Is it safe to do this? I found a site - gtahotels.com - which has incredible discounts for hotels in Athens. There is such a difference between their rates and the hotel rates that I'm a bit suspicious. Is it safe to book this way?

Hi; Try www.venere.com or www.hotels.com or www.booking.com All three companies have been used extensively and are reliable. iris1745/dick

Why don't you write directly to the hotel and ask them to match the price you found?

thanks iris1745 - I actually was thinking of booking.com for a particular hotel that I wanted when I posted the question. Now, the room is not available and not on the other sites either.

So, ekscrunchy, I did call the hotel and they said they have nothing available! But, I just found one available on otel.com - is this reliable?

thank you

i actually ring hotels.com or booking.com
the latter seems to charge at the time of booking but you can cancel upto a certain time
hotels.com - at least the hotels i have booked doesnt charge til arrival

the call is just the cost of a local call for us

i dont really like just booking a room over the net without speaking to someone about specific requests like a non- smoking floor or a quiet room away from the elevator
i also like to get the name of the person with whom i am speaking - just in case i have a problem later upon arrival

re getting a room directly from the hotel...this can be tricky - in some places you cant get the phone number of the hotel and they have a deal with an agent who can become very resentful if hes being overlooked
this happened to us when booking in prague---but yes we did get the room for a few euros cheaper - trouble was they put us into a sister hotel with a similar name - was that payback lol???
you have to be pretty sneaky to get the hotels number from the agent ( upon some pretext)
some countries arent listed in our international phone directory service
i think amsterdam is like that- from memory at least

HI; Consider e-mailing this person, 'George' or calling. He set up a tour for us that was outstanding. Goes to Greece frequently to view hotels. He would want a commission, but ask him about the hotel you are looking at. Perhaps he can suggest a comparable hotel or the one you considering. [email protected] or 800-2212818