jacqui72

Hi, I noticed sawadee.com, asiarooms.com all offer lower rates then the sheraton website, and sheraton states that if you find a lower rate, they will match it. When I pointed out sawadee, they said it didn't count because it included breakfast and taxes (!!). So my question is: does anyone know a competitve travel site that doesn't include taxes,etc? or has anyone been successful with rate matching? I'm trying to book ROS... thank u!

KimJapan

Is there a reason that you don't want to book through sawadee.com? I wouldn't book through aisarooms.com because of their reputation of trouble with refunds and changes, but the sawadee.com/ r24.com (same) group has a great reputation. Is it because you want *wood points...I know that Hilton Honors doesn't give points for booking through any other company or site...maybe *wood is the same?

That said, I have been successful with rate matching/beating in the past either by calling or e-mailing the hotel directly and asking for the same or better than I had seen elsewhere. Doesn't hurt to try. Note that calling the reservations center is not the same as calling the hotel directly.

jacqui72

yes you're right, i don't get starwood points if i book through sawadee. I hadn't thought of calling the hotel direct--do you mean instead of the hotel reservation 1800 central number (here in the states?)

Kathie

If you have starwood points, you can use points to get a great rate. I used points (1000 points per stay) to get a suite at half price.

Don't hesitate to call the Royal Orchid directly, as sometimes they will give you a rate even better than the websites. Sometimes the websites have the best price. Then you'll need to decide on how important it is to you to get Starwood points.

KimJapan

Yes...just like Kathie said, call the hotel directly, in Bangkok, which is different from the central reservations number. Whenever I make reservations anywhere, I check the hotel website, booking sites, and the actual hotel. If the price difference is small, I'd certainly want the points, but if it's a big difference in price, I'd think about it...but generally, I love my points and the status I get for being a frequent customer, so acutally, I've never booked a Hilton group hotel through any other site.

I also check rates periodically as my stay gets closer, as they sometimes go down - last summer I stayed at the Hilton Narita for 1/2 the price of what I originally booked for...so it pays off to spend a couple of minutes once in while checking rates.

jacqui72

thank you so much for your feedback! One of my concerns with sawadee.com is that you must make a one night deposit, so there is a lot less flexibility than straight through the hotel (can cxl last minute if rates come down like you said)...but then again, that's probably why it's a such a better rate. Difference is around $40 a night..