I like the Booking.com approach of focusing on their product and website so that users come to it directly (I must say though that there are many things I don't like about their site, like all the "1 last room at this price book quickly!!"). Yelp shot itself in the foot by not letting mobile users read reviews without downloading the app. It's not worth most people to download the app for it.
For travel I usually go to Kayak directly. Their site is simple and useful. But I must admit that seeing all the options on a map is pretty useful and I often use the hotel module in Maps. For me Maps is the best product Google ever made since their initial search engine.
For travel I usually go to Kayak directly. Their site is simple and useful. But I must admit that seeing all the options on a map is pretty useful and I often use the hotel module in Maps. For me Maps is the best product Google ever made since their initial search engine.