General Destination FAQ
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      Playeasy's Hotel Solution FAQ

      Playeasy's Hotel Solution is a game-changing solution that is solving a real problem in the industry - a way for Destination's to track non-contracted room nights an event produces. Learn more below.

      1. Overview

      2. How it Works

      3. Miscellaneous

      Overview

      • What problem is Playeasy solving?
        • It's extremely difficult to track the number of hotel bookings for an event outside of contracted rooms. This is the biggest problem that we have heard from Destinations across the US., for both participatory events and ticketed events.  According to Playeasy's event data, 75% of sports participatory event registrations happen within 30 days of the event start date, which is  typically after contracted room blocks expire. This means 75% of event attendees are booking their hotels on some other website, which prevents the destination from being able to capture the vast majority of the hotel room nights an event actually produces. 
      • What is Playeasy's hotel solution?
        • Playeasy is releasing the only housing solution in the sporting event & tourism industry that is focused on the Destination AND does not include ANY extra commissions, rebates  or fees. Our flexible hotel solution uniquely empowers Destinations to:
          1. Control the exact hotel partners that you would like to list and display to ensure every hotel booking is within your market
          2. Display the lowest available online rates across 40+ online platforms for your hotel partners, which are integrated directly on your Playeasy event microsites - Online platforms include GDS, OTA's and private wholesale rates
          1. Track hotel bookings for events outside of contracted hotel room blocks to measure their actual event impact in real-time.  

      How it Works

      • How are hotels shown on my Destination profile and Event pages?  
        • The hotels you add to your Destination profile will now automatically appear in a new 'Hotels' tab on your Destination profile. The remainder of your local businesses will now be listed in a Local Business Marketplace on your Destination profile called 'Attractions'. 
        • Your hotels will only appear on your Events as you choose. The Playeasy hotel features will be able to be turned on and off on an event by event basis. You will be able to select if you would like only your custom hotel specials shown for contracted room blocks, only the live hotel rates, or a mixture of both depending on your needs. 
      • Do I have to show hotels on my event pages?
        • No, you can choose when you want live rates to appear on your Event pages by simply clicking one button to enable or disable live rates on each page.  
        • You can also choose to enable the live rates after a specific date if you are marketing hotel room blocks that expire after a certain time. This solution allows you to only market your hotel room blocks first, and after their expiration, turn on live rates. 
      • How do I get this feature turned on, is there any work I need to do? 
        • This new hotel functionality will be available to any Destination with hotels added to their profile.  
        • We recommend ensuring all hotels you would like shown on your Destination profile and Event pages are added to Playeasy. Here is an article that explains how to add your hotels. 
        • Once your hotels are added, you will have the functionality available to utilize for your needs – no work on your end! 
        • To turn on the live hotel rates, simply head to the settings of one of your event pages, click to enable live rates, & select your timing/location preferences.
      • Can I pick the timing of when my rates appear on my Event page? 
        • Yes! You have the control to enable your live rates on an Event page at a specific date on Playeasy. This would allow you to market any hotel room blocks first, and after their expiration, utilize the live rates to allow for booking after the block. 
      • Certain room blocks expire at different times - can we enable different dates on each hotel for live rates versus a room block? 
        • Yes! You have the ability to turn all live rates and hotel specials on/off on your event at certain dates. You also have the ability to only market specific hotel specials of your choosing, and select dates on each hotel special individually to display the room block link versus live rates. 
      • Is this information trackable? 
        • Yes! Real-time analytics reports are available to track your live rate bookings. 
      • What information can I track on these bookings? 
        • View how many reservations were booked across your hotels, total number of room nights, total amount of dollars booked, date of bookings, the number of bookings per event and per hotel, and more in real-time. 
      • Is this data downloadable as a report? 
        • Your Playeasy hotel report is not yet available to download. In the meantime, we recommend taking screenshots on your browser to share your reports. 
      • Does this solution add any cost to me or my hotels? 
        • There is no extra cost for a Destination to use the hotel live rates on top of their Playeasy subscription. Hotels will also not pay any additional commission.

      Miscellaneous

      • Do I have control on which hotels are shown?
        • Yes! The only hotels that will appear on your Destination profile and Event pages are those that you add to Playeasy. You have full control over which hotels you would like to market depending on who you work with in your area. 
      • How do you pull these live hotel rates? 
        • The live rates are captured from HotelPlanner's data that is integrated into Playeasy's new hotel booking solution. These are existing rates pulled from over 40 providers across the internet, including GDS, OTAs, and wholesale rates. These are aggregated to your Playeasy Events to provide an all-in-one hotel booking and event planning visitor experience. 
      What does Hotel Planner do? 
      • HotelPlanner.com is a leading provider of online solutions and services to the global hotel sales market. This technology ensures the lowest rates by allowing customers to receive quotes online directly from hotel group sales managers as well as getting access to all rates sources in the industry. 
      • HotelPlanner is Playeasy's backend provider powering the hotel live booking technology on the platform. 
      • What lodging will qualify to have live rates? 
        • Only bookable lodging that is available on the internet and through HotelPlanner's system will be listed with live rates on your Event pages. HotelPlanner has over 90,000 hotels in their database across the United States. 
      • What does "Live Rate Enabled" mean? 
        • Live Rate Enabled means you have turned on live rates for a specific Event page. You can always disable this by heading to your Event page, clicking 'View as Admin' on the top right, and clicking the 'Settings' tab. From here, you can enable or disable the live hotel rates as you choose. 
      • How much hotel inventory is available? 
        • HotelPlanner has over 90,000 hotels across the United States in their database. 
      • If one of my hotels want to connect to this booking feature, what do they do? 
        • Your hotel would first need to be connected to the GDS System.
        • Next, reach out to the Playeasy team and we will work with HotelPlanner to get your hotel added to their database! 
        • For any hotel inquiries, contact us at hotels@playeasy.com. 
      • How does this work with our Destination or Event Organization partners' own hotel booking links?
        • You can still input own hotel booking links on an Event page either as the core Hotel Information website link, or as hotel specials on your Event. The live rates are an optional addition to your pages.  
      • Are these live rates HotelPlanner's rates?
        • The live rates are pulled from rates from 40 different providers across the internet, including Hotelplanner's own rates. The rate you see on Playeasy is exactly what you see on booking sites on the internet.  
      • Does this show the cheapest available rates? 
        • Yes, the system does show the cheapest rates available. Playeasy is displaying the rates that are already marketed on the internet and allowing you to market those in one place while tracking actual bookings.  
      • Where does it take the user to book the hotel?
        • Users are taken to a white-labeled, secure hotel booking page to complete their transaction.  
        • 1st party support for the user will be provided via phone and email by HotelPlanner for any booking needs.  
      • How does the booking appear to the hotel? 
        • The booking will show to the hotel through whichever platform's rate the user books. For example, if the rate the user booked was pulled through Expedia, the hotel will see an Expedia booking.
      • Can I only show the live rate hotels that are right around that event's venue?
        • Yes – When you turn on live rates for an event, you can also choose a mile radius to only display hotels a certain distance from the event.  
      • Can I market hotels that are not open yet on Playeasy?
        • You can definitely market hotels that are not open yet on Playeasy to build awareness. You can go ahead and add the hotel profile to your Destination (we recommend listing in the hotel's description that it is not yet open), and you may go back and connect it to HotelPlanner to enable live bookings after it is open.  
      • What if there is no HotelPlanner match for my hotel? 
        • Reach out to the Playeasy team and we will work with HotelPlanner to get your hotel added to their database!  
        • Contact us at hotels@playeasy.com.  
      • How do we work in rebates? 
        • Rebates are not yet available through the live rates functionality. Please reach out to us at hotels@playeasy.com if you'd like to discuss individual cases. 
      • How will customer support work for these hotel bookings? 
        • 1st party support for the user will be provided via phone and email by HotelPlanner for any booking needs. 
      • How do I share this with event organizers to reach their participants? 
        • Playeasy Event pages are public links to share with your Event Organizer partners. We recommend creating your Events on Playeasy and sending the URL to your Organization to share with their participants via email, on their website, etc.  
        • You can also copy the link to the hotels tab on the Event page to bring visitors directly to view available hotels.  
      • Is this mobile friendly? 
        • Yes, these webpages are mobile friendly for users to find hotels & complete the booking process. 

      Have questions? We're here to help! Reach out to support@playeasy.com or contact us here anytime.