Check-in at a participating hotel using any geo-location service, from foursquare to the much-anticipated Facebook check-in feature, and TopGuest will give you bonus points and special offers.
TopGuest, which launched last week, syncs with any geo-location service — including foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Loopt, Brightkite, Google Buzz, Google Latitude, Twitter and soon Facebook — and will give you bonus rewards points from participating hotels and airlines or deals from area clubs and restaurants.
Some of the loyalty program partners will give consumers bonus points wherever they check-in and others will provide points only when you check-in from one of their properties, TopGuest says.
TopGuest founder and CEO Geoffrey Lewis may have some insight into Facebook’s much-hyped plan to introduce a geo-location check-in service of its own — one that could give foursquare and Gowalla a run for their money.
Lewis says TopGuest will be integrated with Facebook’s check-in service when it launches “next month.”
Later, when asked about it again, he said Facebook’s service is expected to be introduced “within three months.”
TopGuest presumably has some insight into Facebook’s timing and intentions.
That’s because Founders Fund, which was among the first investors in Facebook, is the lead investor in TopGuest, and Founders Fund managing partner Peter Thiel, who sits on the Facebook board, is among TopGuest’s key advisors.
Consumers don’t have to download or install any software to use TopGuest. They merely have to register on the TopGuest mobile website or TopGuest.com, provide information about their loyalty programs, and then TopGuest syncs with the programs when users check-in at a participating hotel.
TopGuest then drops the bonus points from participating hotel-rewards programs into consumers’ accounts, although the delay can be up to 48 hours, the company says.
TopGuest has an exclusive hotel partner, Standard Hotels, until the beginning of July, and then will announce partnerships with “three of the largest hotel loyalty programs in the world,” Lewis says.
The startup also has pending partnerships with Soho and Tribeca Grand Hotels and Kimpton Hotels, Lewis says.
TopGuest is also in the business of powering points programs for boutique hotels such as Standard, which didn’t previously have a loyalty program.
So, when consumers use Gowalla or other geo-location services to inform their social networks they are sipping a Martini in the lobby of a hotel partner, they may receive 25 bonus points from the hotel and also receive invitations to a popular area club or to a wine tasting, Lewis says.
TopGuest also intends to provide business intelligence to hotel partners and loyalty programs.
The startup will be able to tell HiltonHonors that 20% of their members stay at a competitor’s property when visiting Dallas, for instance, Lewis says, adding that the data would not be personally identifiable.
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I’m a little skeptical about this one.
1. They totally jacked JetSetter’s logo style and feel of the site.
2. Are hotels really willing to reward regular check-ins at this point with meaningful rewards? Right now I can walk by any hotel and check-in without having to actually stay there or spend any money.
3. This seems like a hole-filler until the time when Foursquare or Gowalla improve their own reward program systems (which they are doing) – I don’t think they’ll want this layer between them and the merchants, and if there is eventually one winner, the need to aggregate check-ins from all services will be unnecessary.
Disagree with Jon’s comment. I work in social media for a large lodging company and like Topguest a lot. They are a completely different product from Jetsetter despite sharing a vaguely similar aesthetic. Hotels want to tie social media profiles with their existing guest profiles and this product seems like a way to do it while letting hotels maintain control and leverage existing points currencies. The purpose-built for hotels angle is very smart and I’m sure the Company has other features planned beyond the basic points for check-ins. Perfect timing for this product.
Yes, I would have to disagree with Jon as well. I see a big role for a 3rd-party like Topguest to come in, tie all the major LBS platforms together, and do deals with hotels that make this useful for travelers.
Geoff Lewis talked a little about this on my site:
http://www.hotelmarketingstrategies.com/topguest-hotels-geoff-lewis-interview/