Yelp that users can book domestic hotel rooms and winery tours directly through its website and plans to add more services in coming months.
While select chains like La Quinta have been using pop-out ads within Yelp, this is the company’s first move to centralize bookings. On the back end, , the flight and hotel booking startup founded by Reddit’s Steve Huffman, will handle hotel reservations, and CellarPass will handle winery tour bookings.
The partnerships will give Yelp users a greater inventory from which to book, and they’ll even get special mobile rates. The move also enables Yelp to earn booking fees while avoiding the hassle of handling relationships with hundreds of companies.
, the fact that mobile users can book diverse services through one Yelp profile and enter credit card information only once facilitates an easier and much more efficient user experience.