HotelTonight’s free concierge service gives your trip the VIP treatment

There’s nothing worse than arriving in a new city on vacation and not knowing where to start with your sightseeing, shopping or foodie explorations.

Well, the folks at HotelTonight have just opened up their Aces concierge service to all of its app users, so now you’ll have direct access to a real person who can help you plan how to spend your days, give you tips on the best sights or places to eat and sort all of your hotel requests.

Released in beta last year to small number of users, the service is available from today for users in Arlington, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Brooklyn, Cambridge, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, London, LA, Miami, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, Santa Barbara, Savannah, Seattle, Scottsdale, Tampa, Tempe, Toronto and Vancouver.

There’s one catch – you can only get this VIP treatment on bookings that cost more than $200 at hotels classed as Solid, Hip, Luxe, Charming or HighRoller within the app.

If you’re eligible, you will get a message from your Ace concierge on the morning of your trip before you check in. They will then stand by for the full duration of your stay and be at your beck and call on the app for whatever you might need. That’s everything from a room with a view to toothpaste or a restaurant reservation.

While it’s an obvious tool to offer business travellers who are used to the special treatment, the flexibility in what the concierge can help with should appeal to all kinds of travellers.

HotelTonight says that since the service launched in beta, there have been hundreds of thousands of messages exchanged and the average response time from the concierges is just 23 seconds.