When Asher Hunt flew into New York in mid-July, the Los
Angeles resident had no idea where he would be staying that night. But by the
time he reached Manhattan, he had not only found accommodations, he had also
introduced his booking method to the two women sharing his ride: Overnight, the
mobile booking application Hunt founded and launched in January.
Overnight enables users to find last-minute accommodations,
ranging from couches to rooms to entire homes. The service launched in New York
July 14 and has introduced a new version of its app, which now has the ability
to book single or multiple nights.
The app is something of a cross between Hotel Tonight and
Airbnb, connecting users with hosts who have accommodations available at the
last minute. Overnight has about 4,000 hosts, Hunt said.
Prior to last month it was available in Los Angeles, San
Francisco and Austin, Texas. Its services have been extended to the East Coast,
with about 400 hosts in New York, and Hunt said he has international ambitions.
Users download the app for free and sign in through
Facebook. They must provide a phone number, a valid government-issued
identification and a credit card. IDs and credit cards are verified through
Jumio, a third-party company.
With the app, users see accommodations near them. The guest
can filter results to see only shared spaces, private rooms or entire homes.
When they find a place they like, they request it and the host is given the
option to accept or decline. The Facebook tie-in enables users and hosts to see
if they have friends in common.
According to Overnight, the average host response time is 45
seconds.
Hunt said when he requested accommodations in New York last
week, he received around 15 responses in the first 15 minutes. At a minimum,
guests and hosts split a $5.99 fee that goes to Overnight.
The fee rises based on the type of property and stay length.
The highest would be 15% of the transaction from the guest and 5% from the
host, Hunt said.
When asked if he views Airbnb and Hotel Tonight as
competitors, Hunt said they are in a basic way, but he hopes to increase the
number of people traveling by offering “easier, faster, cheaper”
accommodations.