FAQ for Hoteliers - Advertising and Partnership on TopHotels

TopHotels is the largest online hotel catalog in Russia and the CIS. We operate as meta-search, a platform for hotel selection, guest engagement, and inspiration,visited by more than 60 million users annually. Our database includes over 57,000 active travel agents.

No. TopHotels is not an online travel agency (OTA). We do not accept payments, process bookings, or provide customer service. Our role is to— help tourists choose, inspire them, and guide them toward the best booking options: to tour operators, travel agents, OTA partners (e.g., Ostrovok), or directly to the hotel's website.

Booking options depend on the hotel type and destination:

• Russian hotels – travelers book more often directly (on the hotel website or by phone) or via OTA (Ostrovok and others). Package tours within Russia are booked less frequently, and they primarily fall on resort or excursion travel.
• Overseas hotels are more frequently booked as part of package tours (flight + hotel). This applies primarily to resort destinations popular with Russian tourists—those with convenient flight programs (direct flights or connections with good logistics). Such an option is cheaper, simpler, and provides protection against issues during force majeure events. Travelers can also book through OTA or directly on the hotel website, However, many foreign hotels currently do not accept payments from Russian bank cards. Therefore, travelers often turn to for travel agents (requesting a hotel booking) or they buy a package tour and purchase flight tickets separately.

Tourists come to TopHotels compare prices for package tours and land services from tour operators (for international travel) orread reviews and choose a hotel before booking directly / via OTA. At the same time, you can submit a request from the website for any selected option – whether for a flight package or a hotel-only booking at tour operator prices. Your request will be processed by a travel agent from our partner network.

We display prices from three channels:

• Package tours (flight + hotel) – automatically collected in real time from the websites of major tour operators (Coral, Anex, Pegas, etc.).
• Ground handling (hotel only, no flights) – also from tour operators, for those who prefer to purchase tickets separately.
• Prices for rooms only – via integration with Ostrovok.ru (a leading Russian OTA). If you have a contract with Ostrovok, your prices and availability are synced automatically.

No direct connection to your booking system is required.

The user has several options:

• Package tour or land services – The tourist submits a request for their selected option. The request is sent to one of the TopHotels partner travel agencies. The agent then contacts the tourist, assists with the selection, clarifies details, and processes the booking.
• Direct booking – a tourist follows a link to your website (from the "Contacts" section or special offers) and books directly with you – TopHotels commission 0%.
• Booking only via Ostrovok – The tourist clicks through the Ostrovok price → lands on the Ostrovok co-branded page → completes the booking.

Prices are updated automatically in real time, with a delay of no more than a few hours. It all depends on how frequently the tour operator publishes fresh data on their website.

There is no direct tracking because the final booking takes place on tour operator websites, in agencies, or on your own website. However, you can use UTM tags in the links from special offers (Business PRO) and banner campaigns – that way, your analytics will show how many clicks came from TopHotels.

Yes. In the "Contacts" section and in your special offers (Business PRO), you place a direct link to your official website. The tourist clicks it and books directly— TopHotels commission 0%.

TopHotels is Russia's largest hotel review portal, visited by 60 million tourists and travel agents annually.This is where a hotel's reputation is built: users read reviews, check ratings, and compare options. Regularly updating information (descriptions, photos, promotions) increases trust and interest. Furthermore, reviews and ratings from TopHotels are automatically pulled by many OTAs and tour operators, When searching for "hotel + reviews" on Yandex, TopHotels links often appear at the top of the search results. Tourists and agents use our portal as an independent source, so an up-to-date profile directly influences a guest's choice.

Rating is calculated based on average rating based on three criteria: accommodation, service, and dining. Each guest can provide a rating from 1 to 5. You cannot buy ratings or remove negative reviews, no matter how much money you offer. — This is a fundamental principle of the project. Moderators ensure compliance with the rules and prevent any attempts to artificially deflate or inflate ratings. The information rating provides an objective picture of a hotel's success, built from the subjective opinions of thousands of people.

Thanks to high traffic (60 million users per year), authority, and citation rates, TopHotels hotel pages are excellently indexed by search engines. When searching for "[hotel name] reviews," our portal almost always appears at the top of the search results. This means that travelers looking for hotel information are highly likely to land directly on your TopHotels profile.The more complete and up-to-date your page is, the better it will perform in search engine results and the more free organic traffic you receive.

Travelers trust TopHotels reviews because they are moderated and the rating system is transparent. When selecting tours for clients, agents often refer to TopHotels profiles, showing ratings and recent reviews. Many major OTAs and tour operators are embedding our reviews on their own websites, As a result, potential guests see them even before visiting TopHotels. This way, your rating and reviews work for you everywhere, not just on our platform.

Yes. All hotels are listed for free, forever. Hoteliers can access a personal account (extranet) to manage their hotel profile independently – this is a free PRO account with basic functionality.

• Register as a hotelier via the link tophotels.pro.
• Confirm your registration via the link in the email.
• Request accreditation to manage the hotel profile via your personal account or let us know – we will provide access within 1–2 working days.

• Edit description, services, and contacts (text must be in Russian).
• Upload photos and videos.
• Answer questions from potential guests.
• View incoming requests and applications.

Use the "Forgot password" link on tophotels.pro. If the previous person in charge has left, simply register a new employee, and we will grant them access to the same hotel profile. We can also update the credentials (login/email) on our end – for this, we will need the name, job title, email, and phone number of the new person in charge.

Yes. Everyone must register individually on tophotels.pro, after which we will provide everyone with personal access.

Yes. Our audience is Russian-speaking. For better results, we recommend professional translation of materials.

Russian-speaking staff preferred, but not required.

class="mb10">To update content (descriptions, photos): You can manage your page in English, but we strongly recommend using automatic translation or our assistance to prepare Russian texts. We can also help edit hotel cards upon request.
• For communication (answering questions, responding to reviews): available on the platform built-in translator Therefore, you can write in English, and guests will see the Russian translation. We are ready to help with the initial profile setup and translation.

Business PRO – this is a paid annual subscription that transforms your hotel page intoactive marketing channel to increase direct bookings, manage reputation, and work with visual content.

A free PRO account (basic) allows you to:

• Edit description, photos, and contacts.
• Answer user questions.
• View reviews

Business PRO also provides:

• Unlimited answers on guest reviews (key advantage).
• Attach files to responses (presentations, menus, special offers).
• Publishing news and promotions – they are automatically included in the subscribers' email digest.
• Creating a unique section featuring hotel highlights, original content, photos, and polls.
• Detailed statistics page traffic and competitor comparison.
• Direct video upload (without YouTube) to the hotel feed.
• Priority technical support.
• Loyalty Program (compliments for newlyweds, birthday celebrants, etc. ) and building a subscriber base for newsletters.
• Advanced multimedia capabilities (drag-and-drop upload, custom cover installation, guest content moderation)

Annual subscription is calculated individual for each hotel based on:

• Star ratings of the hotel.
• Number of rooms at the hotel

Discounts and bonuses are available for hotel chains – terms are discussed individually.

Request a quote from your manager, specifying the star rating category and the total number of rooms.

Responding to reviews is just one of the Business PRO features. The real value is comprehensive system To increase direct bookings: publish special offers with direct links to your website, send them out to your subscribers, analyze performance compared to competitors, and work with video and original content. This transforms your page into a 24/7 sales tool rather than just a reactive channel.

«Хосты» – These are unique devices (computers, smartphones, tablets) used to access your page. This metric helps estimate reach by excluding multiple visits from the same user.

This is a section within Business PRO. Guests leave private requests, complaints, or compliments that are visible only to the hotel. You can respond to them personally (not publicly). This is an additional feedback channel for individualized guest relations.

Indirectly, yes. The algorithms take into account the hotelier's activity (responses to reviews and questions), which, all else being equal, can improve search ranking positions.

We offer two main types of accommodation:

• Cost Per Click (CPC) – you only pay for real clicks on your banner.
• Payment for the period (static placement) – a fixed cost per banner impression for a specified period (e.g., 14 days, a month).

You only pay for unique transitions on your banner. The campaign continues until the full paid click package is exhausted. Please check with your manager for pricing and minimum volumes – packages are flexible.

• Special Offer – below the search bar, sitewide placement.
• Good Offer / Friendly Host – internal catalog pages (for example, only on hotel profiles of a specific country).
• BIG HORIZON – always a full-width, the largest and most clickable banner (available upon reaching a certain click volume or as a static placement).
• Static slots on the home page– image advertising with monthly payment (contact your manager for details).

Yes. For this, there are static placement formats: BIG HORIZON and BIG FOOTER premium banners for 14 days, as well as homepage slots (for one month).

You can configure multiple links for a single banner (typically one or two). Where they lead:

• To the TopHotels hotel profile – the guest is reviewing ratings, reviews, and prices from tour operators.
• To a special landing page with details of the promotion or news (event/hook).
• To the hotel's official website– for Russian hotels, this is permitted directly (with mandatory "Advertising" labeling).
• For international hotels Direct links to external websites are only possible via a specific news/event page. Under barter schemes with a tour operator, the link may lead to a partner's page.

For banners paid directly by a foreign hotel, the link should lead to a special landing page within TopHotels or to your profile. This is due to accounting transparency and Russian advertising laws. Direct links to external websites require mandatory "Advertising" labeling.

A native article about a hotel with a preview in the TopHotels main news feed.

Features:

• Content is provided by the advertiser (with potential assistance from our copywriter).
• UTM tags and multiple links are supported.
• Posting period: if the links lead to a hotel profile on TopHotels – indefinite; if linking to an external website – 3 months with mandatory "Advertising" labeling.
• This is an image-building tool; no views are guaranteed.

Please check the price with your manager.

A full range of services for hosting a 60-minute online event for travel agents and/or tourists.

Package includes:

• Promotion among the travel agent and tourist database (social media, banners, email invitations).
• Professional host, high-quality broadcast, technical support.
• Webinar recording – indefinite is stored on your hotel page and on YouTube.
• Post-campaign report including participant count, engagement metrics, and screenshots of advertising materials.
• Interactive options: quizzes, Q&A series.

There are usually 200+ participants at the webinar (agents + tourists), often more for popular destinations.

Important: select a webinar date at least 2 weeks – Preparation and announcements require time.

Indefinitely The recording remains on the hotel page and the TopHotels YouTube channel forever.

Yes.

• Special Project – Webinar Series (for example, "Hotel Chain Days") – enhanced advertising, a dedicated landing page, expanded mailings. Terms are individual.
• Joint webinar with partners – Hotel + tour operator + travel office / DMC. Allows for combining expertise and sharing costs.

The platform's flagship event, taking place twice a year (before the summer and winter seasons). This is a large-scale advertising campaign utilizing all the capabilities of the website and social media. The format consists of a series of online meetings with hoteliers and travel industry experts.

Audience: travel agents and tourists from Russia and the CIS.

What makes the project unique:

• Only 10 partners per event – each receives a personalized campaign.
• Professional host, multi-platform streaming, post-production.
• Simultaneous coverage of both B2B (agents) and B2C (tourists).
• 24/7 content – continuous hosting on YouTube with direct booking links.
• Full 360° promotion: premium banners, email newsletters to the agent database, social media, and a virtual stand.

What may be included in the participation packages (package contents are updated annually):

• Live stream (of varying durations and with different numbers of speakers).
• Banners before and during the live stream.
• Email newsletters to the agent database.
• Social media posts (VK, Telegram).
• Virtual booth
• Logo on travel agent certificates.
• Professional editing and YouTube uploading.
• Additional options: guaranteed banner clicks, additional mailing, "Event Partner" status, priority editing.

Please contact a manager for exact package contents and pricing – they vary depending on the season and the level of support.

Post-report includes: views, clicks, engagement, audience geography, and screenshots of broadcasts, announcements, banners, and posts.

Past events and reviews: tophotels.live

Most Russian tourists book tours through local travel agencies rather than directly. Our project's database includes over 57,000 registered travel agents actively searching for hotels for their clients. If your page is incomplete, has few reviews, or a low rating, it will be harder for an agent to sell your hotel to a tourist—competitor hotels will end up in their selection instead.

• Educational webinars – Host a webinar for agents to highlight your hotel's unique features, helping them recommend it to their clients with greater confidence.
• Participating in the online exhibition – Present your hotel directly to agents during a live broadcast at TopHotels Travel Trends.
• Business PRO – your news and promotions will be included in the email digest for subscribers (many of whom are agents).

Yes. Hotel page, contacts and basic content management – free forever. You only pay for Business PRO or advertising campaigns.

Pricing is calculated individually. Please request a quote from a manager, specifying the hotel's star rating and the total number of rooms.

Prices depend on volume, format, and season. Please contact your manager for the current price list and a customized offer.

No. All terms are transparent. Payment is made via invoice (bank transfer).

According to the platform rules, hotel pages are not deleted because:

• The page contains reviews, photos, and videos from travelers – this is their story, and we cannot delete it.
• Hotel information is deeply integrated with partner systems (tour operators, OTA). Deleting it will break these connections.

No. This feature is available available only with a Business PRO paid subscription.

Our audience is Russian-speaking. Content in Russian ensures that travelers and agents understand the unique features of your hotel, which directly influences their booking decisions.

Colleague is registering for tophotels.pro and requests accreditation for your hotel, or you can simply inform us – and we will provide access.

Use the "Forgot password" link. If your email is inactive, please contact us to update your information.

Free users receive basic email support. Business PRO subscribers get priority support (faster response times and a dedicated account manager).

No We do not support direct price uploads or channel manager integration. Prices are displayed exclusively via partners: tour operators (package tours and land services) and Ostrovok.ru (room rates). If you have a contract with Ostrovok, your prices will appear automatically.