REVIEW: The Agoda mobile app makes short work of hotel booking

Online hotel platform Agoda's mobile app—available on both Android and iOS—that allows users book accommodations at affiliated hotels worldwide.

 

We explored the Android version of the Agoda app and put it through its paces.

 

Registration and login

 

Membership registration is done via the website, and the account is used to login into the app. There is also an option to login using your Facebook account, but you have to link your accounts in the Agoda website beforehand.

 

The registration process is straightforward, but may seem cumbersome to those who would rather do everything straight from the mobile app.

 

The inclusion of Facebook as a login option is a welcome feature, though one wonders if other login options should have been included as well.

 

Booking options

 

You can narrow down your search by indicating the number of people in your group, how many nights you will be staying at the hotel, and how many rooms you intend to book. You can also personalize the app by selecting the display language, and currency and the unit of distance used. There are also “Insider Deals” which can only be availed via the app.

 

If you do not have a specific hotel in mind, you can select “Find hotels near me” and then click “Nearby.” The app can pinpoint your location and display the nearest hotels to you, indicating an estimate of how far away they are. To use this function, I had to enable my phone’s GPS system.

 

Viewing results

 

In the results page, aside from the names of the hotels, their average user rating and the price for the rooms are displayed as well. Clicking on a hotel gets you to a page where you have the option of seeing the hotel’s policies and a listing of its facilities as well as other useful information you might want to know.

 

For example, on the Dusit Thani Manila page, there is an important notice announcing that there are ongoing “property enhancements” which are expected to end on December 31.

 

You have the option to look at the results in a sort of map view, where the app shows a Google maps display pinpointing the specific locations of the hotels that fit your search criteria.

 

Drawbacks

 

In the current Android version, one drawback is that there does not seem to be an option to sort search results, an option that seems to be available in the Apple version.

 

There also seems to be a bug with the Facebook login option. After I gave the app permission to access my Facebook account (which I had already linked with my Agoda account), it simply reloaded the homepage without actually logging me in.

 

Agoda does give you the option to delete your account, which is a negative for me. I want full control over my online accounts. This includes having the ability to delete any of them should the time come when I feel like I no longer need them.

 

Conclusion

 

Overall, the app is pretty useful and straightforward to use—especially for people who are in a hurry to get where they're going. Having said that, there is still some room for improvement particularly in terms of the smoothness of the interface and login functions.

 

Established in 2005, Agoda has offices in 28 countries and has more than 390,000 hotels in its network.  — TJD, GMA News