Choose the canonical entity
The canonical record should represent the real property rather than a preferred supplier listing. It needs a stable internal ID and enough normalized identity fields to support matching, display and later corrections.
Use several matching signals
Names alone are unreliable. Matching commonly uses coordinates, normalized addresses, phone numbers, brand relationships and source identifiers.
- Geographic distance
- Normalized name similarity
- Address components
- Phone and website
- Brand or chain
- Supplier mapping history
Preserve confidence and provenance
A mapping should record how it was established and whether it was reviewed. Ambiguous candidates should not be silently collapsed, and an invalidated mapping must be traceable when search quality is investigated.
Deduplicate presentation, not operations
Customer-facing search can show one hotel with several supplier options. Booking still needs the exact supplier, access, native hotel ID and native option ID that produced the selected rate.
Questions
Is hotel mapping a one-time job?
No. Supplier portfolios and property content change, so mapping needs incremental updates, validation and exception handling.
Should low-confidence matches be merged?
Usually not automatically. Keep candidates separate or route them for review until enough evidence supports the match.
What happens to supplier IDs after mapping?
They remain attached to the canonical property for shopping, booking, troubleshooting and reconciliation.