I bought a package from the US to Paris/London. I called to confirm just now and after a long wait a representative took over. Because I arrive in Paris early in the morning and most hotels don't check in until 12PM I asked the rep. if we can check in earlier so that we can leave our baggage in the hotel room, the rep. said "oh yeah, I think we should call the hotel." Her tone worried me. I dont speak French and I hate to walk into the hotel and having the people tell me that they don't have any reservation info about me.

Has anyone else dealt with expedia .com and are they reliable ?

Thanks.

Hi Math,

Expedia is reliable. If you are concerned, you can eml the hotel directly to confirm your arrival date and time and ask them to respond.

You probably won't be able to leave your bags in a room, because it won't be ready.

You will be able to leave them at the hotel desk and they will put the in your room for you when it is ready.

Well, even if you can't check in earlier, all hotels have a place where they can store your luggage for you until check in time, so don't worry about that.

I'm sure you know the name of the hotel, right? If you are worried, which I wouldn't be, BTW, why don't you just call/fax them to confirm your reservation with them directly? It would take about 1 minute.

People in Paris hotels 99% of the time speak English.

And yes, I have dealt with Expedia numerous times and never had a problem. Relax and enjoy.

Karen

thanks guys! i read somewhere that 1 and 2 star hotels might not have ppl that speak english. the hotel i will be staying at is a 2 star hotel.

thanks again!

I don't mean to muddy the water on whether or not hotels have English speaking staff. My general experience has been that the hotels in the Paris tourist areas - 5, 6, 7, 1 etc. usually have someone around who speaks English.
But on weekends, that is not always the case. Even the Aiglon, which normally has someone on the front desk who is quite fluent, had a weekend employee who spoke very limited English.
He could call a cab, check me out, but that was about it.
On the other hand, the Acacias St. Germain had a young man that spoke English better than most Americans.
But he was a Ph. D. student in international law who already had a JD from UCLA.
Needless to say he was over qualified for his job. I don't think people of his caliber are often found in hotels as employees.
He could have run the whole place infinitely better than the owners and regular staff. I learned more about French law from him in 20 minutes of semi lecture than I had ever dreamed.
Talk about some guy who knew his stuff, he was The Man. My guess is he will be very successful in his field. I don't think he will be a career hotel desk clerk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You don't need to call a hotel to find out if it's okay to leave your bags somewhere before you check in, that is perfectly normal. I also wouldn't bother calling to say can I check in early? A decent hotel should be able to keep track of your bags in a room near the desk whether you are checked in or not. As for English, it is true that one star hotels may not have anyone who speaks English well, and 2 star hotels might or might not. I wouldn't make too much of Expedia's remark but I've never used them. Even some of them might not in the day time--especially if it's going to be a complicated conversation. I don't think any hotel can guarantee you a fluent English speaker from night staff or the weekend desk clerk staff -- those people can't authorize room checkins or reservations, anyway, probably.

I used Expedia many times to buy my airlines tickets when I travel...Very reliable...