New Website Connects Gay Travellers with Gay Friendly Hotels

Aug 09, 12 | 12:03 am

By Robbie Laurie

Instinct Magazine reports that World Rainbow Hotels, the gay & lesbian travel organization which made the headlines a year and a half ago as the first ever supplier of gay-friendly hotels on the GDS (Travel Global Distribution System), launched a new website allowing LGBT consumers to locate and book with genuine gay and lesbian-welcoming hotels.

WorldRainbowHotels.com allows travelers to search through the travel organizations partnerships with 175 hotel brands including high-profile names such as Kimpton, Morgans, Design Hotels, and Joie de Vivre, to find the most comfortable accommodations within their respected budgets without the worry that the property may not openly accept gay travelers.

Nicolas Wijnants, World Rainbow Hotels’ brand director, said: “Too often hoteliers claim their establishment is "gay-friendly” but then fail to deliver on their promise. Gay and lesbian consumers want more than a rainbow flag in the window, they want to feel genuinely welcome as gay and lesbian individuals and they want to know that the hotel’s staff understands their travel concerns.”

The online reservation portal selected more than 850 three to five-star properties in 129 global destinations through a rigorous set of screening criteria such as:

• Hotel’s location
• Hotel’s characteristics and category
• Hotel’s knowledge of local gay-scene
• Hotel’s current involvement with the LGBT community
• Hotel’s compliance with non-discrimination policies and same sex benefits for their staff

Member hotels are encouraged to undergo LGBT welcoming training and required to put together their own information guide about their local gay and lesbian scene.

As the first and only gay and lesbian travel organization to be using the travel industry’s communication network (known as the Global Distribution System or GDS), World Rainbow Hotels can offer customers fast and secure transactions as well as the hotels’ best available rates at all times.

The new website offers information and reservations for 16 Los Angeles gay-friendly properties.

Source: Examiner.com