HotelQuickly

HotelQuickly was a hotel booking website and smartphone app.[1][2][3] The company was bought and lead by Rising Sun Jerome Cle in August 2017 The company then ceased operations in December 2018, cancelling thousands of bookings without providing refunds.[4]

HotelQuickly
IndustryTravel, Lodging, Tourism
FateCeased operations in 2019
FoundedDecember 2012 (2012-12)
FoundersTomas Laboutka, Christian Mischler, Michal Juhas, Mario Peng, Raphael Cohen
HeadquartersHong Kong
Area served
Worldwide
ServicesHotel booking
Websitehotelquickly.com

History

HotelQuickly was founded in December 2012 by Tomas Laboutka (CEO), Christian Mischler (COO & CMO), Michal Juhas (CTO), Mario Peng (CFO), and Raphael Cohen (CSO).[5][6]

The following March, HotelQuickly launched service in six Asian markets, eventually growing to sixteen markets.[7][8]

HotelQuickly secured US$1.15 million in angel funding in August 2013,[9] and US$4.5 million in Series A-1 funding in Spring 2014, bringing the total funds raised to US$5.65 million.[10]

In mid-2017, the founders of HotelQuickly sold the majority control to a Hong-Kong Company, Jérôme Clé took over as company Acting CEO.[11][12] Following the acquisition, the company was largely restructured, resulting in dwindling employee satisfaction and an exodus of talent. However the company went from a 20M$ revenue to a 110M$ revenue despite some frictions with the previous team.[13]

Company shutdown

In December 2018, HotelQuickly shut down abruptly due to a disagreement with its main provider and ongoing losses due to a technical mismatch from the provider which did result in large financial losses for the company. The company tried to negotiate reimbursement of these losses with its main provider but was not able to get to an amicable agreement therefore the company had to stop its operations and unfortunately canceling prepaid reservations and leaving travelers stranded without accommodation. The Company recommended to its travellers to apply for a chargeback from their own credit card providers as it is the practice in the travel world[14][4] In April 2019, a credit card processor filed a RICO lawsuit against HotelQuickly ltd and it's directors in US Federal Court.[15] Case was dismissed with prejudice few month later.

References
  1. Yap, Jacky. "HotelQuickly was launched in 6 countries, and booked curated hotels". e27. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  2. Wee, Willis. "HotelQuickly Books Your Hotels Really Quickly, Launches in 6 Asian Countries". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  3. Yeoh, Siew Hoon. "Same-day hotel booking space heats up as HotelQuickly joins fray". Web In Travel. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  4. "HotelQuickly cancels bookings and says no cash refunds". The Independent. 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  5. "Investment Bank Defectors Fuel Startup Scene in Hong Kong: Tech". Businessweek. 29 January 2014.
  6. Walter, Christian. "Hotel Quickly receives a US$1.16 million investment". Bangkok Startup. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  7. "HotelQuickly arrives in Vietnam". Web In Travel. 1 May 2013. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014.
  8. Summers, Nick (8 May 2013). "HotelQuickly launches its same-day hotel booking app in Australia with Sydney and Melbourne listings". The Next Web.
  9. Prabu, Karthick (September 24, 2013). "The last-minute hotel market is alive and kicking, HotelQuickly raises $1.2 million funding". Phocuswire.
  10. O'Hear, Steve (9 July 2014). "HotelQuickly Raises $4.5 Million To Double-Down On Last Minute Hotel Booking In Asia-Pacific". TechCrunch.
  11. "What Happened to the HotelTonight Clones?". Skift. April 1, 2019.
  12. Tunya, Thidawan (2018-09-13). "Jérôme Clé Chief Executive Officer, Rising Sun Merchant Services Pte. Ltd Executive Chairman, HotelQuickly, eOasia and travelbook". Destination Thailand News.
  13. "Working at Hotel Quickly". Glassdoor.
  14. "Thousands of bookings canceled by HotelQuickly with no refund".
  15. "ATLANTIC-PACIFIC PROCESSING SYSTEMS, INC. v. HOTELQUICKLY LTD. et al". Law360.
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