If you use Expedia or Travelocity, make sure that their rates include VAT and service fees. That sometimes explains why their rates are lower than booking with the hotel directly.

I also use HRS thanks to this forum. In finding hotels in London the rates I get from HRS are considerably cheaper than the hotel website. I have also used skoosh.com but so far HRS has been better.

I find that if I book through venere or hrs.de the cancellation policy is always explicitly stated.

If I contact an Italian hotel directly my experience is I don't get any response to the question, "What is your cancellation policy?" or the stated policy is worse than what you'd get on a booking engine for the very same hotel. The cancel policy just isn't stated automatically the way it would be with an American hotel.

If you book by phone and have to cancel for some reason, then it becomes "he said, she said" in your dispute with the credit card company, and you will lose. With booking engines or e-mails you have concrete evidence of cancellation policies or cancellations.

Suze exactly! I feel like if I can say <insert name> there is a lot more accountabiity. It did happen at our hotel in Swizterland. They were fantastic but were putting us in accomadation that were not as stated. When I produced the emails with the names of their ee's they said to hold on a moment and in a few minutes we were back in what we were expecting.

Hi M,

Also include www.venere.com

I always call the hotel and ask if they will give me the internet rate or better.

Here is my list of 1010(some 1016) numbers:
1010275
1010987
1010719
1016868
1016400

Yes, it is nice to have personal contact.

I make my dining reservations this way..

Enjoy.....

On our first trip to Europe last summer I used Expedia because the combination of the hotels and airfare was cheaper than booking them separately.

I booked two hotels. I confirmed both reservations with the hotels to make sure they knew I was coming. I got their email by googling.

I made sure to copy the details from the Expedia page.

However, the room at the Albergo del Senato did not have a balcony as stated. I contacted Expedia and they said they only post what the hotel tells them. They gave me a case number, but I chose not to pursue it. I wanted that hotel and triples didn't have a balcony per the hotel.

One hotel I did book on my own, the Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso/CT.
The owners were wonderful and I loved building the relationship before I left.

On my next trip, I would use a combination of the above and maybe book with Expedia if the price was cheaper after checking the hotel website ( a great tip to cross check)

Enjoy!

I always google the hotel's website and contact them directly - I find that the rate is often lower than on travel sites such as expedia. I also print off the confirmation emails with the name of person confirming to ensure that I have the reservation confirmed. The cancellation policy is almost always stated in the confirmation email.

Also, the hotel can give specific information about best way of getting to their hotel - they may even arrange a shuttle for you.