Hotel Booking Using booking.com

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rlarosa

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Dec 1, 2010
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Hi All

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience with hotel bookings through booking.com? I don't usually use 3rd party websites, but looking for three rooms in December so had been keeping an eye out for a great deal. Found a great rate on club rooms at a hotel in Singapore so have taken the plunge and booked. Have emailed the hotel to confirm the booking out of post-booking-paranoia....

RL
 
Have had no issues with booking.com on some non-chain Euro hotels.
 
I use them all the time. I'm supposedly a "genius" on their site now as I get a lot of discounts and freebies (eg wifi). I always double check with the hotels first, and then do a final check just before we travel. Sometimes I will then do a non refundable booking.
 
My wife uses that site all the time and has booked nearly a dozen over seas holidays through it, never had a drama
 
Avoid avoid avoid - I will not touch them with 100ft barge poll...
A snippet of my problems with them -> Booking.com should be renamed sir spamalot... - Blogs - The Australian Frequent Flyer Online Community

Did you click the yellow ! When selecting a room? That's what you need to do as sometimes there are special conditions, like a deposit being taken immediately.

I've looked at my account and I've booked over 30 rooms over the years. Never had this problem. But I have not booked any rooms where that ! says a deposit will be deducted immediately.

I also don't get spammed by them. Maybe that is something you've set up when you booked as I always deselect that option.
 
Did you click the yellow ! When selecting a room? That's what you need to do as sometimes there are special conditions, like a deposit being taken immediately.

There is two parts which are wrong with that argument, the first is that you can't state in bold and obvious text on the front page that you won't take money out of cards until the day of the reservation and then hide clauses in T&C's stating actually you will be.

The second is that having a yellow ! as the way to get to T&C's without actually stating what that means is hardly a good way to build customer trust. IMHO if you have T&C's which affect the booking you have selected they should be said upfront.

Should I have read a little deeper? Probably, but IMHO it was still very misleading behavior from them, and as a result I do not trust them, and it's highly unlikely they will ever be able to get that trust back.

Also re: the Spam, I don't know quite why I got so much, I in fact received something the other day from them, despite having clicked "unsubscribe". I quickly sent them an email in response to remind them of their obligations under the spam act, and given my current disliking of booking.com I would not hesitate in reporting them for a breach if it happened again (even a single breach under the spam act is a surprisingly expensive exercise for a company).
 
I have used Booking.com multiple times, mainly in Europe, but never with any problems. In July used them for a Shangrila Rasa Resort on Sentosa in Singapore because they had a great deal. No problem with the booking at all. Will definitely use them again.
 
But there's lots of bookings that you have to pay upfront regardless of that statement so I pretty much check each time.
 
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But there's lots of bookings that you have to pay upfront regardless of that statement so I pretty much check each time.

Interestingly enough, I've just jumped onto the booking.com website and have noticed that little statement has changed. So it looks like I wasn't the only one who put in a complaint about it being misleading. Doesn't matter since I won't be using them any time soon.
 
I generally do research then book directly with a hotel. However, for last minute stays where I don't have any idea about the place or available hotels, I'm happy to use it. I usually check Tripadvisor first for reviews then Booking.com for other reviews and the booking itself. I found it especially useful for some little hotels who don't do online bookings from their website and want you to fill in a stupid 'contact us for availability' or ring them (and they don't speaka the english).

It's been convenient and successful. I still perfer to book direct with the hotel if the offered deal is similar, but it's my go-to back up.
 
For research one thing that I like about booking.com is that quite often you can find the actual size of the hotel room or apartment-often that info is not found on alternative booking sites
 
booked many times most recently in Vancouver and Dallas....no hastles easy as and will definitely keep using them but like others have posted read carefully what you are booking before you hit confirm
 
I've made many bookings with them over the last 5 years. Never had a problem. Tends to be good for smaller establishments that use it as their sole res system. In fact had good communication from hotel operators around arrival arrangements etc, and even managed to cancel a non cancellable booking once. I always check the fine print/ cancellation conditions as I do with any travel (hotel, car, plane) booking .
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone! Feeling suitably reassured. I read all the bits and pieces before booking this morning and have just rechecked the confirmations. Now I just have to wait to get there!

RL
 
Used about 5-6 times over last ten years. Also use a couple of other sites as well as checking direct with known quantity hotels.

No issue with spam or offers.

I found where it was very good was with long in advance bookings at big discount to hotel's direct site.

That said - have not used in last two years. Direct worked out better with one European all suites group but I can thank Booking.com for finding it originally.
 
I've used them quite a few times. Good selection and usually fairly competitive. I've had no problems with spam from them but their ads on other sites can get annoying.
 
I'm another one to support booking.com. I use them frequently (5-10 times a year) and have always been more than happy with their service.

In reverse to harvyk's problem - I booked a room which didn't have 'book now, pay later' and said I would be charged immediately... only to find the hotel didn't charge me!! (I needed the charge for my credit card insurance to kick in). A call to the hotel sorted that out and they processed the card while i waited.

Booking.com is not always the cheapest - so I shop around. But for the hotels i do book through them (and for many I now qualify for an additional 10% discount by logging in), they always go without a hitch.
 
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