Marriott iPhone App

In the spirit of making these reviews more interesting, I have developed a scale of greatness for the hospitality apps. Each app will be rated on three basic categories:  appearance, functionality and amount of information for guest. By creating a simple platform to evaluate the different apps, we will start to develop an understanding of makes a truly great app. Our scale of greatness will range from somewhat mediocre to awesome. The levels from worst to best are somewhat mediocre, a bit better, pretty good and awesome.

Now let’s move on to my thoughts on the Marriott app.

I will begin by introducing you to the opening page of the app.

I am not moved by the graphics but the color theme fits the brand. It offers you an easy to navigate menu at the bottom of the app where you can find a hotel, look up reservations, sign in to your Rewards account or more options.

Once you select your dates and location, you are presented with this menu. It is easy to navigate and I like that they can share new information such as “New Lobby”.

You can then select a hotel. I really like that each hotel has a photo gallery. This is a great selling feature as visuals are so important. Also, the hotel highlights provide pertinent information for the traveler.

Finally, we are to my favorite part of the app – the “More” menu.  I think this is a great idea as it sells the whole experience rather than just being a booking app. The guest can find important phone numbers and city guides. You can also provide feedback on the mobile app, helping Marriott to improve its service and making the guest feel important. Well done!

I would like to conclude with my ratings of this app on my newly developed scale of greatness.

Appearance – Pretty Good

Functionality – Pretty Good

Amount of information for guest – Awesome! – due to the City Guides!

Hopefully, you have found this review helpful. Stay tuned for more reviews. Please let us know if you have an app you would like us to review.

Hilton iPhone App

My first impression of the Hilton app was simple, easy to use, and basic. Overall, I would say this app is designed for already loyal guests as I didn’t feel like its goal was to entice new customers. It is a straightforward booking app.

When you open the app you are presented the main menu to Find a Hotel, Lookup Reservations, Sign in to HHonors or Book a reward stay.

Since we are looking for a hotel we chose “Find a Hotel”. You have the option of finding a hotel by your phone’s GPS location, by City, by Airport Code, by Address.

 This menu is nothing spectacular, but functional nonetheless. After you have decided on how you want to search you can then move on to enter your dates, details, promo codes, corporate account info, etc.

When you finally arrive to the page with hotels, you find small thumbnail photos and brief descriptions. I noticed immediately that not all of the photos were formatted correctly so some displayed with white lines above and below the photos. I think this is a simple area where this could be approved visually with correct formatting.

I did like that each chain within Hilton has its own color theme on the app.

I consulted a Frequent Traveler Expert for his opinion on the app, and he said that for the most part he liked it. He did have two complaints. Once you log in to the HHonors, you have to return to the main menu in order to move forward with booking a reservation. It seems it would be more functional if it would progress into the booking screen after you logged in. His other complaint was that it didn’t remember you so each time you want to book or check a reservation you have to log in again. I’m sure this is considered a way to ensure your security, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying.

So in summary, the app is functional but isn’t over the top flashy and has a navigational challenge with its HHonors log in process.

We would love to know your opinion of the app too as this is just our humble opinion. Feel free to comment on this post.

According to PC World “Quickoffice” is one of the Top 10 Must-Have iPhone Business Apps”! If offers Office functionality on the iPhone with an impressive suite of features!

Quickoffice is available for iPhone and iPod Touch running on iPhone OS 3.0. Enjoy superior Microsoft® Word and Excel CREATE & EDIT functionality today in a powerful productivity suite. VIEW, EMAIL, and ACCESS attachments with the most popular file formats.

The core Quickoffice suite comprises four great programs which allow users to work on important documents such as contracts, business plans, sales presentations, financial reports and other documents sent as email attachments – directly on their phone. Plus, Quickoffice users can “push” their documents to a printer, fax, projector or back to a desktop with complete confidence.

Suite features:

• Open, edit, and create text (.TXT) files, Word (.DOC, .DOCX) documents, and Excel (.XLS, .XSLX) spreadsheets compatible with Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows and Microsoft Office 2008 for Macintosh
• Auto-save and auto-restore
• High-fidelity rendering and crisp characters
• Advanced notepad editor
• Intuitive cut-copy-paste compatible with the iPhone OS 3.0
• Set custom passcode lock to prevent sniffy people from running the app and much more!

Quickoffice is running a special offer of 50% off for the first 10,000 customers at $9.99 which is a steal! If you are on the go and work with Microsoft Office then you’ll find this app invaluable. To learn more and to take advantage of the special offer click here.

As the Holiday Season is fast approaching many of us will be on the road travelling to visit family and friends. If you own an iPhone below is a list of 11 apps that could just help make your journey that much easier and pleasant!

These apps will help you locate the nearest gas stations, hotels and restaurants. They will also help you to learn more about the local scene and current weather conditions.

1. Mapsbuddy – helps make search on Google Maps easier. Quick shortcuts to finding gas stations, restaurants, post office, and many other things you’ll need for the road.
2. SimulTravel GPS – an innovative application that locates hotels around you to plan travel  while you travel. You can locate hotels that are not near your current location. There are over 35,000 hotels to choose from in other cities or near other airports.
3. Urbanspoon – if you can’t decide where to eat, shake your iPhone and Urbanspoon will pick a good restaurant for you to try. Keep shaking until you find a restaurant you’re happy with.
4. Yelp – Yelp the popular review-based social network also has an iPhone app. Use it to search for places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play then read reviews from an active community of locals in the know.
5. Road Trip – is the fastest easiest way to log your mileage and gas expenses. You can graph out trip expenses and even export the data in csv format into Excel. It has multiple currency support. It can also record your car’s information such as VIN, insurance policy number, emergency phone numbers and registration.
6. The Weather Channel – this app provides in-motion radar maps, traffic cams (select markets), improved graphics and more.
7. WifiTrak – this app will help you find FREE and open WiFi hotspots and public access points quickly and easily. Network list sorted from best to worst.
8. Road Trip Fun – this app contains a list of games that you and your family can play on a road trip! Helps keep the kids in the car busy whilst you drive! No internet connection is needed!
9. Flashlight – when you find yourself in a dark spot, Flashlight will illuminate where you are with a bright white light or you can customize the color of your choice.