jon

I'm getting ready to book a hotel in London, but it seems all the best rates require you to book online. I've never done this and I'm actually a little nervous with not dealing with a "real person." I have the option of booking on londontown.com, activehotels.com, lastminute.com, and discounthotels.com. The rate is the same for all of them. Does anyone recommend one over the others, or had any problems that I need to keep an eye out for? Thanks!

Oh, by the way, after asking lots of questions here on Fodors and with the help of your responses and some more research, I decided on Millennium Bailey's in Kensington. It should be great. Thanks for all your help in making that decision!

oberost

My wife and I went to Germany/France last summer and I booked hotels in Rothenburg, Nurmeberg, Herzogenaurach,Garmisch, Berlin, Paris, and Bayeux on-line. Not only did it all work out but I was able to confirm all of my bookings via an email prior to leaving! No problem for us! Also booked a van and railpass before we left!

Kmarie

Try checking hrs.de -- We used this for Germany with 4 different hotels. Never had a problem and never had to give them a credit card number for our confirmed reservation. They held the rooms until 6pm. Just search as London England as the location. They will e-mail you a confirmation with in a couple hours. We printed them and took them a long just in case but never even had to get them out.

Christina

I've only used one of those, londontown.com, but since that worked perfectly without any problems and your rates are identical, I guess I'd say use them.

No problems at all -- just make sure you get an email confirmation shortly from the hotel or it means the reservation didn't get transmitted (within a day they respond). My room was very nice, also, so I know they didn't give me the crummiest room -- I also used them for that hotel, coincidentally.

bettyk

I also used londontown.com for my reservation at the Rubens Hotel last year. No problems at all. Just make sure you are aware of the cancellation policy. We were required to cancel via londontown.com 48 hrs prior to our arrival. I was a little worried about this since London was the last leg of our 2 week trip and didn't know if I would have access to a computer, but it never was an issue.

BoulderCO

I booked my last London trip online through United vacations. We also stayed at Millenium Bailey's. After I made the reservation I contacted Bailey's directly through their email address on their website. I was able to confirm my reservation with the reservations manager and also make my request for a king size bed and a quiet room facing the inner courtyard. We liked the hotel and thought it was an excellent value but I would recommend requesting an inner facing room as I did hear guests complaining about the street noise from their rooms. If you need any info on the hotel or the area, let me know.

Bootman4U

I agree with the above...have never had any trouble with online bookings for a variety of countries over the past 5 years. Besides, a credit card is usually involved and the CC provides you with a great deal of additional fraud protection. With on-line bookings you have a confirmation in writing which you don't get with a phone call.
Go for those lower rates and save your worries for more important issues that will make your trip even more successful.

jon

To BoulderCO: Thanks for the room recommendation. I was actually wondering about that, but I didn't know what to ask for. So now I know to ask for a courtyard view.

And thanks to you all for your input. Now I'm not so worried about using the online hotel services.