Look Carefully Before Book Hotels Worldwide

[Bronnie]

Members may not be aware that hotels are very competitive particularly these days. I am Assistant Manager of a hotel and I cannot believe the number of people who book with the Online Travel Sites e.g. Wotif, Booking.com, Agoda etc thinking they are getting the best deals. These sites claim up to 15% commission from the properties so the rates incorporate this commission. So more often than not you will get the best deal if you firstly look at all the online sites then contact the hotel direct and ask the question “what price can you give me”.

Not only will you often get a better deal but you only have to pay a deposit in most cases and can change or cancel the booking without huge penalties. I had an experience booking Expedia in New York and somehow booked the date twice. Expedia were extremely difficult to deal with and it took months to get back a refund. If you book direct with the hotel they want your business and will do all possible to accommodate changes. Also if you are a regular guest at a hotel they will often give a really good deal or an upgrade.

 

[yohy?!]

Members may not be aware that hotels are very competitive particularly these days. I am Assistant Manager of a hotel and I cannot believe the number of people who book with the Online Travel Sites e.g. Wotif, Booking.com, Agoda etc thinking they are getting the best deals. These sites claim up to 15% commission from the properties so the rates incorporate this commission. So more often than not you will get the best deal if you firstly look at all the online sites then contact the hotel direct and ask the question “what price can you give me”.

Not only will you often get a better deal but you only have to pay a deposit in most cases and can change or cancel the booking without huge penalties. I had an experience booking Expedia in New York and somehow booked the date twice. Expedia were extremely difficult to deal with and it took months to get back a refund. If you book direct with the hotel they want your business and will do all possible to accommodate changes. Also if you are a regular guest at a hotel they will often give a really good deal or an upgrade.

good to know - i have seen different cases in Asia where hotel direct websites show no availability or higher rates than on the aggregator sites, perhaps this is due to JVs between the major chains and local partners.

either way i always check both - these days i do not often (or ever really) see lower rates on hotel websites vs aggregators (ie the hotel keeps the saving on the commission rather than passing through). in addition sites like agoda often provide free cancellation when a hotel wants a deposit.

swings and roundabouts i know but that is my experience out there - i would never really bother calling or emailing for a better rate as i typically use the major chains who will just refer you to their best rates being online.

 

[burmans]

Members may not be aware that hotels are very competitive particularly these days. I am Assistant Manager of a hotel and I cannot believe the number of people who book with the Online Travel Sites e.g. Wotif, Booking.com, Agoda etc thinking they are getting the best deals. These sites claim up to 15% commission from the properties so the rates incorporate this commission. So more often than not you will get the best deal if you firstly look at all the online sites then contact the hotel direct and ask the question “what price can you give me”.

Of course if hotels just gave their best price in the first price the hotel consolidators would have gone out of business in the first place! While I agree you can frequently get the best deal by asking for the best price, its hard to make the argument that hotels haven't contributed to this problem by doing so somewhat reluctantly in many cases.

 

[Buzzard]

Not a hotel but a B & B I know that has signed up with a site pays 25% in commission!
Having stayed there I asked if I would get a better rate next time by booking direct and was informed that they are not allowed to undercut the booking site price. Mind you, they did say that they could offer me something such as a bottle of wine as a welcome gift.

 

[Steady]

Welcome aboard Bronnie

 

[theblank]

That sounds nice and also quite obvious. But my experience as a traveller is when crossing time zones andlanguages dealing direct with a hotel is the last thing I want to be a bothered with, it can be just too much hassle.

On Agoda is 3 clicks of the mouse and I am done

 

[Limewood]

I've not found booking hotels direct in Hong Kong cheaper going direct ever over past 20 years, usually found booking.com the cheapest. Recently booked a week at Cordis Hotel (was Langham) on club floor for 2 at AUD$2002, other sites about $3/400 more and Qantas was more still with about 4K FF points bonus.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I've not found booking hotels direct in Hong Kong cheaper going direct ever over past 20 years, usually found booking.com the cheapest. Recently booked a week at Cordis Hotel (was Langham) on club floor for 2 at AUD$2002, other sites about $3/400 more and Qantas was more still with about 4K FF points bonus.

Agree booking direct is not always direct, though it can be. I always have a look at the hotels direct site and if close may ask (but not for a cheap booking as my time is precious too). The hotel direct may have specials on and so I sometimes book that way.

One South African Game park had the same rates as via booking.com but wanted scanned copies of all sides of my CC and other data. Was much more secure to go via booking.com as I do not like the idea of any employee having access to my CC details with scanned copies of passport to boot!

 

[JohnK]

Most of the cheaper hotels I book in Thailand do not offer a cheaper room rate going direct. In fact some are more expensive. Go figure.

 

[mmchow]

Interesting to hear other thoughts on this. Being a loyalist to Starwood, I usually book directly with them on the Automobile Association rate. I monitor the rate close to my travel date and when the rate drops, I cancel the original and rebook on the lower prepaid rate. The other downside for me is that I wouldn't get the points/ stay credit if book with any 3rd party sites. Then again, it didn't stop me from comparing the rates and some hotel do match and provide further discount if the 3rd party offer the lower rate.

 

[vetrade]

I always start at hotelscombined.com to compile a short list of "possibles" for each city and compare rates at agoda, booking.com, hoteltravel etc. Then I routinely see what the hotel's direct online prices are for the same room.
I have found it is very rare for the direct price to be better. The majority of the time I end up booking with booking.com because not only are their rates usually better or equal but also they usually have free cancellation with no up front payment. I don't bother ringing hotels to ask for a better rate these days simply because it takes more time and, in my experience, they might price match but very rarely offer a cheaper rate. Occasionally I do book direct if I notice they have an advertised special going.

This anecdote sums it up for me: We intended to stay at the Beacon Hotel in NY on our last trip so I emailed them for a quote since their rates weren't showing on their web site for some reason. The "absolute best price" they could offer was $80/n dearer than the booking sites for the same dates and they wanted payment at the time of booking.

 

[aussiel]

I've tried this before at a major Australian regional centre when I was relocating states. I did a quick check of booking comparison sites when I rolled into town, and rather than going through the hassle of trying to enter all my details on my phone, went direct to the hotel desk. They insisted on a rate 25% above what I could get online, and claimed that this particular booking company (Wotif) were allocated rooms to sell at whatever price Wotif deemed suitable. 2 minutes later, I had a confirmed booking with Wotif and was able to check in with no trouble!

I have at other times tried calling direct and getting at least an equal rate to the online price. By memory, one hotel may have included breakfast.

 

[vetrade]

I've tried this before at a major Australian regional centre when I was relocating states. I did a quick check of booking comparison sites when I rolled into town, and rather than going through the hassle of trying to enter all my details on my phone, went direct to the hotel desk. They insisted on a rate 25% above what I could get online, and claimed that this particular booking company (Wotif) were allocated rooms to sell at whatever price Wotif deemed suitable. 2 minutes later, I had a confirmed booking with Wotif and was able to check in with no trouble!

I have at other times tried calling direct and getting at least an equal rate to the online price. By memory, one hotel may have included breakfast.

Some booking sites get deeply discounted rates from hotels by booking a set number of rooms up to 12 months in advance. This ensures their rates can be competitive but the downside for them is that occasionally they find themselves unable to fill all the rooms they are committed to on certain dates, which explains why sometimes they slash their rates drastically (even at a loss) just to get whatever return they can on them. Great if you happen to be looking when they're doing the slashing!

 

[RooFlyer]

I have a holiday rental place as a sideline. Its on the major booking sites, but the price we quote on them is 15% more than if you deal with the manager / their booking site direct, to compensate for the booking site commissions.

I choose hotels by what they offer, not just by price; then I deal with hotel sites direct (or use a TA) - you get what you pay for and if there's an issue, then there is no anonymous, cyber middle man to complicate things.

 

[smatho10]

As a hotels reservations employee at a Hobart hotel, yes the OTA's subscribe to a 15%+ commission - booking.com / Expedia & Wotif / hooroo (Qantas/Jetstar) which can be problematic in cases where the availability is high and the hotel needs to drop rates to attract business. All those websites that do promo codes - hotels.com etc are simply reducing their commission on their bookings.
There is a strong brotherhood amongst the OTA's that if the actual property goes cheaper on-line they will gang up and let you know about it. Hence you may seem some unimaginative rates though the hotels actual website.

Also the Flight Centre's and Helloworld agents also have allocation of rooms sold at wholesale rates to these agents. Doesn't hurt to see these business as their commission is much higher - 25%+ but can negotiate a price when trying to match rates that are available on-line. Also handy if the hotel is highly booked, they may have that room that is not available from the hotel/OTA.

My tip is to call the hotel direct if in Australia - your company may have a neg rate, simply ask. Personally I get a lot of price matching online and if the rate is better off than the commission we pay - then I match it or at least upgrade to the next best available room type.

 

[OATEK]

The byword in OTA's for Hotel bookings is "Inventory". It is the deals done by Hotels to allocate inventory and OTAs to guarantee volume that makes this whole business go round. So often the OTAs will have the best deal particularly if they need to meet a guaranteed booking volume. And I find that sometimes the OTAs have inclusions such as breakfast that you have to book separately on the Hotel site.

But I still try to book direct with the Hotel if possible, and particularly where the rates difference is marginal. But not for the price, for the sense of security (however unfounded that may be) that comes with booking direct.