What does ARI stand for?
ARI stands for Availability, Rates and Inventory. Google Hotel Center expects hotel prices in this format so Google Search, Google Maps and Google Free Booking Links can show a live price next to the property. Google documents the feed in its ARI overview.
Hotels Connect uses ARI as the delivery format to Google. The hotel does not have to produce an ARI file, learn XML, or hire a developer. Hotels Connect reads the hotel's public booking-site rates and converts them into the feed Google already understands.
What data does an ARI feed contain?
An ARI feed tells Google whether a room can be booked, at what price, and for which stay dates. Google's Hotel Prices developer documentation describes the messages that carry that data. In practice an ARI feed answers three questions for every stay Google might show:
- Availability — is the room open to book for those dates?
- Rates — what is the price the traveler will see, and what does it include?
- Inventory — which room types exist, and how many can be sold?
Hotels Connect currently publishes rates up to 180 days ahead, for 2-person occupancy, and for stays of 1 to 7 nights. Those bounds are the coverage Google receives from Hotels Connect, not a limit on what the hotel sells on its own website.
Why does Google require an ARI feed?
Google requires an ARI feed because Free Booking Links and Hotel Ads need a machine-readable price that matches the hotel's landing page. Without ARI, Google can list the hotel as a place but cannot show a bookable rate. See Google's Free Booking Links overview.
Most connectivity guides assume the hotel already runs a PMS or channel manager that can emit ARI. Independent hotels that only have a direct booking website are left without a feed. Hotels Connect exists for that gap: it produces ARI from the public booking flow rather than from a PMS integration.
How do hotels usually send ARI to Google?
Hotels usually send ARI to Google through a connectivity partner, a channel manager, or an in-house integration with Google Hotel Center. Google's partner documentation describes typical connectivity projects as taking 3–9 weeks. Those paths work well when a property already pays for a PMS or channel manager.
| Path to Google | What you need | Typical setup |
|---|---|---|
| Channel manager / PMS partner | Existing CM or PMS contract | Configuration inside that vendor; often weeks |
| Direct Google connectivity partner | Engineering or a partner contract | 3–9+ week ARI/API project |
| Hotels Connect | Hotel name and booking-website URL | About five minutes; no API |
Hotels Connect charges a flat $15 per month per property, with no commission on bookings. There is no ARI mapping project for the hotel to run.
How does Hotels Connect build an ARI feed without an API?
Hotels Connect builds an ARI feed without an API by reading the publicly available live rates on the hotel's own booking website, with the hotel's authorisation. Those rates are converted into ARI and delivered to Google Hotel Center. The hotel does not grant access to a PMS, channel manager or private extranet.
Hotels Connect refreshes the feed using a learned model that predicts when each property's prices are likely to have changed, rather than polling on a fixed clock. The aim is parity with the price a guest sees on the hotel's booking page — the same check Google runs on Free Booking Links landing pages. How Hotels Connect reads rates covers authorisation and how to revoke it.
Independent hotels that want Google to show their direct rate — without installing a channel manager — can join the Hotels Connect waitlist for 20% off the first year. See also how to get a hotel on Google without a channel manager.
Questions people ask
What is an ARI feed in Google Hotel Center?
An ARI feed is the Availability, Rates and Inventory file Google Hotel Center uses to show live hotel prices in Google Search, Maps and Free Booking Links. Hotels Connect builds that feed from a hotel's public booking-website rates.
Do I need an API to send ARI to Google?
No. Hotels Connect reads publicly available rates from the hotel's own booking website and converts them into an ARI feed for Google. No API, PMS or channel-manager integration is required.
What stay dates does a Hotels Connect ARI feed cover?
Hotels Connect publishes rates up to 180 days in the future, for 2-person occupancy, and for stays of 1 to 7 nights.
How much does Hotels Connect charge to deliver ARI to Google?
Hotels Connect costs a flat $15 per month per property, with no commission on bookings. Waitlist members lock in 20% off for the first year.