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Welcome to TheHotelGirls.com!
We never imagined that going for a ride in a three-wheeled "tuk tuk" taxi in Thailand would inspire us to start a business. That adventurous ride through the busy streets of Bangkok in the Sukhumvit district, looking for the best street food vendor, is how The Hotel Girls began.
It all started with tragedy, unfortunately many good stories do. In 2006 Amanda, a successful businesswoman got the phone call that all wives dread-her husband Brad was killed in a car crash. After years of overworking and missing family time she decided to quit her job to be with her daughter, Sarah. Coincidentally, Amanda's little sister, Megan, was also looking for a change. Megan decided to leave the glamour of New York to move to San Francisco to help her sister through her grief. One night in late 2006 Megan and Amanda decided-well, Megan really insisted-that Amanda needed a "Girls Only" trip to help her move on. So Megan rounded up Amanda's best friends: Sunee, Holly, Alexandria, Alexandria's friend Michele and Natasha, and her own best friend, Skye, and they all planned a trip to the most exotic and unusual locale they could imagine-Thailand. The basis of the trip was simple. Take Amanda somewhere where she could experience new things and not be reminded of Brad. The ten-day trip was a success, at least in the sense that it bonded the eight of us in ways we could never imagine. It also helped Amanda deal with her grief, although she still insists that the best part of the trip was the estrogen rush! It also led to the beginning of our joint venture, The Hotel Girls, Inc.
As we raced through the streets of Bangkok in the "taxi" we were saddened by the poverty we saw around us, and also awed by the richness of the Thai people's spirit. We decided that we wanted to find a way to help others. Then the idea struck!
It was simple, Westerners travel all the time, whether for business or pleasure and partake in the beauty of cultures much more in need. Honestly, Americans are always traveling! And what if there was a travel company that gave back to charities for each trip they booked? We had each used various online travel booking companies, we knew that sites like Hotels.com and Expedia.com got hundreds of thousands of visitors a day. What if we found a way to take a small portion of each trip booked, and give it back to a charity? It seemed like a simple idea, and that night (admittedly, over too much Sang Som rum) it seemed brilliant. As we were leaving the bar, Alexandria joked "Okay, back to the hotel, girls." Which brought all the girls into hysterics, and the name for our little pet project was born.
Of course, big ideas like this are always easier in thought than in execution. We were told that we would be David going up against Goliath with this crazy idea, but those are just the kind of odds that The Hotel Girls live for! So, with the business contacts of Alexandria, the hotelier, and the business acumen of Amanda, we pooled together what was left of our money (after the trip) and started to make this crazy idea a reality.
In late 2007 we got a break, Alexandria was able to get us a meeting with the executives at Expedia.com, Inc., and a partnership between David and Goliath was born. Amanda was feeling ready to tip-toe back into the business world, but wanted to make sure she was always there for Sarah, so with the Girls (and their husbands') help she gutted Brad's "man cave" in the garage, and turned it into office space for our company. Expedia.com offered us the ability to work with a leading, globally recognized online travel company and now, here we are, providing travelers worldwide with all they need to research and book their hotel reservations, vacation rentals, vacation packages, airline tickets, car rentals, and cruises--while giving back to worthwhile charities all over the world.
Our Mission
The Hotel Girls mission is to "bring people together", and to be the preferred online travel company for leisure and business travelers around the world.
To support our mission we are guided by our dedication to deliver superior travel products and services, by our ability to offer outstanding values with a lowest hotels rates guarantee, and by a never-ending commitment to social and environmental responsibility with our "Book for Charity" program.
What We Stand For
The Hotel Girls are passionate about being recognized as a company of good character. Our values are the foundation of the company, and regardless of the circumstances, we believe in doing what's right! As a company and as individuals we embrace diversity, pursue open communication, strive for excellence, and believe in our commitment to giving back. Most importantly, we recognize that the customer is priority number one, and everything we do must be focused on the satisfaction of our customers.
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