Has anyone used this website to book a hotel (in Vienna in my case, although it works other places I am sure)? How does it work; any fees? It seems like there are no extra charges.

Specifically, there are two hotels for which the rate is better at bookings.de than the one they quoted me. The first quoted me 62 Euros, while bookings has it for 45. When I contacted them to see if they could match the rate, they said the 45 Euro wasn't valid for December. If I book with bookings, could they get mad at me or cancel my reservation or make me pay the difference?

The second place quoted me 10 Euros extra for a room with private shower/WC, but the bookings site has the same price for a room with private shower/WC and a room that is shared. I'd obviously prefer the private facilities for the same price, but the hotel said they couldn't offer a discount. They did say, however, that there is no difference between booking with them or with bookings. So could i get the private room via bookings, or might they put me in the shared?

I used hotels.de for a similar purpose, and got a much better rate than the hotel would quote. I booked anyway, and had no trouble when I got there. The only condition was that we paid on arrival. I suppose your deal may be cheaper if you have to pay now - you need to read the conditions carefully. I've never heard of a hotel reneging on an internet deal - [you take your confirmation of booking with you and hand it in when you arrive]. I suppose it can happen, but hotels cancel firm bookings without notice [see another recent thread] when you have booked direct, so nothing is risk free.
Good luck!

Thanks for your help. I used hotels.de for a one-night stay in Germany and it worked just great. I guess I'm a little more concerned about this situation b/c it would be for three nights.

Upon further inspection, it looks like there isn't any fee to book with bookings.de. However, both of those rooms at the 2 hotels do not include VAT (some rooms on bookings.de do) which makes me think that I'd have to pay VAT later. This difference might account for the price difference between what bookings.de quotes and the hotel quotes, so maybe I'm not really saving much of anything at all.

Can anyone speak to paying VAT (or not having to pay VAT) with bookings.de? Would the hotel make me pay it if it isn't included on the bookings.de booking?

Hello JoeTro - Upon the advice of others on this board, I booked a 6-night stay in Berlin through bookings.de (for late July). Their rate was at a lower price than the hotel's website, although I did not call the hotel directly and ask.

Once I had the reservation made, I contacted the hotel to reconfirm everything, and the hotel sent me an email stating everything was in order.

Under my terms & conditions, it clearly states that it includes all taxes, service charges, and VAT. So if yours doesn't say that, I would suspect you'll have to pay at the hotel.

Happy travels!

I can't speak for Bookings.De, but I used

www.germany-bookings.com
(you'll be re-directed)

to make reservations in five different cities in Germany last month. Never had a problem, never paid a booking fee, and always got the quoted rate, which very explicitly stated was inclusive of all taxes and fees. I recommend this URL without any disclaimer.

The Germany Bookings site is the same as bookings.de - just a slightly different interface.

Thanks; I think the Germany Bookings is basically like Austria Bookings, what I have seen for Austria that seems exactly like bookings.de ... so it really seems to be all the same stuff. I think I'll e-mail bookings to ask what happens with the VAT, but I suspect I'll have to pay it at the hotel which probably makes any savings moot.