The iPhone is a great phone and an awesome entertainment device, but it’s also a great tool for a variety of things, including an excellent travel companion. Ana Ortiz at LaunchSquad dropped me a line and suggested I check out Best Western’s site, which also happens to be iPhone-friendly as a web app. Best Western, partnering with Usablenet, brings their site to the iPhone for your traveling convenience. What features are available via the web app? Read on after the break!

If you enter www.bestwestern.com into your iPhone’s Safari, the site detects you are mobile and will bring you to the web app version. From here, you can check the status of your reservation on the fly, reserve a room for the night, get directions to the hotel, and more – all accomplished from your iPhone.

I like the fact that if I’m out and about and without access to a computer or laptop, I can still confirm my reservations, make a reservation, use the Trip Planner, or get directions to Best Western so I can crash for the night. Since there are thousands of Best Westerns across the globe, this can be a useful web app for the frequent and/or unexpected traveler. If you wish, you also have the option to view the full web site, but that usually isn’t necessary when you have full functionality using the web app. 

According to Ana, Usablenet makes this possible with their comprehensive mobile-web platform, which also works with numerous other hotels, like the Hilton, Starwood, Four Seasons, etc.

As an added bonus, check out Urbanspoon in the App Store. Once you’ve settled in to your Best Western, you might want to grab a bite somewhere and Urbanspoon uses the GPS of your iPhone to help you locate a restaurant near your location for some good eats. Just shake your iPhone and let Urbanspoon do the rest. Keep shaking until the slot machine dials up something you fancy.

That’s it for this time. Thanks, Ana, for the Best Western tip!

If you have a tip or how-to that you would like to share, drop by the forums and/or email us atbrian.hart@tipb.com.

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Tips and How To’s: Best Western on iPhone