One of the game changers disrupting the traditional way of booking in Nigeria is Hotels.ng – Nigeria’s largest booking service. Founded by Mark Essien in 2013, Hotels.ng has grown to become a hotels booking agency listing over 10,000 hotels from 320 cities in the country. The mobile application of this service was released in 2017 and ever since it has made the process of booking hotels more uncomplicated than ever for Nigerians.
The History of Hotels.ng
Mark Essien founded Hotels.ng with the intent to fill a void in Nigeria. Prior to his innovation of this service, there were hardly any hotel listing logistics companies easing the burdens of Nigerians who had to undergo the traditional means of booking hotels. Mark discovered this deficiency on his return to Nigeria during a school break. Prior to this, he had been honing his skills as a Computer Programmer up to the extent of creating a file sharing software that was later acquired by a large company and shut down afterward.
It didn’t take long for Mark to start developing Hotels.ng and soon the service began attracting fundraisers including the likes of IRoko TV boss, Jason Njoku, who was starting a startup fund (spark.ng) at that time and in search of deserving internet businesses to invest in. This led to an initial investment of $75,000 in hotels.ng and shortly afterward, a second one of $150,000. Hotels.ng has also received funding from other big brands including ebay, Pan-African Fund, and Dangote Investment Group. To a large extent, this has resulted in increased tractions and more listings for Hotels.ng. Today, the service has over 10,000 hotels listed on its platforms and is currently in operation in various regions across Nigeria.
Meet The App
The Hotels.ng app has a very simple user interface with only the necessary features to navigate through it. Once you have downloaded the app from Google Play store, you will be ushered to its homepage where you will see a search option to find hotels near you and also a listing of recommended hotels by the service. The method of booking a hotel is straightforward as all you have to do is:
– Click on any hotel of your choice.
– Choose the number of rooms you want.
– Check out and pay using your credit card.
At the bottom of the homepage, you can clearly see a “bookings” icon that shows you all the bookings you have made on the app. You will also find a wishlist which you can click on just in case you find a hotel that you wish to book in the future.
In an overall sense, the app is simply a straightforward one to navigate through and this is what makes it a great option for booking hotels in Nigeria.
Getting The App
The app is available on Google Play store at a downloadable size of 9.28 MB and has been downloaded multiple times. Click the link below to download it:
Featured image source: Hotels.ng