My secret hotel stay

House wasn’t home last night … she was on her first official assignment as a travel content producer for escape.com.au, test-driving the new Secret Hotels app for lastminute.com.au.

Try not to hate me too much.

Guess which hotel I scored? Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, in Phillip Street, Sydney. Ooooh yeah, baby!

The “Secret Hotels” concept is the result of a survey by lastminute.com.au that found one in three (34%) Australians have booked a last-minute hotel while out on the town.

Their reasons included:

• I lived too far away and needed sleep (19%)

• I didn’t think to book my accommodation until the last minute (18%)

• To keep the party going with friends (16 %)

• I met someone special and we talked all night! (13%)

• I couldn’t get a cab home (6%)

• I reconnected with a past love (4%)

Lastminute.com.au spokesperson Louise Ryan popped by my office yesterday to run me through the Secret Hotels app. Here’s her official spiel: “We know our customers love the fun of a last minute, spur of the moment hotel stay. The rise of the smartphone is making these decisions more accessible than ever before as people can book on the go. To cater for growing mobile spontaneous travellers, lastminute.com.au has launched the new Secret Hotels App, which allows for Australians to book a ‘secret hotel’ today, tonight, tomorrow, or 72 hours out, at rates of up to 40% off.”

The “secret” bit is that once you choose a date and location on the app, six hotels pop up, including a “secret hotel”. From there you can select from one of the five hotels listed, or pick the secret one, which is one of the five hotels listed on-screen at a reduced price.

I went for the secret hotel and got the Sofitel. Details to follow tomorrow. (Well, the PG ones, anyway.) Didn’t think it was kosher to blog while still on Secret Hotel holiday, especially since I scored a late check-out …

Song of the day: The Motels “Total Control”