In May 2020 Niels Meijssen posted a LinkedIn message about a very well-known booking platform from the Netherlands. The platform applied for state aid but paid out millions to shareholders. He found it outrageous and made plans for a fair booking platform named Beterboeken. The software developer started a crowdfunding campaign and soon they raised the starting capital of 2 million euros. Moonback, the new name, is now live and operates from hometown Rotterdam.
Honest booking of a hotel is implemented in every aspect of the booking site. This is at odds with what existing platforms do to get people to book as quickly as possible in order to further increase their profits. They do this with phrases like: ‘Only 1 room left’.
Moonback is here to bring back balance in the current market for hotel stays. Providing a new booking environment that brings guests and hotel owners together. Not as a middleman, the booking process with fair rules for all players involved is supported.
With Moonback, guests are able to smoothly and easily book their stay – for which the chosen hotel pays a fair commission. Guests and hotels can contact each other directly at all times. As Moonback is a crowd-funded and steward-owned company, the mission always comes before profit.
The most visible honest part of Moonback is the search results map with all hotels instead of a list. So there is no ranking. The search results are based on the best matches, not on which hotel pays the most. All hotels pay the same low commission. The hotels you see will meet all of your needs – nothing more or less. CEO Niels Meijssen: “When you visit Moonback, you notice how nice it works and how irritating the other booking sites are with their manipulative practices.”
Moonback now also in Rotterdam
Moonback is the answer to the manipulative practices, monopolistic behavior and the squeezing of travelers and hotels by the existing platforms.It wants to be a fair alternative alongside these platforms. Book a hotel with a good feeling.
At the moment, Moonback focuses on city trips in Europe. Antwerp was the first city where bookings could be made. Now hometown Rotterdam is also live. They do that in collaboration with Rotterdam Partners and Rotterdamse Hotel Combinatie.
Hotels like Hotel New York, SS Rotterdam, Room Mate Bruno, Supernova, H2otel and Inntel Hotels Rotterdam Centre can now be booked for a staycation for example.
