The good bits:
The Hotel Tonight iOS app brings new users to actionable content after a Location Services prompt, which appears first thing in the app. This matches with the product’s goal of helping people find an available hotel room on very short notice.
The app still provides education, but in a non-obtrusive manner. I was able to learn more about how the app ranks hotels by tapping on tags like “Solid”. I could also find out how hotels were selected when I scrolled to the bottom of the list and tapped on “Why so few hotels for sale?” These inline, on-demand tips are sprinkled across other screens as well.
Sign-in was not prompted until I tried to book a hotel or if I tapped the user icon in the lower right corner. The explanation as to why I needed an account was very human, informative and concise, and the sign-in form was simple and had a Facebook shortcut option.
To be improved:
The best suggestion I can give an app that worked very hard to reduce friction in booking hotels is to allow people to reserve a room without an account. This could be as simple as a “Continue without signing in” option on the sign-in screen.