Enjoy your virtual stay! World's first hotel website launches, allowing guests to pay with BITCOINS

Tech-savvy travellers could soon be paying for their hotel room using virtual currency thanks to the l aunch of the world’s first bitcoin-compatible hotel booking engine.

GuestLeader is teaming up with payment service provider Bitpay to allow c ustomers to select bitcoins as a method of payment when booking their stay online.

The new booking engine allows you to pay the bill with bitcoins but will you soon be tipping the staff digitally?

'Revolutionary technology': GuestLeader says it will help hotels to attract new customers

The new site will function like other traditional hotel booking websites, allowing customers to reserve a room and pay in advance online.



WHAT IS BITCOIN? Bitcoin is a piece of data confined to an internet network by an algorithm.

Once released it can be traded and used like money online and can be purchased with real cash.

Many websites are now taking Bitcoins as a form of currency.

As well as digital currency, Bitcoin miners enjoy the competitive nature of unlocking the coins.

It has been dismissed by some as a Ponzi Scheme and touted by others as the future of money.

It is not centrally controlled and its unique and complex set-up means the market cannot be altered or hacked, according to the developers.

There are 21 million coins predicted to last until 2140 and their finite nature means they perform more like a commodity, such as gold.

The coins first emerged in 2008 and launched as a network in 2009.

But when they checkout they will be given the option to pay with the so-called cryptocurrency, along with more traditional methods of payment such as credit cards.



To authorise the transaction they will be asked to scan a QR code that appears on the screen .

Bitpay processes the transaction and then deposits the money into the hotel's account the following business day, offering the business a choice of local currency, bitcoins or a mix of the two.



The new booking engine will allow hotels of any size - from B&Bs to international chains - to accept the virtual currency.



A spokesperson for REVPAR GURU, the software provider behind GuestLeader, said: ‘With this revolutionary financial technology, hotel properties have the ability to reach new customers in emerging markets as bitcoins are a borderless digital currency.’



'Hotels of any size will have the ability to accept payment in bitcoins (and by doing so, attract a new and emerging customer) without having a great deal of technical knowledge.'

Payment by bitcoins isn’t new for the travel industry - in February the US-based CheapAir became the first online travel agency to accept bitcoin payments for hotels and flights.



In its heyday, bitcoin’s value soared passed $1,100 (£650). But last month it was revealed that the currency’s price had plummeted.



Chinese banks sent notices to local bitcoin exchanges stating that their accounts would be frozen on April 15 as part of a wider national crackdown.



Chinese trading makes up a large volume of bitcoin transactions, and the news saw its value drop to $350 (£207) - a loss of around $100 (£60) in a single day.