SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Uber has unveiled a new feature allowing users to book hotel rooms directly through its app, marking a significant step in its strategy to evolve into a comprehensive “everything app” for everyday services.
The San Francisco-based company announced on Wednesday that the hotel booking tool will be powered through a partnership with Expedia, giving users access to more than 700,000 properties worldwide.
Plans are also underway to integrate short-term rental listings from Vrbo, further expanding its travel offering.
The feature mirrors functionality found on dedicated travel platforms, enabling users to search, compare and book hotels using filters such as price, amenities and guest ratings. Payments can be completed using card details already stored within the app, streamlining the booking process.
Speaking at a product event in New York, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi outlined the company’s broader vision.
“We’re no longer just an app for rides, or even two apps, or family of apps for both rides and eats. Uber is now an app for everything,” he said.
Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin emphasised the partnership’s focus on convenience.
“Together, we can reduce the number of steps, we can save people time and money,” she added.
The move builds on Uber’s diversification strategy, which began with the launch of Uber Eats in 2014. Originally focused on food delivery, the service has since expanded into broader retail categories including groceries, cosmetics and electronics.
Uber’s expansion reflects a growing global trend towards multi-service digital platforms, often referred to as “super apps.” This model is already well established in Asia, particularly through platforms like WeChat and Alipay, which integrate payments, messaging, commerce and travel services into a single ecosystem.
In the United States and Europe, competition in this space is intensifying. Airbnb has steadily expanded beyond accommodation, introducing bookable experiences in 2016 and more recently adding on-demand personal services such as haircuts and massages, alongside a limited ride-hailing offering.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has outlined plans to transform X into an all-in-one platform, including financial services such as banking and payments.
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Uber also signalled deeper integration of artificial intelligence into its platform. The company said users will soon be able to ask the app to plan meals for an entire week, generate shopping lists and arrange delivery in a single interaction.
A voice assistant is also in development, enabling users to navigate services through natural conversation rather than manual input, a move aligned with broader industry shifts toward conversational interfaces.
Analysts view Uber’s latest expansion as part of a long-term effort to increase user retention and frequency by embedding more services into a single platform.
By combining mobility, delivery and now travel booking, the company is positioning itself to capture a larger share of consumer spending across multiple daily activities, a strategy that could reshape competition across sectors traditionally dominated by specialised platforms.
