Uber to Integrate Hotel Bookings, Vacation Rentals, and More

Uber held its annual product showcase on Wednesday, and the company had an interesting update for those looking for a place to rest their head for a night or two. At Uber Go-Get, it emerged that hotel booking is coming to the app. That option is available in the US starting today.

You can get started by tapping the Hotels button on the app's home screen. After punching in your destination, you can use several filters to find a hotel that suits your needs.

Uber teamed up with Expedia to make this happen. It offers access to more than 700,000 hotels around the globe. There are solid perks for Uber One members, as they'll get discounts and 10 percent of their booking payment back as Uber credit. As such, you might be able to cover Uber rides to and from the airport at no extra cost.

That's not all, because Uber is moving into vacation rentals too. Listings from VRBO will be added later this year.

There's another welcome update for Uber One members. Starting on June 1, they'll be able to use Uber credit they receive via Uber One in any of the dozens of countries where the subscription is available. As it stands, credit earned through Uber One can only be used in the subscriber's home country.

Soon, when you're using Uber or Uber Eats away from your home city, the app will move into travel mode. This is a new feature that details what's different about Uber (including pricing) and how it works where you happen to be. Travel mode will also offer up a curated list of recommended places in the area. Naturally, booking a ride to one of those will be a cinch. Dining recommendations are on the way to Uber Eats, as well as an option to make a reservation through OpenTable.

Elsewhere, the company revealed that, in certain cities, you'll soon be able to order a snack or beverage with an Uber Black ride. After booking a trip in one of those vehicles with Uber Reserve, you can tap an "add Uber Eats" prompt and select something to eat or drink. The driver will pick it up on their way to you.

A feature called Shop for Me will seemingly enable you to buy things from any store, even if it's not already on the Uber app. Look up a store and describe what you want — you can include photos too — and a shopper will look for it. Uber says this courier will need confirmation from you before they buy the item, for which you'll pay the in-store price.

Additionally, Uber will soon offer an AI-powered voice booking option so you can just describe what you want or where you want to go. The company has also updated the app to offer a unified search bar for rides, food, groceries and ordering other items.

It's starting to feel like if Uber were to somehow add finance and social features, it may just become an app for everything before X does. Elon Musk has long wanted to turn X into a WeChat-style "everything app."