Expedia.com: The Reviews Are In

BELLEVUE, Wash., May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Expedia.com®, the world's leading online travel agency, today unveiled Expedia 2010 Insiders' Select® results, an annual ranking of the world's best hotels for quality and value as determined mostly by traveler reviews. Hotels that routinely exceed customer expectations – in their customer service, amenities, competitive pricing and more – see that emphasis reflected in their rankings. And this year, for the first time, Insiders' Select hotels are searchable during the booking process on Expedia.com, making it simple for travelers to maximize the value of their travel dollars.

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The Insiders' Select program debuted in 2007. It ranks the top hotels from among the more than 123,000 properties offered on Expedia® sites internationally. Expedia.com offers the world's largest number of hotel properties. Expedia also has more hotel market managers than any other online travel company, whose local expertise helps to inform the Insiders' Select rankings. The Expedia Insiders' Select list is compiled using a mathematical formula that weighs three factors:

• More than one million traveler opinions from reviews submitted by Expedia customers after completing a stay at a hotel booked on Expedia sites; Traveler reviews are the most influential factor in the formula.
• A value rating that compares each property's average daily rates to similar properties to assess the relative value the hotel offers, making it easy for busy travelers to identify hotels that deliver an excellent experience at a comparatively good value; and
• The expertise of more than 400 Expedia market managers located in cities across the globe, who work hand in hand with Expedia's hotel partners to maximize the value they get from Expedia's global online travel marketplace.

"Expedia.com travelers are among the most passionate in the world. Every year, we help them book millions upon millions of hotel rooms, in every corner of the world. And in return, they help us pinpoint the hotels that deliver a truly world-class experience," said John Morrey, vice president, eCommerce at Expedia, Inc. "Traveler reviews are a crucial part of the research and booking process for our travelers. We vet each review carefully to confirm that the author actually stayed at the hotel. Then we gather up more than a million of them, tabulate them, and share the results with everyone."

The 2010 Insiders' Select list reflects a remarkable cross-section of properties in different regions, representing various accommodation types and star rating categories. The feature that each Insiders' Select property has in common is a surpassing commitment to value. The Expedia 2010 Insiders' Select list includes properties in 1,022 cities worldwide.  Thirty percent of Insiders' Select hotels are found in the United States, 40 percent of Insiders' Select hotels are located in Europe, and 30 percent can be found elsewhere in the world.  Within the U.S., California has the most Insiders' Select properties, with 94. Minneapolis-St. Paul and Boston are tied for U.S. cities with the most Insiders' Select properties – 16 each.

The top 10 Expedia.com Insiders' Select properties in 2010 are:

1. Galaxy Iraklio Hotel - Crete Island, Greece
2. Hide Away Guest House - Garden Route, South Africa
3. Drury Inn Indianapolis – Indianapolis, Indiana
4. Al Manshar Rotana Hotel – Kuwait
5. Conrad Bali – Bali, Indonesia
6. Staybridge Suites Minneapolis-Bloomington – Minneapolis, Minnesota
7. Hotel De La Cite - Languedoc-Roussillon, France
8. Bosnian National Monument Muslibegovic House - Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
9. Cambridge Suites Sydney - Cape Breton Island, Canada
10. The Westin Chosun Pusan – Haeundae, South Korea

For hotels, inclusion on the Insiders' Select list is not only a distinction to be proud of, but is correlated with higher room bookings on Expedia versus properties that are not on the list. In 2009, Insiders' Select hotels received 3.5 times higher gross bookings per hotel than competitive hotels in the same market and star class. 

Expedia.com travelers can now find Insiders' Select hotels in the Hotel Preferences amenity drop-down menu. For more information on Insiders' Select, visit http://www.expedia.com/insidersselect.

About Expedia.com

Expedia.com is the world's leading online travel site, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia.com (http://www.expedia.com/, 1-800-EXPEDIA) aims to provide personalized service, the latest technology and the widest selection of vacation packages, flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and in-destination activities, attractions, and services. With the Expedia Best Price Guarantee, Expedia.com promises to offer to its customers the best rates available online for all types of travel. Expedia.com is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE).

Expedia, Expedia.com and Insiders' Select are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.© 2010 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-40

Expedia.com:  "Savings based on all vacation package bookings with Flight + Hotel on Expedia.com in 2009, as compared to price of the same components booked separately."

Web site: http://www.expedia.com/

SOURCE Expedia, Inc.