What is content vs ARI, and why does it matter?

Content covers the static description of a property: name, address, photos, amenities, room types, hotel policies. ARI stands for Availability, Rates, and Inventory - the dynamic data that changes per day, per room type. Content is usually pulled in bulk once a week; ARI must be fresh at search time. The architectural challenge: content lookups must be fast (cached, indexed), ARI lookups must be live (often sub-500ms p95). Most portals separate the two with different infrastructure.

How does property deduplication work across multiple suppliers?

The same hotel often appears in multiple aggregators with different IDs and slight content variations. Deduplication matches them so the traveler sees one property with the best available rate across suppliers. Standard approach: match on geocoded location (within 50m) + name similarity + room-type alignment. Build a property mapping table that links supplier IDs to a canonical internal property ID. adivaha maintains this mapping centrally so portals do not have to rebuild it.

Hotel API for OTAs and Travel Portals

Q: What is a Hotel API and what does it enable?

A Hotel API is the technical interface a travel portal uses to access hotel inventory: search availability, view rates, book rooms, and service bookings post-purchase. Hotel APIs come from aggregators (HotelBeds, Expedia Partner Solutions, RateHawk, Booking.com Affiliate) that bundle inventory from many properties, and from direct chain APIs (Marriott, Hilton, Accor) that expose a single chain's rooms. Most portals integrate multiple sources for breadth.

Q: Which Hotel API aggregators should I use?

HotelBeds is the largest global hotel aggregator with over 250,000 properties and B2B net rates. Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS Rapid) covers similar breadth with stronger US/EU coverage. RateHawk specializes in B2B agent rates. Booking.com Affiliate gives access to Booking.com inventory at retail rates. Agoda Affiliate is strong in Asia-Pacific. Most production portals integrate 2-4 aggregators for breadth plus selective direct chain integration.

Q: What is the difference between B2B and B2C hotel rates?

B2B (net) rates are wholesale rates that the portal marks up before showing to travelers. The portal earns the markup as margin. B2C (retail) rates are the public rate that any consumer would see; the portal earns a fixed commission post-booking. B2B is preferred when the portal wants margin control and competitive pricing flexibility. B2C is simpler operationally but ties the portal to retail-rate parity. Most mature portals run a hybrid - B2B for the long tail, B2C for branded loyalty programs.

Q: How are cancellation policies handled?

Each rate carries its own cancellation policy: free cancellation until X date, non-refundable, partial refund tiers. The platform must parse these policies from supplier-specific formats, normalize them for traveler display, and apply them during refund workflows. Non-refundable rates require explicit traveler consent at checkout. Mature portals also surface cancellation policies prominently in search results because they materially affect conversion - a non-refundable USD 80 rate often loses to a free-cancel USD 90 rate.

Q: How long does Hotel API integration take?

Through an aggregator: 4 to 8 weeks per aggregator including sandbox, content sync, ARI integration, booking flow, and reconciliation. Adding a second aggregator typically takes 3 to 6 weeks because much of the infrastructure is reusable. Direct chain APIs are usually faster (2 to 4 weeks per chain) because the API surface is smaller. The adivaha platform reduces multi-aggregator integration to 1 to 3 weeks because the infrastructure and mappings are already in place.

Q: What does Hotel API integration cost?

adivaha Hotel API integration is included in the Standard plan at USD 99 per month (with USD 999 one-time setup) and the Standard plan at (included in Standard above). Per-transaction fees vary by aggregator and rate type. Building Hotel API integration in-house through one aggregator: USD 40K to USD 120K upfront plus ongoing maintenance. Multi-aggregator builds scale accordingly. Most portals choose the platform route to avoid the engineering overhead.

Q: Can I bundle hotels with flights, transfers, and activities?

Yes. The adivaha platform handles unified booking across flights, hotels, transfers, and activities with a single payment, single voucher, and consolidated traveler record. Multi-product bundles often improve conversion (travelers prefer one checkout) and unit economics (cross-sell ancillaries). Most mature portals offer hotel + flight + transfer as a default bundle on at least 30 percent of bookings.

Q: How are direct chain APIs different from aggregator content?

Direct chain APIs (Marriott Bonvoy API, Hilton API, Accor SBE, IHG Hotelligence) expose the chain's inventory directly. Benefits: better rates than aggregators on participating properties, access to loyalty-program features, sometimes exclusive rates and promotions. Trade-offs: limited to the chain's own properties (no third-party hotels), additional engineering per chain, certification required for some chains. Most portals start with aggregators and add direct chains only when a specific chain dominates their booking mix or when loyalty integration becomes important.

A Hotel API is the technical interface a travel portal uses to access hotel inventory: search availability, retrieve rates, book rooms, and service bookings post-purchase. For any OTA, agency, or travel platform selling accommodation, picking the right Hotel API supplier mix is one of the most consequential engineering and commercial decisions in the build.

This page covers the supplier landscape (aggregators vs direct chains), B2B and B2C rate models, content and ARI workflows, property deduplication, and how the adivaha platform packages multi-aggregator Hotel API access into a single connection.

For the broader API architecture context, see our hub on travel API integration. For flight content, see GDS API integration, NDC content, and LCC API integration. For the commercial portal that bundles all of it, see our hub on a brand-owned booking platform.

Planning Hotel API integration for your portal?

Talk to our team for a 30-minute technical walkthrough: supplier coverage in your priority markets, B2B vs B2C rate strategy, and integration timelines.

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The Hotel API Supplier Landscape

Hotel inventory in 2026 distributes through three layers: aggregators that bundle many properties, direct chain APIs, and direct independent-hotel APIs. Most portals use the first two; only the largest portals justify the engineering for the third.

Aggregators (the practical default)

Aggregators hold contracts with thousands of properties and resell inventory to travel sellers through one API per aggregator. Major aggregators:

HotelBeds (Hotelbeds Bedbank, Bedsonline) - largest global aggregator with 250,000+ properties. Strong in Europe and Latin America. B2B net rates.
Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS Rapid) - similar breadth, strongest US/EU coverage. B2B net rates.
RateHawk - B2B specialist with strong agent-tier pricing and Eastern Europe coverage.
Booking.com Affiliate - retail rates, broadest property catalog, simpler integration but no margin control.
Agoda Affiliate - strong in Asia-Pacific, retail rates.
TBO Holidays - strong B2B aggregator in India and the subcontinent.
WebBeds - growing B2B aggregator with global coverage.

Direct chain APIs

Major hotel chains expose direct APIs that give access to their inventory at often better rates than aggregators on participating properties, plus loyalty-program features.

Marriott Bonvoy API - Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, W, St. Regis, JW, Renaissance, Courtyard and others.
Hilton API - Hilton, Conrad, DoubleTree, Hampton, Hilton Garden Inn and others.
Accor SBE (Sofitel, Novotel, Pullman, ibis, Mercure, MGallery).
IHG Hotelligence - InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton.
Hyatt API (Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency).
Best Western direct.
OYO, Treebo, FabHotels - Indian chains.

Independent direct (rare for portal-scale)

Some portals integrate directly with individual independent hotels, especially boutique or specialty properties not covered well by aggregators. This is high-engineering, high-relationship work. Only worth it for portals with strong destination focus.

B2B (Net) vs B2C (Retail) Rates

The rate model shapes pricing strategy and unit economics.

B2B (net) rates

The aggregator shows the portal a wholesale net rate. The portal adds markup (typically 8-15% depending on rate category) and shows the marked-up rate to travelers. The portal earns the markup as margin. Common with HotelBeds, EPS, RateHawk, TBO, WebBeds.

Advantages: margin control, pricing flexibility, easier to run promotions. Disadvantages: portal needs a markup engine, must track per-supplier net rates separately, more complex reconciliation.

B2C (retail) rates

The aggregator shows the portal the public retail rate. The portal sells at that rate and earns a fixed commission post-booking. Common with Booking.com Affiliate, Agoda Affiliate.

Advantages: simpler integration, no markup engine needed, no price-display conflicts with the supplier. Disadvantages: no margin flexibility, commission rates set by aggregator, harder to differentiate on price.

The hybrid that wins

Most mature portals run a hybrid: B2B for the long tail of properties where margin matters, B2C for branded retail rates that travelers may recognize. The platform must support both rate models on the same search-results page with clear handling of each.

Content and ARI

Two distinct data flows make hotel APIs more complex than flight APIs.

Content (static)

Property descriptions, addresses, geocoordinates, photos, amenities, room types, facilities, hotel policies. Updated infrequently (weekly or monthly). Best practice: bulk-sync content to a local search index (Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, or similar), refresh on a scheduled cadence, serve content from the local index for fast search-page rendering.

ARI (dynamic - Availability, Rates, Inventory)

Per-date availability, room-specific rates, room counts available. Changes constantly. Best practice: query the supplier API at search time, with aggressive caching for popular queries (30-180 second TTL). Some aggregators expose pull-based ARI feeds for cached use, others require live calls per search.

The architecture that works at scale

Search page: serve content from local index (sub-100ms p95), fan out parallel ARI calls to suppliers (target 800ms p95 across 3-5 aggregators), merge results, sort by price (or by relevance), display. Detail page: re-query ARI for the specific property to confirm fresh availability. Booking page: lock the rate via supplier API, then process payment.

Property Deduplication

The same hotel often appears in multiple aggregators with different IDs and slight content variations. Without deduplication, the traveler sees the same hotel three times at three different prices - poor UX and a conversion killer.

Matching approach

Three signals combined: geocoded location (must be within ~50m), name similarity (fuzzy match with tolerance for "Hotel" vs "Resort" suffix differences), and address normalization. Build a property mapping table linking supplier IDs to a canonical internal property ID. When the same property surfaces in multiple aggregators, show one card with "best rate across X suppliers."

Pitfalls

Different room types with similar names across suppliers can map differently. A "Standard Room" on one supplier may be a "Deluxe Room" on another. Room-type alignment requires per-property work and is rarely perfect. Production portals accept some room-type mismatch and surface the discrepancy clearly to travelers.

The adivaha approach

Property deduplication is maintained centrally on the platform. New portals inherit the existing mapping table on connection rather than rebuilding it. Updates flow continuously as suppliers add or update properties.

Cancellation Policy Handling

Cancellation policies materially affect conversion. Two categories of rate behave differently.

Refundable rates (often cheaper conversion path)

Free cancellation until X date (typically 24-72 hours before check-in). After the cutoff, partial-refund or non-refundable tiers may apply. Travelers prefer refundable rates and will often pay 5-15% more for the flexibility. Portals that don't surface free-cancel options prominently leave conversion on the table.

Non-refundable rates

No refund on cancellation. Typically 10-25% cheaper than the refundable equivalent. Some travelers prefer the lower price; others avoid them entirely. The platform must surface the non-refundable status clearly at search time and require explicit traveler consent at checkout.

Refund workflow

On cancellation, the platform must: validate the cancellation against the rate's policy, calculate the refund amount, request the supplier-side refund through API, wait for supplier confirmation, and then process the traveler refund. Hold the traveler refund until the supplier refund clears - typically 7-14 days. Communicate timing clearly during the cancellation flow.

Pricing and Plans

adivaha Hotel API integration is included in our two standard plans plus a custom tier.

Standard: USD 999 setup + USD 99/month

Full Hotel API coverage across HotelBeds, Expedia Partner Solutions, RateHawk, Booking.com Affiliate, Agoda Affiliate, TBO Holidays, and WebBeds. Property deduplication, B2B markup engine, multi-currency, sandbox access. 7-day free trial. See full pricing.

Custom (enterprise scope)

Same Hotel API coverage as Monthly, billed annually. Includes the B2B sub-agent module. Saves USD 789 a year.

Custom

For portals needing direct chain integrations (Marriott, Hilton, Accor, IHG), additional aggregators beyond standard roster, or enterprise SLA wording. Talk to sales for scoping.

Sandbox and Documentation

All plans include sandbox access for Hotel API integration testing. Sandbox covers all standard aggregators with test bookings, refund workflows, and end-to-end reconciliation. API documentation at docs.adivaha.com with REST/JSON examples, Postman collection, and per-supplier integration notes.

Why adivaha for Hotel API Integration

Three reasons portals choose adivaha for Hotel API integration.

Multi-aggregator coverage in one connector. HotelBeds, EPS, RateHawk, Booking.com Affiliate, Agoda, TBO, WebBeds - all behind one platform integration. Your engineering team writes one connector; we maintain the upstream relationships and updates.

Property deduplication maintained centrally. The mapping table that links supplier IDs to canonical properties is one of the highest-effort parts of any Hotel API build. You inherit ours on connection, complete with continuous updates.

Production-grade rate handling. B2B markup engine, B2C commission tracking, cancellation policy normalization, multi-currency settlement - all production-tested across hundreds of portal deployments. Mature operations from day one.

FAQs

Q1. What is a Hotel API and what does it enable?

A Hotel API is the technical interface for accessing hotel inventory: search availability, view rates, book rooms, service bookings. Sources include aggregators (HotelBeds, EPS, RateHawk, Booking.com Affiliate) and direct chain APIs (Marriott, Hilton, Accor).

Q2. Which Hotel API aggregators should I use?

HotelBeds (largest global, B2B), Expedia Partner Solutions (broad, strongest US/EU), RateHawk (B2B specialist, Eastern Europe), Booking.com Affiliate (retail, broadest catalog), Agoda Affiliate (Asia-Pacific). Most portals integrate 2-4 aggregators.

Q3. What is the difference between B2B and B2C hotel rates?

B2B (net) rates: wholesale price, portal adds markup, earns margin. B2C (retail) rates: public price, portal earns fixed commission post-booking. B2B = margin control; B2C = simpler. Mature portals run a hybrid.

Q4. What is content vs ARI?

Content: static property description (name, photos, amenities). ARI = Availability, Rates, Inventory - dynamic per-day data. Content is bulk-synced; ARI is live at search time with aggressive caching.

Q5. How does property deduplication work across suppliers?

Match on geocoded location (within ~50m) + name similarity + address normalization. Build mapping table linking supplier IDs to canonical property IDs. Show one card with "best rate across X suppliers." adivaha maintains centrally.

Q6. How are cancellation policies handled?

Each rate has its own policy: free cancel until X date, non-refundable, partial tiers. Platform parses, normalizes for traveler display, applies during refunds. Surface prominently in search results - cancellation policy affects conversion.

Q7. How long does Hotel API integration take?

Through an aggregator: 4-8 weeks per aggregator. Second aggregator: 3-6 weeks (infrastructure reused). Direct chain APIs: 2-4 weeks per chain. adivaha multi-aggregator: 1-3 weeks because infrastructure is in place.

Q8. What does Hotel API integration cost?

adivaha: included in Monthly USD 99/month (with USD 999 one-time setup) or Annual (included in Standard above). Per-transaction fees vary. Building in-house through one aggregator: USD 40K-120K upfront plus maintenance.

Q9. Can I bundle hotels with flights, transfers, and activities?

Yes. Unified booking across flights, hotels, transfers, activities with single payment, single voucher, consolidated traveler record. Bundles improve conversion and unit economics.

Q10. How are direct chain APIs different from aggregator content?

Better rates on participating properties, loyalty-program features, sometimes exclusive promotions. Trade-offs: limited to the chain's own properties, per-chain engineering, certification required. Most portals start with aggregators and add direct chains for high-volume chains only.