Yelp adds hotel and winery bookings with new partnerships

Travelers often turn to Yelp to check out consumer reviews of hotels before they go on vacation, and now they can book a room directly through its site and app thanks to a partnership with startup Hipmunk.

Yelp made the announcement on its official blog and also said it had partnered with CellarPass to offer winery reservations.

The moves are part of Yelp Platform, which encompasses a growing number of partner companies that offer their services directly on Yelp, including food delivery and spa bookings.

Yelp said that about 28,000 businesses in all major U.S. markets are available for booking on Yelp Platform; the San Francisco company said it would continue to expand in the coming months. It said it wanted to add new partners and categories of businesses as well.

Roughly 250,000 transactions happened through the Yelp Platform in the third quarter, with more than 50 percent of them coming from mobile devices, Yelp said.

"It's clear Yelpers love the convenience of booking and purchase options within Yelp," the company said. "The best part is that by making it easier for consumers to spend money at local businesses, those businesses are reaping the benefits, too."

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