Discount luxury holiday site Secret Escapes Ltd. has raised $60 million Series C in a round led by Google Ventures and Octopus Investments that also included existing investors Index Ventures and Atlas Venture.

Founded in 2010, Secret Escapes offers members (it’s free to join) exclusive rates for luxury hand-picked hotels and vacations globally at a claimed discount of up to 70 percent off the price users would pay by booking those vacations on other sites.

The company claims to leverage “luxurious hotels” that don’t like having empty rooms, and offers only hotels and holidays that they “believe are a cut above the rest and good enough to recommend to our members,” exclusively four and five-star hotels and resorts.

Given discount travel sites aren’t exactly in short supply online, Secret Escapes claims that they differentiate themselves by only working with hotels that give them exclusive rates, guaranteeing members that they won’t be able to get the same prices elsewhere; they also claim to also be on the “look-out for those additional perks,” with complimentary room upgrades, a bottle of champagne, and massages given as examples.

“Secret Escapes has brought deals to millions of customers seeking luxury travel accommodations and continues to expand its business into global markets,” Google Ventures Partner Tom Hulme told CityAM. “The company’s growing partnership base gives it a significant advantage to connect world class hotels with travelers.”

Google’s interest

Travel sites offering these sorts of services a literally a dime-a-dozen, and while the pitch from Secret Escapes sounds appealing, it’s not something most wouldn’t have heard variations on before.

What makes it interesting is Google’s interest through Google Ventures, as they clearly see something in the company’s future that isn’t immediately evident at first glance.

The numbers for the site, given they primarily cater to an audience in the United Kingdom (although anyone can sign up) are interesting: 19 million registered members is a great number, but conversely they’ve only sold 2 million room nights; yes, it’s a site that offers luxury deals and you have to sign up to see them, but only 2 million room nights sold, and most people would book more than a 1 night stay, would seem to indicate that while the company has had some brand recognition and people interested in the service, not so many of them are actually booking the luxury hotels and resorts offered.

Including the new round Secret Escapes has raised $72.9 million to-date.

The company said it would use the new round to fund an expansion into Asia, with Japan and Australia two countries that would likely target next.

Image credit: davedugdale/Flickr/CC by 2.0