Roost

Empowers travelers to find compatible roommates to share hotel rooms and split the cost.

1 follower

Empowers travelers to find compatible roommates to share hotel rooms and split the cost.

1 follower

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Roost makes traveling affordable and fosters connections between travelers.

Launch tags:Travel

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Launch websites with enterprise needs at startup speeds.

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Songbox

You're obviously going to get a lot of safety questions today, so I'll start. 1. How do you make sure people are who they say they are, and that I'm not gonna end up sharing a room with some psycho? 2. What are the provisions for "getting out" if it turns out you just really can't bare to share a room with the person - even if it turns out they're not a psycho, but you just can't share a room with them for whatever reason? 3. How does payment work? 4. Do hotels need to be onboard with your platform or does it work on any hotel?

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6yr ago

Roost

Maker

@mickc79 Hi Mick, thanks so much for the questions! 1. Obviously sharing a hotel room with someone you never met in person before carries some inherent risk, similar to other "sharing economy" platforms like Uber and Airbnb. We've built several safety features designed to keep travelers safe. Verified accounts: All verified users have successfully completed Roost’s multi-step safety screen. This includes passing a background check and confirming their identity. We use industry-leading background screening and identity verification software to do this and verified roommate profiles are clearly marked with a blue star. - Identity Verification - National Criminal Records Check - Sex Offender Registry Check Choose your roommate: Who you share a room with is really important. See photos, read reviews, and filter roommate profiles by sex, age, rating and more. Indicate who you’re comfortable sharing a room with by tagging their profile. You’ll only match with a roommate if you mutually tag each other, or you’ll stay in your own private room. Ratings and reviews: For any potential roommate, see ratings and read reviews of them from past trips. We continually monitor and evaluate all user and remove users with poor ratings/reviews (this hasn't been an issue so far). On-site roommate ID verification: When you check into your hotel you'll be required to provide an ID that matches the name on your Roost profile. Your roommate must do the same. This ensures that your roommate is the person you’re expecting them to be. 2. When you create an account you agree to follow our Roommate Behavior Policy which outlines the things you can, and can't do, and ways you can be a good roommate. During trips we also provide travelers with tips on how to be a good roommate as well as a protocol if they currently feel unsafe. This includes how to get in contact with the local authorities. The hotel staff is also a resource if you just can't bear each other. This hasn't been an issue we've run into, but you can always go to the front desk and request to change rooms. Also, the fact that you and your roommate mutually chose each other means that you're very likely to be friendly, or at least cordial. At the end of the day, like other peer to peer platforms, we rely on people being good citizens and working out issues with each other. We provide 24/7 support if needed. 3. Payment is simple. When booking you pay to reserve your room like on any other site. Then you get access to the profiles of all potential roommates going to your destination on your dates. You indicate the people you're comfortable sharing a room with by tagging their profiles. You'll only match with a roommate if you both tag each other. Once you match 50% of your payment is automatically refunded to your card. If you don't match with a roommate, or you choose to stay in your own private room, you won't receive the refund. 4. While we'd certainly be interested in partnering with hotels, currently we don't partner directly with them. Instead we've integrate with a booking engine and GDS system which allows us to operate at any hotel in any location. You can think of Roost as a roommate matching service first, and a hotel booking platform second. Hotels can't discriminate against you based on how you met your roommate. Whether they’re your friend, partner, or you met through Roost it's all the same to the hotel. Roost also helps hotels increase occupancy rates. This leads to more extra purchases (parking, room-service, mini bar, restaurant, etc) which are highly profitable. We also provide a way for hotels to appeal to younger travelers who currently stay in hostels or Airbnbs. Thanks again and hopefully this answers your questions. Cheers! Sam (Co-founder/CEO)

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6yr ago

Twinty

Maker

Hi ProductHunt 👋, We believe that most things in life are better when shared, including travel. We launched Roost a few weeks ago with the goal of making quality accommodations affordable for everyone. We help travelers, mainly Millenials and Gen Z, find 'travel buddies' and save 50% on their hotel costs. The problem is that hotels are nice but often too expensive, and hostels are well...hostels. Right now, we are focused on event-based travel like Music Festivals and conventions, places where lots of young, like-minded travelers congregate. Hotels dramatically jack up their rates around events which makes it impossible for many people to attend. Plus we've found that many people going to these types of events are looking to meet other attendees. Sharing a hotel room is not a completely new concept. The way people currently find roommates and split hotel costs is outdated, unsafe, and inefficient. Travelers post on sites like Facebook and Reddit. There are no safeguards and finding out basic information is hit or miss. Comparing candidates and figuring out who has to front the bill and worrying about getting repaid are hassles. Roost is unique because we streamline and standardize this whole process for you. We help you safely choose your ideal roommate AND we take care of booking your hotel room. We make both of these things quick, easy, and secure. Please check it out. We'd love your feedback and are happy to answer any questions. If there is an event or city you think we should add, please request it here: https://www.roostgo.com/request-... PS: We're offering $50 off for the first 100 bookings from the ProductHunt community! Use the promo code `PH50`

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6yr ago

This service is great for those who hook up on tinder but are tired of paying for the hotel. Now you find your date, and split the night away.

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6yr ago

I don't like to share hotel rooms with people I know, let alone strangers. I'm sure some people will, but sleeping habits are things that you can't ask people to change.

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6yr ago

sounds very interesting! Let's see how safe it really is ;)

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6yr ago

great idea!

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6yr ago