Hotel booking sites are slime
 

The newest "Travel Detective" book on hotels, confirms what I've always believed: that hotel booking sites, including the big ones like hotels.com, Travelocity and Expedia are pure slime and you are crazy for booking through one.

The common notion that some how they are simply a means for hotels to sell off excess rooms is not true. It may have started out that way, but now the whole system has become a complex web (to use a term) in which the webstes are little more than vile parasites.

In his book he details how they markup up prices 25-50%, pocket sales tax thst they charge and other fees and are general full of bull, making meaninging low price guarentees. Further, often, and perhaps usually, they are more expensive than booking astraight with the hotel. In all the years that I've been checking on hotels, I have found them cheaper on only one occassion for a hotel where I really wanted to stay. The book confirms that they are are frequently not only no bargain but are often more expensive. The only exception are sites like Priceline, but there you have to take what you get and you need a lot of luck.

Before using any of these these websites, you should check out what Greenberg reveals to see what you are really dealing with/

Kind of strong words. I guess if anyone went to Expedia or Travelocity or anyone else and blindly booked without first trying to see what the hotel charged directly, then they deserve to overpay if they do. On the other hand if they happened to hit a lower price than they could get directly after trying with the hotel, then I don't see anything wrong with taking that offer.
Slime???

To each their own and calling someone "crazy" for doing something regardless of the particular circumstances involved speaks volumes.

It is unfortunate when one takes one source of "information" as gospel; even more so when they apparently don't have any first-hand experience of the matter involved and prefer to rely on sensationalist writers. In this case I suspect the poster is the one who got "ripped off" when they bought this book!

Hey, Patrick, maybe he's having a bad decade. Seven (count 'em, 7) spelling errors in one post? I know, I know, it's hard to type well after the second bottle of wine (or is that whine?). IF he were in business, I wonder how much he would mark product up to cover his overhead?

Truth be told, everyone is in business to make money. That includes hotel booking websites. If you find their service fees too high, then look elsewhere.

As a traveller and potential customer to any of these sites it is incumbent on you to do your homework and seek out the best deal if that's what you'll be satisfied with.

If you take the easy route, and book through one of those sites, you are paying for convenience. Just like you would if you used a Travel Agent.

Nothing's for free...if you want a bargain, be prepared to do the research it takes to get one.

I have never found the web sites like Expedia or Hotels.com to be cheaper for me than booking directly. I was disappointed because I wanted the convenience and ease of booking through web sites like Expedia. I have always found that booking through the hotel directly is cheaper. I either e-mail or telephone the hotel. I would like to hear what other people have to say, rather than have Metellus' advice written off as nonsensical.

A fewmonths ago we saved 40 Euros per night on a room at our favorite hotel in Paris by booking through Orbitz.com. That's not bad.

I was thinking I had never booked a hotel on any of those sites, but just remembered that once when we had friends arriving from out of town at the last minute I started calling hotels in the area for that night. Finally I went to a site -- hotels.com -- I think, and found the Hampton Inn for $39.00. I called them direct and they insisted it was a mistake. They couldn't go lower than $79, so we booked it with the site and saved half price.

I'm all for calling the hotels direct. But I'm also even more in favor of saving money and time!

During the lovely hurricanes this last year, hotels.com was a lifesaver when it came to actually locating and securing a room when we evacuated. I was most impressed with them and won't hesitate to use them again, slime or not!

Why are the mass booking sites "slime"? Because they're trying to make money? Of course they're trying to make money - they're businesses - not public services.

And I always start there when looking for a hotel - because they give you a good benchmark of the most you should expect to pay - as well as some good background info on the hotels in one place. then I know which ones I want to look at in more detail - on the other discount sites and the hotel sites and via phone.

I don't really use them because I usually have a pretty good idea of the few hotels I'm interested in and areas. However, I think they can be useful for those not familiar with a city and who don't want to spend a lot of time with guidebooks, etc. At least I find them useful for a lot of listings, information and photos. I also wouldn't use any that require prepayment (which I think Expedia does) unless I really got a good deal. However, I have compared prices on some on Expedia to standard rates and some other places, and have found some lower rates on there, so I don't think the prices are always inflated at all. Even if they are the same rates, they still can perform a service for some people. However, I think everyone should at least try to check a couple places for rates when doing that, unless they are really pressed for time and the rate seems decent to them, and they find it useful to book that way.

I never really thought of the main ones as mainly being there to sell excess rooms at all, just a way of marketing for the hotels and to reach a lot of people. I think that probably is efficient marketing for many hotels.

I only use them if I know for sure that I will be going somewhere in a week or two at the most. Plans can change so quickly and you can find yourself stuck when you purchase a room through Expedia or the like.

The travel industry has undergone fundamental changes over the past few years. When online booking services first emerged, they were offering a valuable new technology solution that provided hotels with unprecedented access to the market. Consumers were provided with convenience, along with a lot of information and capability that had previously been exclusively in the hands of travel professionals.

The ability for individual consumers to simultaneously compare dozens of properties with live rates, locations on a map and instantaneous booking confirmation has been a huge step forward. Previously, consumers or their travel agents (who also earn commission on bookings) did much of their work over the telephone by contacting individual properties or through toll-free central booking numbers for the chains. Online booking saves a lot of time and it is a substantial money-saver on a cost-per-transaction basis. It also provides uniformity to the booking process and the ability to adjust rates (yields) instantaneously.

Hotels were only too happy to work with the booking services in the early years and they initially provided attractive margins. There were real savings to work with from the standpoint of reservations staffing and commissions. In addition, there is almost no substitute for online when it comes to making certain types of sales and it is particularly well-suited to hotels. During times when the market was soft, having online booking capability was critical to fill rooms -- even if it had to be done at a high premium.

In the meantime, technology marched forward and hotels set up their own web-based booking systems. Commissions to the third party booking services began to fall and the larger chains began to drive consumers to their proprietary sites to cut out the middle men. A number of the chains now guarantee their customers that they will match any lower rate that might be found for their properties online and/or they do not provide points in their loyalty programs for bookings made through third party websites (not just Priceline).

Simply put, third party online booking services had a lot more margin to play with in each transaction a few years ago than they do today. They have faced the same squeeze that has hit all travel agents as the technology for online booking has become reliable, secure and widespread. They've gone from being considered key players and partners to being seen as something closer to parasites -- at least by some.

I don't regard hotel booking sites as slime. On the contrary, they were leaders in a technology revolution that has changed travel for the better. It is also true that, in general, they are not in a position to provide kind of savings that were available when the technology was new. It's just not there anymore. Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, hotels.com and Quikbook are five of a number of reliable online booking services I've used. For "bottom line" people like me, I don't really need to read a book about how they manage their revenue streams and calculate their charges to evaluate whether a given booking makes sense to me. Comparison is easy and while I don't book with them very often, I've never had a problem when I have. They can be invaluable in comparing rates; particularly in European cities where you're dealing with a lot of unaffiliated, independent properties.

The hotel booking agency type sites that I have visited always feature high end properties. Those are the ones which pay the agency commissions. I don't stay in those places. I find much better prices by googling for hotels in a city and scrolling down to page 2 or 3 or lower where the local hotels have found a place for their own site in the highly competitive world of the search engines.

On our trip to Germany, in some cases we got better prices using www.hrs.com than when we contacted the hotel directly. Two hotels wouldn't even match the hrs price, which made no sense to me at all.

>... hotel booking sites, ...are pure slime ...<

Might as well say the same thing about travel agents, auto rental brokers, stock brokers, real-estate agents, retail catalogs, online catalogs, airfare consolidators, search engines, travel guides.... and anyone else who provides a service.

((I))

I absolutely, positively disagree with the premise of this post. We have booked all of our travel accomodations for the past four years with a specific on-line service, and NEVER been disappointed in what the site promised and the hotels delivered. And our accomodations run the gamut from two to four star hotels, dependant on the city visited.

I prefer making a reservation directly with the hotel, but I just booked a hotel in Paris via Atel-Hotels.com. I found the website by chance 2 days ago and it had one hotel I'd been interested in that had no website of its own. On Atel they had a weekend rate that was good so I decided to book it. I didn't have to pay in advance, just to leave my credit card details.
I'm a bit worried since I've never done this before, but it seems quite safe - the agency has an address in Paris, a phone and fax numbers that I can contact to make sure everything's OK.

Hotel company sites aren't exactly the same as hotels.com, etc., but Atel is a hotel company (not an agency) and thus I think many of their hotels do not have their own web site (if any) and you have to book through Atel's website if you want to book online. There are other hotel companies like this, such as Libertel French hotels.

Hi Keren
>...the agency has an address in Paris, a phone and fax numbers that I can contact to make sure everything's OK. <

It is always a good idea to contact the hotel to make sure that *they* know you are coming.

You can find your hotel at http://www.voila.fr/PagesJaunes/

((I))

I recently used hotels.com to find the cheapest rate for three star hotels in Minneapolis. I found a great hotel at a great price and bookmarked it. Then I called the hotel directly and asked for their cheapest rate on that day. The prices were exactly the same.

I do not believe that hotels.com is ripping anyone off.

Thanks for your comments, Christina & ira, I guess I will try to call the hotel to make sure they have my reservation.
This will be my first ever phone call to a hotel where I will be trying to speak French. Wish me luck! :)

Message: >... hotel booking sites, ...are pure slime ...<

Message: >Might as well say the same thing about travel agents...<

I have to say I've never seen the point of travel agents, and I've been booking holidays much longer than I've been using the internet.

caroline--some people might not have the personality, experience, or patience to research their own trips thoroughly. Travel agents can be very helpful to them.

As with everything else - buyer beware. Most of us check multiple purchasing methods before buying major ticket items - whether it is travel-related or other. Depending on circumstance, sometimes service, price or convenience are most important - each purchase may have a different priority. I love to research vacations - and have found the best deal is sometimes on booking sites, sometimes on hotel or airline sites. Pays to shop around.

Hmm.. one thing I noted is the difference in room availability.

Sometimes for similar prices, the hotel would be "fully booked" but one could still book a room through travelocity or expedia. I always though that these sites may get a quota of rooms to sell.

I've never really used these hotel-sites except recently for my trip to New London. The prices for the radisson were significantly lower.

As mentioned previously, I also use these alot for photos etc..

We always uae Orbitz or Priceline for hotel rooms, even when we went to europe. With Priceline its kind of a crap shoot as to what hotel you get but we, got the Le Meridien Apollo in
Amsterdam for $135.00 per night for a very nice superior room that was listed on the hotel site for 225 Euro per night! In Munich we got the Le Meridien
at Oktoberfest time for $155.00 per night and the hotel site said sold out!
I don't think these sites are a rip off
I believe they do a good job.

I think Flyboy hit the nail on the head, with a very thoughtful post. I've frequently used sites like Venere, Travelocity, Bookings.NL, etc., to book hotels, but I always also check directly with the hotel to make sure I can't get the same or a lower rate, and even if it's just the same or even a bit more, I'll cancel with the booking agency and book directly with the hotel.

However, a recent experience I had with Charming-Spain-Hotels.com will make me leery of using booking sites.

We had used them to book Hotel Rector in Salamanca and Hotel Infanta Isabel in Segovia, two wonderful hotels we loved, on our trip to Spain last October, and we had no problems with those two bookings.

After we returned home, however, we were surprised to find a $187 charge on my sister's credit card from La Casa de Los Mercaderes, for a missed first night. We hadn't booked that hotel. We objected, and in response, the hotel e-mailed us a copy of a confirmation Charming-Spain-Hotels had purportedly sent us confirming a reservation. The clinker was the email address the confirmation was sent to contained a typo, so we never would have received it.

The hotel won't budge, and the credit card company says they can't help, so now I'm trying to persuade Charming-Spain-Hotels.com that the error was theirs and they should work out a resolution with the hotel that doesn't leave us out $187 for a booking we weren't aware of.

The problem here with the booking middle-man is that in the end, no one seems willing to accept responsibility for the error.

I'll be much more leery of using booking sites in the future, if at all.

P.S. I've sent a copy of this thread, with my complaint, to Charming-Spain-Hotels.Com, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to come back to you and tell you that they were eager to rectify the error.

caroline_edinburgh, If you get a lot of flack for your views, part of it is that there are lots of travel agents who frequent this board! And I am sure that they have a huge beef with do-it-yourself web sites that eliminate travel agents.

When planning our trips I try everything, evaluate the information and make decisions. I have found hotels.com generally to have higher prices than the other sites and have never used them, but wouldn't hesitate to if I found a bargain.

We usually do better dealing directly with a hotel, but at least these sites put you in the ballpark for prices, which I find very helpful.

The fault I find with all these sites, particularly when trying to book a package (air and hotel), the hotels they usually suggest are in the outskirts of cities or far removed from the places you wish to visit. I found this particularly true when we visited Denver last April. I was born there and although a tourist there now, I was able to determine that the first hotels that came up were out in the boonies! We ended up in a hotel in downtown Denver on the 16th Street pedestrian only area which was perfect for us, but it was not booked on any of the hotel booking sites I visited.

good luck Keren on the phone call. If it is 3* or above, there should be no problem with languages.

What is the hotel? Sometimes I can find private email addresses, but there shouldn't be a problem booking an Atel hotel on their own website.

Message: Message: >... hotel booking sites, ...are pure slime ...<

Message: >Might as well say the same thing about travel agents...<

Not sure I'm ready to consign all sites and agents to the slime pit, but I also have noticed that the sites are consistently higher than calling the hotels directly---sometimes as much as 75% higher. Yes they are in business to make money, but their advertising says "lowest prices available," "rock bottom rates," "cheapest rates from us," etc. , and that is almost always a lie. Their advertising is slime, I'll grant.

Travel agents? Any time (two trips) we've used a travel agent we've found better rates on our own---too late. Won't plan to ever use one again. (Especially our upcoming trip to Alaska this summer--don't ask!)

Hi Christina,
The hotel is the 3* Prony in the 17th, in the same area as the Banville which has been discussed here on Fodors. I like the area very much and have walked by the hotel once, it looks over the pretty Place du Marechal Juin and in walking distance to an excellent restaurant I ate in 4 months ago. I don't think the hotel has a Website, but had no problem making a reservation on Atel-Hotels.com (thought it to be very user friendly) and will call the hotel just to make sure they've got my reservation.
Thanks.
Keren

hi Keren

That hotel looks nice. Actually, they do have their own web site:

www.hoteldeprony.com

(which also takes you to http://www.hoteldepronyparischampsel...es/1/index.htm)

Their email address is:
[email protected]

If you want to call to confirm the reservation, that's a good idea. Actually, I prefer to confirm by email so it is in writing--and if it were me, I'd try to confirm by email and if that didn't work, by phone.

Christina, thanks so much.
But I have to ask you this - how on earth did you find that website? there's nothing on pagesjaunes.fr.
I will e-mail or call them just to confirm my reservation. Had I known they had a website, I would have tried to book directly with them instead of with Atel. But no harm done, anyway.
Thanks again.
Keren

You're welcome, it was easy.

Actually, I don't use pagesjaunes much to find email addresses, I don't think it's very good for that.

I found that on the Paris Tourist Office web site in their hotel section, they generally have the best contact information for hotels. However, I also use Google a lot for searches and that address comes up easily in a google search if you just type in "hotel de prony" in quotes in the search box. It's the ninth listing down the page.

kswl, "I also have noticed that the sites are consistently higher than calling the hotels directly". Did you read my post, or don't you believe me? Are you a travel agent?

Hi Christina,
Your advice was a good one. The hotel doesn't have my reservation! I've made it 8 days ago on Atel-Hotels.com but the hotel didn't get any notice of it.
I just e-mailed Atel and am waiting for their reply. If I don't hear from them I'll cancel my reservation and reserve directly with the hotel (or with a different one, I have a few more options).

Sorry, I can't really agree with you on this point. I've booked through Hotelclub.net several times and Expedia and never had a problem and got the lowest rate for the hotel I wanted. However, I have also checked directly with the hotel or the hotel chain and went with whatever was cheaper. Right now I've noticed that some of the hotels are offering better or comparable deals than the hotel booking sites . . . maybe they want to compete. But, I've always been satisfied with the sites I've used and never felt ripped-off by them.