This is the question I should've asked. It relates to my question on the Stanhope in Brussels.

I've never used this type of service in which you must prepay, although I have prepaid small hotels via their own websites.

Do the "total" prices include ALL taxes (inc VAT), fees, etc on the first screen that you see after you decide to book? I mean, if I book it and give my cc, when it goes to my receipt will I have any "hidden" fees?

Hope you understand my question - rather lacking in sleep last night.

The first screen usually does not include taxes and fees, but they are tacked on soon enough and in my experience very clearly so. I have used Expedia several times because their rates were the best, although I'm not fond of prepaying, but my reservations were always in order. Get some sleep before you hit that Submit button canterbury.

I've used these as well as other booking engines. You'll be clearly informed as to what the total cost is before you purchase.

Sometimes the engines will offer a better price than the establishment itself does. Sometimes the establishment will match or even beat the price.

All of engines are undoubtedly getting a piece of your money from the hotel in return for selling the room space..that's why the hotels allow them to do it.

If you can get the same, or an acceptable, price for a room without having to pay upfront (and pay a cancellation fee) then I would certainly do so.

Rest easy, you will not have any hidden fees on your cc.
I haven't used Travelocity but I've used the others ones. I've also used Priceline.

Hi C,

I always contact the hotel before booking through an agency.

Quite often they will honor the discount price because they don't have to pay the agency.

Thank you Fidel and Dukey. I went onto Expedia and Hotels again and I don't know what a "tax recovery fee" is.

I always book hotels directly on their websites, but Stanhope's website price is almost triple what Expedia, Hotels, etc. is.

I usually like to get flexibility and therefore will pay a bit more, (in case of our change of plans) but this just seems to be too cheap to pass up.

I use Expedia a lot especially if the hotel is not one that we collect points with (Expedia bookings do not get points).

I usually find I save anything from a few dollars to maybe 30% or sometimes a free night with Expedia but I always double check the hotel's own website and call for special rates.

Thank you L84SKY and Ira. I posted at the same time and didn't see your responses.

I've emailed the Stanhope directly and asked them to match the price. We'll see what happens.

I use tripadvisor.com (well, to be more exact, I use tripadvisor.ie, my localised version). It allows me to compare the offerings of a number of online booking agencies; they can be quite different. I am convinced that tripadvisor is trustworthy, and that they link me only to trustworthy booking agencies. So far, no problems.

Mind you, when I used other stategies, I had no problems either. Maybe I'm just lucky.

I've used Expedia quite often, last year for a trip to Rome and in April of this year for a trip to Paris.
I've had no problems at all.
Do confirm your seat reservation directly with the airline however to make sure you get the one you want.

I have had a good experience with Expedia (flights and hotels)

The main problem that arises with a third-party agency usually relates to the hotel claiming they did not get a communication about the reservation from the third-party agency. So a few days after booking, get some sort of confirmation from the hotel that it actually has your reservation.

Most of the time when this happens, I suspect the fault lies with the hotel's sloppy recordkeeping procedures, and not the third-party agency, but that's irrelevant to the customer who just wants a room.