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Hong Kong hotels: which Internet Booking site is reputable?

Hong Kong hotels: which Internet Booking site is reputable?

Old Oct 15th, 2003, 08:09 AM
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Hong Kong hotels: which Internet Booking site is reputable?

I will be going to Hong Kong for 3 weeks next March.

there are so many Hong Kong hotel reservation sites on the net, that I'm not sure which ones are legitimate? which ones are fly-by-night etc. The prices offered ARE of course better than if I make the reservation directly with the hotels (is it because they buy blocks of room so they can get cheaper rates?)

Does anyone have experience in using Internet booking of Hong Kong hotels and recommend a couple of sites I can use?

Thanks

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Old Oct 15th, 2003, 08:20 AM
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Appearances can be very deceptive, and indeed often deception is the aim of these booking sites. Like rooms are not compared with like, and so on. Many of these booking sites not only do not have any block bookings, but have no special relationship at all. They make their prices appear good by comparing them to the hotels' published rack rates, which are hardly ever paid by anyone. Apparent savings are imaginary. Increasingly, the serious hotels reserve their best prices for the Web (in Hong Kong, the Peninsula, Shangri-La, and Hyatt hotels do, for instance). Don't forget, too, that especially with larger hotel companies, the prices shown on Web sites are directly linked to an inventory database, and prices are adjusted constantly according to demand--sometimes as often as hourly. You're unlikely to get a good price for March right now, and would probably do much better to book nearer the time, when rates will tend better to reflect available inventory, and the fact that it's going bad on the shelves. Cut out the middle man, and go directly to the hotel. If you can find a lower price quoted by a booking site, tell the hotel and see what it says. Often you'll find the deal is not the same.

Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html
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Old Oct 15th, 2003, 11:43 AM
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I have not used them for Asia yet, but I have used Asiatravel.com and Octopustravel.com for European hotels and have been very pleased with them. I learned of these sites on the European forum.
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Old Oct 15th, 2003, 05:19 PM
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I use the www.asia-hotels.com site to book hotels in Asia frequently. I've had nothing but good experiences with them. Generally, I find that the internet booking sites have very similar prices.
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Old Oct 15th, 2003, 07:02 PM
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Just out of curiosity I picked a hotel and date at random and looked them up on both www.asia-hotels.com and on the hotel's own Web site. The hotel's site was significantly cheaper, and no rooms on any of several dates I tried were actually posted at what the booking site claimed were the published rates.

Serious hotels will almost always offer their best rates themselves via their own Web sites, or occasionally via 1-800 numbers (contrary to the current popular advice). Any rate for lesser hotels shown on booking agency Web sites you can get for yourself, or usually beat, by contacting the hotels directly.

Extravagant claims are often made by Web sites, but very few stand up to any close examination, and are not based on any formal relationship or allocation of inventory. You might want to ask yourself why the appearance of the Web would suddenly halve room rates. The answer is that it didn't, that rates which look too good to be true usually are precisely that, and that those rates which are half published rates always did exist for those who knew to ask for them, and are directly available from the hotel without the addition of unnecessary payments to middle men.

In general in Asia, but certainly in and around China, it is not wise to book travel services of any kind from overseas with any Web-based agency.

Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html
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Old Oct 15th, 2003, 10:10 PM
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That may apply in HKG but certainly not the case in Thailand or SIN. We have to arrange accommodation ofer business visitors, some examples in the last week, Sofitel Silom by phone B 5,600 down to 4,400 and then down to 3,050 on a booking site.
Marriott Hua Hin 4,600 by phone, down as low as 2,500 on booking site. We normally don't waste time calling hotels but these were like immediate rooms we needed, we also had to do a lot of phoning as APEC upon us, hotel rates were a joke and corporate rates offered to businesses are usually about 20% under rack and double what booking services offer.
Phoenix in SIN is rack SGD 240+ but 120-130 on booking services, I tried to be clever as a walk-in once and best they would offer was SGD 180, so quick thinking I acted like it had been booked at SGD 128 and fumbled for the reservation number, I was still on the system from a previous visit at that rate and after a while they accepted, but for 1 night, next night would be 180.
Local people here get a raw deal from promotions offered, still way over the top on price.
It must vary place to place.
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Old Oct 16th, 2003, 01:35 AM
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Hi

When I went to China in March I used www.planetholiday.com to book a hotel in Hong Kong. I stayed at Kowloon hotel and I have posted a "review" of the hotel in my trip report on my personal homepage www.gardkarlsen.com

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway
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Old Oct 16th, 2003, 04:58 AM
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The whole idea is to "shop around"--but only on sites that you have some feedback on!
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Old Oct 16th, 2003, 05:52 AM
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Jane B, that's the reason why I posted the original question: which internet hotl booking is legitimate.

I did not beleieve in Internet booking at first - knowing that there would be crooks out there. But my own experience in U.S. - being able to get cheaper rates through the web booking, rates much lower than the hotels own website, made me re-think my booking habit. However, with sites like hotel.com I was able to get room at very good rates at the Waldorf Astoria in N.Y., the Pacific Hotel (forget full name) in San Francisco etc. These are rates that the hotels give to governemnt employees, for example, and so may not be available to the public. Also I have on occasions cancelled the booking, and the cancellation fee was something like $10 - not a bit deal. Now I'm sounding like a salesman.

I guess everyone's experience is different. When I tried a search using the asia-hotel.com suggested by Kathie, I was interested in the Wesley Hotel in Hong Kong. The Wesley website charges HK$700 (US$116) per night (cheapest room), or a monthly rental of about HK$8000, which amounts to HK$260 (or US$45) a night. At the Ais-Hotel web site the posted internet discount rate is about US$55, so the rate is cheaper because you don't have to rent the whole month to get it. Also one thing I find very unusual about the asia-hotel website: many of the hotels, they ask you to pay the hotel directly (instead of paying the web upfront), while some you do have to pay the web first. I always feel more comfortable with paying the hotel directly (so I don't worry about the third party leaving town). They (asia-hotel.com) said that they get the commission directly from the hotel.

John
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Old Oct 16th, 2003, 05:55 AM
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James, it sounds like your experience and mine are very similar. Perhaps that's because of where we are booking. I've used asia-hotels for hotels in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. In comparing with hotel websites, the prices have been a little lower or the same on asia-hotels. There is only one hotel I book regularly that I call the hotel directly rather than booking on the internet. And that's because I can't get the suites I like on the internet - even on the hotel's own site!
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Old Oct 16th, 2003, 06:33 AM
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James: which internet booking site do you use? is it also Asia-Hotel.com?

By the way: what is SIN??

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Old Oct 16th, 2003, 11:41 AM
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SIN = Singapore

I usually book on the internet and pay at the hotel, but sometimes the pay in advance is a much better deal. The pay in advance usually includes tax and servic which adds 17% to hotel costs in Thailand, for instance.
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Old Oct 16th, 2003, 12:42 PM
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There is a Hong Kong version of Priceline. Unless you are looking for stay credits/points with your favorite hotel loyalty program, this may save you some major bucks.

Here is the address:

http://www.priceline.com.hk/eng/
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Old Oct 16th, 2003, 01:47 PM
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AAFrequentFlyer

Wow ...I just looked .. the Priceline HK is quite good, because you have the option of naming/choosing the airline etc. I never use price in US because I though you just name a price and have to take whatever airline (or hotel) they come up with. But apparently the HK priceline has the other option of picking the airline you want to fly with.
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Old Oct 17th, 2003, 12:03 AM
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Within Thailand the biggest range and what I think are best prices and service are from the Sawadee Group, these can be found through many klocal sites, because I first used thenm for Hua hin I use their branch and always get great service, honest reviews, good and bad but the best thing is the huge range of accommodation that is good but often not found on the 'big international' operators sites, they are local without glitzy sites, but it's cheap and it works, for Thailand anyway.

www.huahin.20m.com

www.
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