Strapped for New Year’s Eve Hotel or Stuck with a Non-Refundable One? ROOMER IT!

New Year’s Eve often reveals two types of travelers: those desperately seeking a last minute hotel room, and those stuck with a non-refundable hotel room due to an unexpected change of plans. The solution for both? Roomer (www.roomertravel.com), the newly-launched website designed to connect people who would be stuck paying for an empty hotel room with the travelers looking for a great hotel deal.

Created to reduce the billions of dollars lost each year by people who, for whatever reason, had to cancel their non-refundable hotel reservations, Roomer has been likened to the “StubHub” of the travel industry, providing a marketplace where people who need to cancel their reservations can connect with those looking to secure one.

How it works: Say you booked a room that comes with a mandatory cancellation fee of $500. (After all, who really anticipates ever needing to cancel a trip? But once in a blue moon, it happens.) Until now, you’d be out that $500. However, with Roomer, you can post your reservation for sale and set your price for the room. Even if you sell it for $250, you’ve still recouped half your money. On the flip side, bargain hunters or spontaneous travelers can score huge discounts on great hotel rooms. Ultimately, when booking a hotel room on Roomer, you’re not only getting the best price, you’re also helping someone out. That’s good karma.

For New Year’s Eve, a sampling of Roomer’s hotel deals in popular US cities and exotic international locations includes: