. Personally, this is all that I have been able to think about throughout the entirety of this COVID 19 pandemic and resultant quarantine. Needless to say, I have had plenty of time to weigh out all of my options and find the best travel deals available on the internet.

One of my favorite travel planning items has always been the booking of a hotel. For some reason, this aspect of turning a dream vacation into a reality is the most exciting. Everything really starts to come together, I think, once you begin looking into hotels and lodging options. Everything begins to feel very real, very concrete during this step of planning a trip.

I think it is because it is the first actual glimpse that you get to take into what your vacation is going to look like. There are plenty of pictures to browse, pictures of the specific hotel in which you are to be spending a great deal of your time during your vacation. It is the first time, at least for me, that my ideas of a vacation begin to turn into realities. Being able to actually see where you will automatically make it 100 times easier for you to visualize yourself there, start to think in very real terms of all the things that you will do once you arrive.

Not only does hotel booking really kick the excitement of a vacation into gear, it also opens up the doors of possible activities for your trip. Based on what is nearby your hotel, you can start to get a better idea of where you might go out for dinner, what tourist sites are going to be the most convenient and realistic to check out, and what kinds of other activities that you can partake in.

Perhaps there is a world-class spa at your hotel of choice. If so, a massage or facial can be added to your itinerary. Maybe you weren’t necessarily expecting a heated pool on your list of amenities, but your hotel booking site of choice has helped you find a place within your budget that has a pool and hot tub. Whatever the case may be, booking a hotel can do a lot to take your black and white sketch of vacation and infuse it with color and detail.

So, then, since booking a hotel has the potential to be such a fun and exciting endeavor, why should the process of finding the best hotel for you be at all difficult or stressful? There is no reason why it should be anything but a simple, easy, and fun process! By tracking down and taking advantage of the best hotel booking sites on the web, this certainly can be the case.

How successful Trivago is in hotel booking?

Trivago is, by far, one of the best hotel booking sites on the market today. Easily one of the most popular and widely used sites of its kind, millions of travelers depend on Trivago to find them the best hotel deals every year. Owned by the Expedia Group, trivago and its sister sites (Trip Happy, Base 7 Booking, and Rheinfabrik) provide their users with one of the largest and most affordable selections of hotel bookings in the world.

Trivago claims to draw from over 300 hotel booking sites, boasting over 5 million hotel listings as of the time of this review. Alongside hotels, Trivago also allows users to browse home shares and other lodging accommodations in over 190 countries. With 1.4 billion visitors every year, Trivago has definitely proven itself to be one of the most trusted and beloved hotel booking sites of all time.

In addition to providing users with a quick and easy way to compare prices on hotels from hundreds of well-known sites (such as Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, VRBO, Trip.com, and Price Line to name a few), Trivago also aggregates hotel ratings, as well as provides plenty of images for you to get as accurate as possible an idea of every hotel listing on the site. You will have at your disposal 175 million aggregated hotel ratings and 19 million images on Trivago.

Who owns Trivago?

The company was originally founded in Dusseldorf, Germany in January of 2005. Trivago’s team of founders saw a great deal of opportunity in the space of hotel booking and search sites and seized on it. The result was, of course, Trivago … the first ever hotel booking site in Germany.

Trivago was originally founded by Rolf Schrömgens, Peter Vinnemeier, Malte Siewert, and Stephan Stubner. However, shortly after the site launched Stubner stepped down as marketing director. Siewart, Vinnemeier, and Schrömgens remained on board.

Trivago received a rather impressive first round of investments, including a cool €1 million from the Samwer Brothers. Other initial investments came from the likes of Florian Heinemann and Christian Vollmann. Series B funding proved to be even more lucrative for Trivago, resulting in USD $1.14 million from the British company, HOWZAT Media LLP. This all culminated in 2010 when the founders of Trivago sold one-quarter of the company to a US investment fund, Insight Venture Partners for $52.86 million.

By the time Expedia showed interest in acquiring stake in Trivago, the company’s value had skyrocketed. In 2012, Expedia announced that it was to acquire stake in Trivago – $632 million worth of stake, to be exact. By December of 2015, thanks to Expedia’s reach and resources, Trivago reported over $500 million in revenue, making it one of the most successful hotel booking sites of all time. It remains so to this day.

What does Trivago mean?

Trivago is composed of three languages, French, Spanish, and lastly from English. TRI is in French for GO and VA in Spanish means also GO so TRIVAGO means GOGOGO in English.

 How does Trivago work?

 Trivago has opted for a very stripped-down and pared back site design. Generally speaking, I think that it is fair to say that Trivago is going more for practicality, for ease of use, than it is any kind of robust aesthetic vision. The site is the epitome of minimalism, from a style standpoint. The majority of the site is little more than a white background. This does result, however, in occasionally impactful pops of color (such as in the bright blue, yellow, and red Trivago logo, for instance). Once you go beyond the site’s splash page, though, things become much more involved.

Once I conduct a search (entering my destination location, dates, number of guests, etc.), the site transforms into what is actually a rather busy (even if concise) hotel booking search engine. Adjust your search parameters and apply a few basic filters up at the top of the page – select your price per night range, choose your property type, filter guest ratings, and select your required amenities – and move freely about a map of the area in order to browse hotels by precise location.

On the left-hand side of the page, of course, you can browse your hotel search results. Each one is clearly labeled and identifiable, each listing comes with all relevant information – including the establishments aggregate rating, price, a collapsible price comparison guide, and photos. Every component of each listing is expandible and collapsible, making for easy and convenient browsing of each hotel.

In my personal opinion, Trivago’s design is a little too cluttered for my liking. There is way too much going on, I think, in a small amount of space. It is a bit overwhelming to try and take everything in, even though it is clear that there was a great attempt made at convenience and the streamlining of information (perhaps there is a little too much streamlining; that or hotel listings could be more spaced out).

How does Trivago for customers work?

 On Trivago, you can search and browse millions of hotel listings all around the world. As I mentioned earlier, billions of users rely on Trivago every year for booking their hotels in over 192 countries. The sheer volume of hotel listings that you will find here alone makes it one of the best hotel booking sites on the web.

Hotel and lodging accommodations, though, are not all that you will find on Trivago. This site can be a one stop shop for most of your travel needs if you like. In addition to millions of hotels and home shares, Trivago also functions as a flight booking site, vacation package finder, and a car rental search engine as well. Trivago has what it takes to be an all-in-one online travel agency.

I only wish that you could actually book hotels directly on the Trivago site. Instead, you will be reverted to whatever third-party site on which your deal was found. Trivago also seems to be missing a rewards or loyalty program for members.

Is Trivago app free?

 What is certainly not missing from Trivago, however, is a stellar mobile app. Offering, I think, an even more intuitive and user-friendly experience than that of the desktop site, the Trivago app is perfect for travelers who use either iOS or Android mobile devices. Book a hotel no matter where in the world you happen to be, thanks to these great apps.

 What I Like about Trivago

 -Easy to use/intuitive price comparisons

-Millions of hotel listings all around the world

-Plenty of advanced search filters

-Exclusive deals

-Amazing mobile app

 What I Dislike about Trivago

 -No direct bookings

-No rewards or loyalty programs

David Jones

I am a professional travel writer and travel enthusiast who traveled the world twice, so I am sharing my firsthand knowledge about everything related to travel and spending time abroad.