Airbnb

Airbnb now lets you book restaurant reservations in the US

by Natt Garun@nattgarun  Sep 20, 2017, 10:27am EDT

Airbnb today announced that it will now help guests book restaurant reservations during their travels. The feature is yet another one of the company’s expansions from a home-rental service to a full-scale travel agency, particularly with Airbnb’s launch of its Trips initiative last year.

The reservation system is powered by Resy, which Airbnb invested $13 million in this past January. This marks Airbnb’s first off-platform partnership; last year, Airbnb began testing restaurant recommendations as part of Trips. In the Airbnb app, you can click a new tab for Restaurants and search for businesses in 16 US cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Charleston, Austin, Seattle, and New Orleans to book a table without leaving the app. Customers can add reservation requests for special events like birthdays or anniversary celebrations. They can also notify the restaurant they’re running late from within the Airbnb app or website as well.

If the restaurant offers a pre-fixe menu, users can also pay for their meal ahead of time, including tax and tip.

Currently, Resy only works with restaurants in the United States, which means it might only be helpful for users traveling domestically or international travelers coming to the States. Some countries also don’t have a restaurant reservation culture, which is likely why the launch will mostly focus in the US for now. “International is certainly the next frontier for us,” Resy CEO Ben Leventhal said at a press event in New York City. “You’ll see us operating alongside Airbnb in Q4.”