ixigo launches meta-search service for budget hotels

Travel search engine ixigo.com has launched a new meta-search service for curated budget hotels.

The new offering, called Super Value Hotels, compares deals across branded budget hotel providers such as Oyo rooms, Wudstay, Zo Rooms, Vista Rooms as well as independent hotels in popular locations across India, according to a company statement.

The portal, run by Delhi-based Le Travenues Technology Pvt Ltd, has curated a collection of 2,500 budget hotels across 80 cities with rooms priced from Rs 599 to Rs 2,499. The rooms will have amenities such as air-conditioning, TV and Wi-Fi.

"We are making the lives of travelers simpler by narrowing down to the best budget hotels in India from among the 12,000 in our database," said Aloke Bajpai, co-founder and CEO, ixigo. He said the company filtered the rooms by sifting through reviews and photos on the web as well as through visits by the company's teams.

The new offering meta-searches the cheapest rates across more than 20 hotel-booking websites such as Booking.com, Makemytrip.com, Hotels.com, Goibibo.com and Agoda.com, besides the brand's own website.

The budget hotel search offering comes a few months after the company launched an app named 'ixigo cabs' that aggregates cab information and helps travelers find the nearest taxis.

A number of companies have entered the budget hotel segment in India in recent years, including aggregators such as Oyo Rooms.

Online travel agencies also have launched budget rooms recently. MakeMyTrip Ltd has rolled out budget hotel rooms brand 'Value+'. Naspers-owned Goibibo floated its budget hotel aggregation business under goStays while Yatra.com has introduced TG Rooms and TG Stays.