Get started with OpenBookings: your first hotel search

You can start searching for hotels immediately — no account required. This guide walks through the search experience in the web app and shows you how to make the same search directly against the API so you can integrate OpenBookings into your own application.

Search in the web app

Open the app

Go to openbookings.co. You’ll see a fullscreen hero image with a search panel in the bottom-right corner.

Enter your destination

Click the Destination… field. As you type a city name, OpenBookings shows instant typeahead suggestions powered by Algolia. Click the destination you want — the app records its coordinates for the search.

Choose your dates

Click the date field (it shows From / Till) to open the date picker. Click a check-in date, then a check-out date. The field updates to show your selected range, e.g. Jun 1, 2026 / Jun 3, 2026.

Set guests and rooms

Click the guest field to open the guest selector. Adjust the number of adults, children, and rooms. The default is 2 Adults · 1 Room. OpenBookings only returns rooms whose max_adults and max_children capacity covers your guest count.

Run the search

Click Find my trip. OpenBookings fetches results from GET /api/query and displays a ranked list of available properties sorted by total price, lowest first.

Each result shows the best-priced available room for that property. If a property has multiple room types that fit your guest count, only the cheapest qualifying room appears in the list.

Search via the API

If you’re building an integration, you can call GET /api/query directly. The endpoint accepts your destination coordinates, dates, and guest count and returns the same ranked results the app displays.

Required parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`lat`	number	Latitude of the destination
`lon`	number	Longitude of the destination
`checkin`	string	Check-in date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
`checkout`	string	Check-out date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
`adults`	integer	Number of adult guests
`rooms`	integer	Number of rooms

Optional parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`children`	integer	Number of child guests (default `0`)

Example: search London for 2 nights

The coordinates below are central London (lat=51.5074, lon=-0.1278). The search covers all properties within 250 km of that point.

curl "https://openbookings.co/api/query?lat=51.5074&lon=-0.1278&checkin=2026-06-01&checkout=2026-06-03&adults=2&rooms=1"

const params = new URLSearchParams({
  lat: "51.5074",
  lon: "-0.1278",
  checkin: "2026-06-01",
  checkout: "2026-06-03",
  adults: "2",
  rooms: "1",
});

const res = await fetch(`https://openbookings.co/api/query?${params}`);
const hotels = await res.json();
console.log(hotels);

import urllib.request, json

params = (
  "lat=51.5074&lon=-0.1278"
  "&checkin=2026-06-01&checkout=2026-06-03"
  "&adults=2&rooms=1"
)
url = f"https://openbookings.co/api/query?{params}"

with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as response:
    hotels = json.load(response)
    print(hotels)

Example response

The API returns an array of hotel objects, one per property, sorted by total_price ascending. Each object represents the cheapest available room for that property on your dates.

[
  {
    "hotel_id": "prop_01j2kx9n4t",
    "hotel_name": "The Kensington Grand",
    "hotel_slug": "the-kensington-grand",
    "city": "London",
    "country": "GB",
    "room_id": "room_01j2kx9q8w",
    "room_name": "Classic Double",
    "room_description": "A comfortable double room with city views and en-suite bathroom.",
    "base_occupancy": 2,
    "max_adults": 2,
    "max_children": 1,
    "rate_plan_id": "rp_01j2kxbm3z",
    "rate_plan_name": "Flexible Rate",
    "currency": "GBP",
    "is_refundable": true,
    "cancellation_policy": "Free cancellation until 48 hours before check-in.",
    "min_stay": 1,
    "max_stay": null,
    "subtotal": 280.00,
    "total_price": 252.00,
    "applied_modifiers": ["length_of_stay"]
  },
  {
    "hotel_id": "prop_01j2kyp7rn",
    "hotel_name": "Shoreditch Loft Hotel",
    "hotel_slug": "shoreditch-loft-hotel",
    "city": "London",
    "country": "GB",
    "room_id": "room_01j2kyp9vx",
    "room_name": "Loft King",
    "room_description": "Open-plan loft room with exposed brick and a king-size bed.",
    "base_occupancy": 2,
    "max_adults": 2,
    "max_children": 0,
    "rate_plan_id": "rp_01j2kyqc4f",
    "rate_plan_name": "Non-Refundable Rate",
    "currency": "GBP",
    "is_refundable": false,
    "cancellation_policy": "Non-refundable. No changes permitted after booking.",
    "min_stay": 1,
    "max_stay": null,
    "subtotal": 310.00,
    "total_price": 310.00,
    "applied_modifiers": []
  }
]

Key response fields

Field	Type	Description
`hotel_id`	string	Unique property identifier
`hotel_name`	string	Display name of the property
`hotel_slug`	string	URL-safe property identifier
`city` / `country`	string	Location of the property
`room_name`	string	Name of the room type being quoted
`currency`	string	ISO 4217 currency code (e.g. `"GBP"`, `"EUR"`, `"USD"`)
`is_refundable`	boolean	Whether the rate allows free cancellation
`cancellation_policy`	string	Human-readable cancellation terms
`subtotal`	number	Base cost before discounts
`total_price`	number	Final price after all applicable modifiers (the amount the guest pays)
`applied_modifiers`	string[]	Rate modifiers that were applied (e.g. `"length_of_stay"`, `"early_bird"`)

total_price may be lower than subtotal when a discount modifier fires (such as a length-of-stay discount), or higher when surcharges apply (such as extra-guest fees or weekend pricing).

Error responses

If a required parameter is missing or invalid, the API returns HTTP 400 with an errors array:

{
  "errors": ["lat is required", "checkin is required"]
}

Get Started

Core Features

Guides

Configuration

Help

Get started with OpenBookings: your first hotel search

Search in the web app

Search via the API

Required parameters

Optional parameters

Example: search London for 2 nights

Example response

Key response fields

Error responses

Next steps

Authentication

Hotel Search API reference

​Search in the web app

​Search via the API

​Required parameters

​Optional parameters

​Example: search London for 2 nights

​Example response

​Key response fields

​Error responses

​Next steps

Authentication

Hotel Search API reference

Search in the web app

Search via the API

Required parameters

Optional parameters

Example: search London for 2 nights

Example response

Key response fields

Error responses

Next steps