HauteLook buys BonVoyou to start hotel sales

Build it or buy it? Members-only website HauteLook acquired another private sales site, BonVoyou, to get into the travel business.

BonVoyou, which signals “good trip for you,” specializes in boutique and luxury hotels sales for its members.

BonVoyou, based in Chicago, was founded by several Orbitz expatriots, including CEO Jeff Eckerling, who served at Orbitz as senior director of hotel strategy.

Los Angeles-based HauteLook specializes in “designer brands for women, beauty, home, kids and men,” and says it will use its purchase of BonVoyou to launch a travel vertical later in 2010.

HauteLook says it has 3 million members in the U.S. and Canada.

Eckerling, Chief Marketing Officer Brad Jaehn and Chief Technology Officer Greg Ball will transition to HauteLook to lead the rollout of the travel vertical, HauteLook says.

UPDATE: Eckerling says it’s expected that BonVoyou will become part of HauteLook and that BonVoyou members will be asked to join HauteLook.

“In joining HauteLook, we will bring a very focused lens to travel offerings, providing aspirational but affordable destinations and packages that make sense for the HauteLook member base,” Eckerling says. “One thing that won’t change in the acquisition is Bonvoyou’s core technology, which provides a seamless end-to-end experience that benefits both suppliers and users — no gift certificates, no vouchers, no confusion.”

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