Google seems to be testing a new search carousel that lets you refine your hotel searches for a new destination. So if you search for hotels in new york, Google might say maybe instead search for hotels in new jersey - or something like that.
Here is an example of this in action from Lluc Penycate on Twitter who said "First time seeing a destination refinement slider for hotel searches, right above the Hotel 4 Pack." It does seem new to me, here is his screen shot (click to enlarge):
I wonder if this test will come to more people. I don't understand why someone who searches for a hotel in a specific location would enjoy seeing Google suggest they look elsewhere?
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Update: I spoke to Google about this and they told me that that this is an updated version (i.e. not new) of the Hotels unit on Google Search, it first launched in December 2020 for desktop browsers. That this only should appear when the user does not specify a location in their query. The purpose of this is to help searchers narrow down their options, with information on average hotel prices for the suggested destinations. Also, I am told that this updated design for this unit occupies the same amount of vertical space on the page as the standard Google Search Hotels unit.
