Internet Hotel Rates - Warning!
 

I suddenly decided to change my hotel in Paris. I first used some of the internet sites that let you email several hotels to check availability. (Not hotel homepages.) While awaiting replies, I got impatient, so I called the hotels directly. In two cases I was able to get reservations, with a quoted rate. Then, later on, I received emails from the internet sites with higher prices (1350FF versus 1050FF). The lesson: don't always assume that the internet rate is the best. Sometimes it pays to pick up the phone and call. <BR>

I am curious about the calls you made. <BR>Were you able to converse in English? <BR>I don't speak French that well so calling is a little forbidding. <BR>

Good advice Joanne. I have found this to be the case as well. It's possible that some of those common sites that handle several hotels are adding on some kind of commission, or else they simply don't have the most current rate information, perhaps with the seasonal changes. <BR>Bob, it has been my experience that most Parisian hotel reception staff speak English, although I make a point of calling when their daytime staff is on as opposed to the night clerk. Just start out with asking if English is spoken and you'll know right away.I speak some French but I try to make sure we all understand each other when specifying, for example, a "double room"; that usually means one bed, unless I make a point of specifying otherwise. Ditto "private bathroom"--that could mean a bathtub but not a shower, or vice versa. <BR>If you have access to a fax machine, by all means use the fax. I like it because when they fax back I then have "proof" of the accommodations and prices they have offered. You can also make the original contact by phone and just <BR>have them fax or email you with the final confirmation. <BR>

No, I really don't speak much French either, but it is reasonably simple to say the easy polite greeting stuff in French, then ask if they speak English, which they mostly do. Elaine's advice is good, and I also always follow-up with a fax or email. <BR>

This does not have to do with the rates quoted by these internet sites but about another problem. I inquired about a hotel and received an e mail back that there was no availability. About 2 weeks later I received another e mail informing me that my request to cancel my reservation had been done. How could I cancel a reservation I never had? I went on to figure out that by cancelling this imaginary reservation the company could charge me 10% of the cost for the room. I sent an e mail, that was never answered, letting them know I never had a reservation. I have not yet been charged anything but will certainly not pay it if they try. <BR> <BR>My suggestion: BOOK DIRECTLY THROUGH THE HOTEL! <BR>

I have been busy making hotel reservations for the past two months thru the internet for my stay in Paris next month. Then I decided to call hotels directly and here's what I found out. Most (I say 95%) have really lower rates when you call directly but some hotels have the same rates because they receive no commission from agents. One hotel I surveyed has a difference of about FF100 for the nightly rates. So I think it is better to call the hotels directly...always. <BR> <BR>The first time I called a hotel in Paris, I tried with "Parlez vous anglais?" (Do you speak English?) and it worked! The hotel clerk answered me , "A little." <BR> <BR>During my trip to Bangkok, Manila and New York last year, I booked all my hotels thru the internet. Then I was dismayed at the difference if I had booked directly with the hotels I stayed in, after I saw their rates at the front desk.

I know this is my childhood speaking--when my Dad frequently reminded us to get off the phone when we were talking long distance, but isn't it expensive to telephone Paris from the U.S.?

It's not that expensive, unless you make a lot of calls and stay on the phone forever. However, the amount is nothing compared to what you may save on the hotel room in the long run.

Kathryn, you probably would be very surprised how inexpensive it really is to call Paris. I'll guess that a typical call cost only $2.00-$3.00.

Bob, sometimes you may think you are conversing because they are talking english, but miisunderstandings do happen. I make a habit of repeating things using different words and also repeat numbers like dates and costs in the local language. And as Elaine points out, a double room can mean something different to them. In Italy I had just the opposite happen to me. I wanted a single bed and got a double bed. They said I wanted a "matrimonale" room. It is recommended to always follow up with a fax repeating exactly what you want and the price you were quoted for whatever dates and getting a confirmation in writing. <BR> <BR>By the way. My last trip to Italy in October, I used the internet to select my hotels in Rome and on the Amalfi coast based on the pictures provided on the net. In neither case did I get a room that remotely looked like what was advertised. <BR> <BR>

Kathryn: its probably cheaper to call France than it is to call instate! <BR>For only $3 a month, you can join one of the international calling plans offered by AT&T, MCI, and sure the others, too, since they all compete. Once you join the plan, its only 10 cents a minute on Sunday, and 25 cents a minute the rest of the week, all day. Be sure and cancel you plan, though, after you make your reservations, so you don't keep getting charged the monthly $3 fee.