We are planning a trip to Europe with stops in Rome, Prague, London, and Dublin. I have found a bunch of websites while searching for hotels. They include venere.com, mobissimo.com, and tripadvisor.com. Do you trust giving your credit card numbers to these websites? I know that venere.com is based in Italy. I am not sure about the other ones. Are they trustworthy?

I have used Venere.com a few times (and am far from alone in that regard) and have had no trouble. The hotels were what I expected and no strange charges ever appeared on my card.

For London you should also have a look at Londontown.com.

I know those are all well-established, wellknown companies, so I wouldn't worry about it myself. I know venere.com does hotel bookings and has been around a long time (and I've read quite a few posts from folks who've used it successfully). You wouldn't be liable for bogus charges anyway on your credit card, although I know it would be a nuisance if it were used improperly.

I use tripadvisor to read reviews on hotels and make decisions, but I don't think they book hotel rooms for you, do they? They have lots of ads and booking agents on their website they direct you to for making reservations (including venere), so I didn't think they are making them. I've never used mobissimo, but I thought it was just a website that searched for you to find prices and then you booked elsewhere from various other travel sites it finds.

Venere.com is completely above board and fine to use. Tripadvisor does not book rooms, it shovels you off to other booking sites like Expedia, etc.. I think Tripadvisor is a great place to get the lay of the land for an area and a rating of the most popular hotels.

Hi
I've booked from websites in the past. I booked a hotel Istanbul as well as Budapest using their website w/o any problems. Check out both Venere.com, and tripadvisor.com. There are others that I checked out over the past few years but did not book online. Last year we used Movenpick,com but booked our hotel with their 800# as we got a better deal. I also used the internet to book the Santa Chiara in Rome, w/o problems. I'd hate to tell you it's safe and foolproof but it has worked for us.

Nothing against the ones you mentioned (I have never used them), I have feel more comfortable booking directly with the hotels (either by email or fax).

I agree with Suze for the reasons she cites. And I've read where people have told the hotels of lower rates offered by various booking sites and the hotels offered to match those rates.

I'm with Suze and franco. I like dealing with the hotel directly, if only because you seem to get a better price. I even think the rooms I was given were better, too.

I deal with the hotels directly no more than 25% of the time, and I can't see any sign I've fared the worse for it.

WillTravel- but what is the gain? Better prices? Ease of making the arrangements? Or what else?

We've done both internet and direct and haven't seen any difference at all in the quality or location of rooms. If we are shown a room we don't like for some reason, we ask to see another.

Sometimes the price has been better calling direct, sometimes not. I've had hotels not offer me as good a price as I got through an internet price. The way it was explained to me is that they had so few rooms left that they'd rather hold out for a while to get a higher price from people calling direct.

But they don't cut off the outside internet sites even when room availablity is low as they need them for the slow times.

First, you have listed the websites of consolidators, i.e. agents for hotels, not hotels themselves. My reply is mainly about consolidators.

There are many Internet websites out there and indeed one should be cautious, notwithstanding that many (including Expedia and Venere) are legitimate.

Let me give my version of 'legitimate' (feedback welcomed):

-- there is usually a section called 'about us' (or similar) which explains the history of the firm behind the website, how long they've been doing business, etc. Sometimes they are associated with other well-known names (for example, Expedia grew out of Microsoft); other times, equally reassuring, they give an actual civic address for where their head office is located.

-- they have contact numbers and email addresses and, not infrequently, a customer support line.

-- they invite questions and suggestions

-- they explain clearly all terms of use, including cancellation penalties

-- consolidators in particular should use a secure system to protect your credit card number. Often this takes the form of a little padlock symbol displayed by your browser in the lower righthand corner of your screen, once you reach the page where you actually input your CC number. Or they will advertise that they use a particular system.

-- if you contact the hotel directly they will be able to confirm that they do business with the consolidator in question, and will honour reservations made by them (although they might prefer you go with them directly).

More and more hotels are starting to have their own websites. They might lack some of the above features, but you can easily verify that they actually exist

I much prefer to deal directly via the hotel website. If it has none, in this day and age, then I'd probably pass on it or maybe telephone [we have a special low AT&T rate for Europe]. I've never had any trouble doing this. In the USA I do the same except that I sometimes use Priceline.

TripAdvisor does not book hotels and I really I don't know if I would trust TripAdvisor for hotel recommendations, even though I post there.
There have been instances of hotel employees touting their hotels , some people have never been to a hotel but will post things they have read about the hotel..leading one to believe the reviews are based on personal experience..not so trustworthy at all when it comes to recommendations.

has anyone used the nyce booking engine for Italy?

There's a good compromise available here. Shop on consolidators, book direct with the hotel.

Venere.com is a good tool for seeking out hotels in cities that your are unfamiliar with because it allows you to see a list of hotels in a certain area of town. You can also immediately compare prices, amenities and photos. I've used Venere (and others) happily with no problems.

If you don't want to book through Venere or others, you're (usually) just a Google search away from contacting the hotel directly. As an added attraction, you know the rate they're advertising online and can use it to bargain or decide to look elsewhere.

All of that said, I never use just Web sites to shop for vacation hotel -- mostly because some of the best small finds I've stumbled across don't use the online booking agencies. I use guidebooks (many), recommendations on this board, etc., and check them all out. In any given vacation, about 25-33 percent of my hotel rooms come solely through Web research. The rest come from other recommendations.

So, don't worry about your CC number too much (you're probably at as much risk handing it to your waiter at home). But shop wisely!

We've used hotel.de for booking hotels in Germany and Austria and they have been excellent. Their rates are as low or lower than we've found elsewhere and they're very responsible. When we booked a room with them for a trip to Baden-Baden in December, we were allowed to send a note with specific requests to the hotel (non smoking room, traveling with dog, etc.). Also, hotel.de sends you not only an email confirmation but also a text message to your mobile phone with a short summary of confirmation info, hotel's phone number and their customer service number. I prefer to use them over web sites that require you to prepay for the room (with hotel.de, we didn't prepay and we could cancel with no charge up to 6 pm day of arrival).

suze, the gain for me in using third-party web sites (Priceline, Hotwire, OctopusTravel, Bookings.org, probably others) is that I've saved a lot of money. In the case of the first two, Priceline and Hotwire tend to give significant discounts, or I wouldn't use them in that case. And I haven't felt slighted when it comes to room assignments - in fact it's clear that I've often been given better than average rooms. OctopusTravel.com and Bookings.org have given me rates significantly lower than any posted on any other site, including the hotel site. I know some people say they have had success getting the hotel to match, but I've tried that only once, and the manager said he wasn't able to do that. On the other hand, if the hotel web site does offer a special deal that isn't matched elsewhere, then I will take it. I have to admit that what I'm trying to do as much as possible is stay in a 3* or 4* hotel for a 0* or 1* price, which has mostly been successful due to lots of research on all the various booking sites. No single site is best all the time.

Hi there - i run a prague hotel booking website and those companies are absolutely fine. CC data is usually held temporarily whilst they send it to the hotel. The benefit of using us rather than the hotel direct is that we can offer more choice and give you some (hopefully) impartial advice based on our knowledge and experience of where you want to stay, your budget, even the type room you want to stay in (quiet, balcony, with shower/bath, king size bed! view of a square, facing the sun - you name it!). Well, some of us can! And you don't fare any worse off. So, book away with confidence

I've booked hotels in the US on Expedia, Orbitz, hotel web sites and priceline and never had any problems. Reputable booking sites are very trustworthy and secure. If you are unsure of a site, ask about it here.

For Europe I've always booked directly through the hotel usually via email, primarily because I need a quad, and I want to know the bed and room configuration (suite, 1 room, 2 connected rooms, etc). I don't email my credit card number in any case. I either call it in or fax it and have the hotel confirm (via email, fax or phone) that they received it.