** PLEASE READ **

If you don't have time to read all of the above ... in my case
a) Otel.com seem to have failed to book our hotel twice on the same holiday
b) the hotel we did eventually get was in another city from what we wanted
c) the hotel was much cheaper than what we paid
d) our complaints and requests for information now seem to be being ignored
e) Otel.com made what was meant to be a nice weekend away VERY stressful!!!

at this point I would recommend anyone that asks me not to book through Otel.com

i've used Otel.com and just loved them. I used them for the first time back in 2010 to book a hotel in London, the Andaz Hyatt. NO ONE could beat their price, not even the Hyatt which offers a 'price match'. You have to read Otel.com's policy, I got a Capital One card just so I could book with Otel.com and not pay the conversion fee, I believe that Otel is based in Turkey...or somewhere foreign. Most credit cards charge a conversion fee, so check with your bank before you book. I went to New Orleans in November 2011 and the best price I could find for the Royal Sonesta was with Otel.com. I'm a fan, but I READ THEIR SMALL PRINT AS IF MY LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. know the rules, and you should be fine.

I require a fast respont and a solution to my below booking
I have booked my accommodation through www.Otel.com in February 2012, received paid in full on February 4th as below
TRACKING NUMBER : OA-50696418

Hotel booking details:
RESERVATION STATUS : Confirmed
DESTINATION : Cannes
HOTEL : Best Western Cannes Riviera
CHECK-IN DATE : Jun 21, 2012
CHECK-OUT DATE : Jun 28, 2012
ROOM TYPE : Double, Double
MEAL PLAN : Cold Buffet Breakfast
Total price : 1757 EUR

wanted to get other rooms and contacted the hotel directly and booked and asked them about my booking above as I got a pre-paid voucher as below
http://w3.metglobal.com/voucher.php?...id=OA-50696418
the hotel responded that the did not accept this recervation and I dont have resrvation and they have contacted otel.com and told them this booking is not acceptable, I contacted otel.com several times and had a chat with customer service based in Manila, a lady called Mae and Marie and Trinitie and Jim and Ila, all insisted on my reservation is correct, the hotel reply to was as below

Just to keep you informed: today we called and emailed Exclusively Hotels regarding your reservation with them. The reservation was first refused back in February, and since then we have sent multiple emails refusing the reservation as we do not accept bookings from Exclusively Hotels during that period in June (when it is conference-time in Cannes and so room prices are higher than normal). We have again refused the reservation today, and requested that the booking be cancelled and you be refunded any payment made as the booking was never accepted.
I have send mgs to otel.com through FaceBook and another email to met global to '[email protected]' asking for a respond and wanted to talk to someone in-charge not customer service and till date nor feedback from them
I am based in New Zealand and what will happen if mt issue is not solved and I travel all the way to south of france and find no booking waiting for me
I need an urgent solution and a quick feedback to solve my current situation, please email me directly to [email protected]
thank you
May

<B>May_Yassawi:</B> <i>what will happen if mt issue is not solved and I travel all the way to south of france and find no booking waiting for me</i>"

If the hotel says you don't have a booking, and they seem VERY clear about that . . . You don't have a booking. No one on Fodors can help you with that.

If you still want to take this trip, I'd say you need to make other arrangements. And keep trying to get a refund from Otel.

I had a very bad experience with otel.com. I have confirmed my booking in sofitel hotel in Marrakech, I have the voucher and the charge in my credit card. However, when I arrive to Marrakech, the hotel told me that they don´t have confirmed the booking to otel.com and they didn´t give us the room. I have made a claim to otel.com, but they didn´t give me a solution for that terrible experience.

Hi Caroline from otel.com,

If you are still somewhere here, let me ask you a question:

I wanted to book a B&B stay at Augusta hotelclub, Ibiza for this July 2012. You have indeed very attractive rates, however alerted by all the reviews, I tried to call the hotel first and check whether they know otel.com, metglobal or anything like. Their answer was that they never heard about before. I understand this may be because you buy the rooms from wholesalers etc, etc, but please could you give the name or suggest any other way in which I could check with the hotel that they actually directly or indirectly work with you?

<B>olyoly:</B> Caroline probably can't/won't answer you here. First of all she posted 3 and 2 years ago. And even if she did happen to see this - Fodors monitors might delete her posts since commercial companies aren't supposed to post here. So, if you REALLY want info from her, you probably should e-mail her directly.

Thank you for your post Olyoly.

If this is a hotel that we do not have a direct contract with then they would not know our company by name and this is because we have a wholesaler between us and the hotel.

We work in partnership with a number of wholesalers and they in turn would have a contract with the hotel. If you have booked then please can you let me have the booking tracking number and for your extra reassurance I shall be more than happy to obtain the hotel’s own confirmation number for you.

Caroline

Question for all. What do you thing about the down reservation?

DESTINATION : Amsterdam, Netherlands
HOTEL : TRIANON
CHECK-IN DATE : May 19, 2012
CHECK-OUT DATE : May 22, 2012
ROOM TYPE : Double Room
MEAL PLAN : Continental

when I arrived at the hotel they gave me two beds into a dormitory of 8 persons !!!!!!
because for otel.com a double room mean " two beds in a room with more beds.. even 8 !!!"

And of course, I did not stayed at that hotel, and more, I send a complaind at otel.com and also to Caroline and.. surprise.. They won't give me the money back because they gave me that two beds!

Now.. you think if otel.com are onest ot not.

" Double room" to me means that the ROOM holds two beds.. not 2 shared in an 8 bedded dorm room.

wow. that's horrible. These experiences certainly have given us all a heads up on not only this agency but others operating the same way.

Double room to me means sleeping space for two people, i.e. there might be only one bed, but it would hold two people. (In the US it is likely to mean two beds, in Europe you should check if you care.) But it certainly doesn't mean a dorm room!!!

A little research shows that while Expedia lists the Trianon as a hotel, with a picture of a room with two beds, other sites list it as a hostel, with less than stellar reviews. It does seem to have some twin rooms, but it also has dorms. What did you pay for the room? If it was a twin room price, you are at least due a refund.

Unfortunately, I only read up on otel.com after my booking, and I would discourage people from using this website. Thanks everyone for posting your warnings!

My experience with them seems similar to what other people have described in this forum. Yesterday I booked a single room in a London hostel through otel.com; at least that's what I thought I did. To check whether my booking had gone through correctly, I contacted the hostel who found my booking, but had to inform me that I hadn't actually booked a single room, but a bed in a dorm. I have no desire to stay in a big dorm, and I'm hugely disappointed about otel.com deliberately misleading their customers.

Furthermore, the service hotline published on otel.com's website didn't work, so I had to cancel through the online system. I have received an email saying my booking has been cancelled and I will be refunded; however, I can only hope that this will actually be the case...

I wanted to add my own experience to this thread. I have used otel.com in the past, and the experience has been fine with excellent rates, so I compared rates again for this trip, and did make a couple of reservations with them. One went fine, the other did not.

I always book hotels many months in advance and did so again this time, getting a great rate for a well researched hotel in Copenhagen.

A week before we were due to check in (while we were already on vacation), I got an email from otel.com saying that our prepaid reservation could not be honoured due to overbooking. I was given two choices: Cancel without penalty, or take a room in an alternate hotel. The alternate hotel was a 2 star (I had booked a 3 star), near the airport (I had booked in the City centre), and was currently offered on their website for LESS than I had paid! No compensation or refund of the difference was offered. Obviously I was going to cancel, and did. I was then in the stressful situation of finding a hotel room at the last minute. I ended up paying double what I had initially paid otel.com for a far inferior hotel.

I am still waiting for my refund . . .

Was routed to otel.com from Trivago for 2 night stay at 5 star hotel. Price was £120 cheaper than all other quotes. Booked at short notice and then found this thread which concerned me.
However, after confirming with hotel that booking had been received, I was a little more comforted.
Had a wonderful time, no hassles and saved a considerable amount. Very happy and will have no concern about using again.

As a respond on my message posted on May 23, 12 at 3:43pm (upper)

otel.com refound the entire amount back, so , they are finally ok. Mistakes can happen oll the time.
so.. I am happy.

I have never had any issues with the otel.com bookings that I have made. I have booked, cancelled etc and never had any issues with the charges on my card, etc (all in the US). All turned out great. It appears in reading that many of the issues have been in Europe, and not the US. Perhaps the management of otel.com is different in Europe or perhaps the hotel booking policies are different. For use in the USA, I have had wonderful experiences with otel.com.

And any time I book through any travel site, I always re-confirm with the hotel that they have my reservation (right away and then a week or two before traveling).

JUST RETURNED FROM HOTEL BOOKED VIA OTEL.COM. PERFECT SERVICE, CHEAPEST PRICE, BREAKFAST INCLUDED (£18 PER DAY PP) AS GOOD A ROOM AS EVERYONE ELSE. THEY EMAILED 3 TIMES TO REMIND ME TO PRINT OFF VOUCHER. WOULD USE AGAIN.

MY MAIN CONCERN IS THEY APPEAR TO BE BASED IN LEFKOSIA (WHICH I THINK IS NICOSIA, CYPRUS) THAT MEANS THEY COULD BE IN THE EU, OR WAY OUT OF LEGAL REACH IN T.R.N.C. (TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS)
ROBERT PEGG

I booked with Otel but only to find "on request' in account not even an email to confirm booking, so I sent them an email, messages (Otel is in Turkey) even sent messages to Otel USA yet no replies. I sent message to Otel Staff in Tripadvisor still no reply after 1 week!
Ok so I send email to Hotel Le Meridien India (5 Star) and they reply saying no booking was made by Otel in name/ ref no: etc.
I booked tonight with another web (Hotels.com) and got confirmation email 5 seconds after booking. Do not book with Otel. Also remember cancellation dates after booking or you will get hit with a cancellation fee. I think that's what Otel was waiting for with me.
BTW Otel's online booking payment system is slow and I see many complaints from people being charged twice.
Best link is Hotelscombined.com & check the one's with "free cancellation"
If an booking web doesn't send you a confirmation within 15minutes of booking cancel it and go to another.

We booked two rooms using Otel.com last month. We we staying at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.
THE GOOD - Reservation was very simple to make, no problem checking in at the hotel, and best of all the price was less than anything else I could find.
THE BAD - Otel.com bills from outside of the US so I was charged a foreign transaction fee. Not sure if I saved any money after having to pay the fee.

I've just booked and pre-paid a hotel room in Bali, Indonesia for this coming summer vacation via otel.com today right before I came across this thread of review. It got me worried. So I called the hotel to double-check my reservation and luckily it's been confirmed. If I had read this review before booking the hotel, I probably would not use otel.com even the price is quite competative.

Wanting to book a particular hotel in Rome (from Australia), Otel.com appeared to have the best rate. Made the booking, gave my credit card details, got a flash message that the funds were deposited to a bank in Turkey before the page quickly reverted back to the Otel.com home page. There was nothing else: no confirmation, no receipt.

I waited 30 minutes to see if any email confirmation would turn up, but again, nothing. I then attempted to ring their Australian toll-free number, but the number kept ringing with no one picking up. I then rang long-distance their US number, which picked up: it transferred to their call centre/office in Turkey. The fellow I spoke to claimed there was no record of any booking for me in their system, and no record of any credit card charge. He suggested I try again.

As a precaution I called my credit card provider, who advised me that a charge had been made by the parent company, in Turkey, and the charge was then reversed. The person at Otel.com was clearly lying. I advised my credit card provider to flag a warning on my account to not make any payments to Otel.com or their parent company.

I then went back to booking the same hotel in Rome through another provider (expedia.com.au)who charged a bit more but provided immediate confirmation of both the transaction and the hotel booking - much more professional. Out of curiosity, I went back and checked if Otel.com were still advertising this hotel: indeed they were, but the rate had now gone up. I would not deal with these guys again and would caution others.

BEWARE they have no refund and no way of cancelling not by phone and the computer link to cancel does not work. Use anyone but them

They charged my credit card for 7015sek for the hotel in Barcelona, Senator Barcelona Spa Hotel that is is FULLY booked!! I will go to the Police against Otel.com

I would never deal with a company that hopes to get your business by having you go to their web site as a result of you mistyping an address.

Do not use this site. They charged my card and I have no reservation. They don't answer calls and they do not help you with anything. This site is a scam!,,,,,,

They notoriously use more desirable Hotel locations to bait you into booking an entirely different location. I recently booked a $175 one night at what I believed was Oceanside Comfort Inn & Suites in Virginia Beach (After all, they were using Oceanside photos). Once I booked, the voucher read an entirely different and far less desirable hotel location about 20 miles inland. Otel.com refused to refund me after a month of what they called "investigation into the matter." During that process they said "we're trying to get you a full refund." Sure they were. I ended up calling the Oceanside hotel and they told me that they have told Otel.com many times to stop using their photos!!!

I booked a hotel in Izmir through Otel; it was purported to
be a 3 star. We were coming from Samos and needed a place
for one night and we didn't need luxury just the normal 3*
amenities.

Words cannot describe that 'hotel'; even the photographic
overview we took doesn't start to describe the squalor.

Lesson learned.

I just had a horrible experience this morning with otel.com. I'm still hopeful that it might be resolved but based on the very concerning lack of customer service I've already encountered, I'm doubtful the problem will be corrected.

Basically, I booked a double room for two nights during peak season in a very expensive hotel where a friend is getting married. I booked with Otel.com this weekend, my card was charged in full, and then this morning I decided to call the hotel to confirm the reservation before traveling since I know they're booking up fast and I don't want to be stuck without a room. when I called the hotel they informed me that a reservation was incorrectly made for a single room, just one bed, even though I will be sharing the room with a friend. The hotel indicated that this was done by otel.com, and that I would have to contact them directly to have the room changed. Well, I called otel.com and it was very difficult to understand the agent. He told me that a double room doesn't mean two beds. Now, this isn't my first hotel, and I'm pretty sure that everywhere else in the world a double room indicates two beds. It certainly does at this hotel where they literally offer TWO standard room options only: a single king or a double queen. The "gentleman" with whom I spoke told me I shouldn't need another bed anyway since I only made the reservation under my name. Excuse me? But that is none of his business! I booked a double room. I paid in full, and I expect to receive a double room. NO EFFORT WAS MADE WHATSOEVER to review or change the booking. I was simply told that I was wrong. I asked to speak to a supervisor and the agent told me that THERE WAS NO SUPERVISOR. He said if I wanted to talk to a supervisor, I should call back in TEN HOURS. That is 3:00 in the morning my time in California! I asked if there way anyone else I could speak to and next thing I got was a dial tone. The customer service agent hung up on me! I tried to send an email through their automated form and kept receiving an error message everytime I clicked "submit." This company is starting to feel incredibly shady and in the meantime I have a massive charge on my credit card. I am hopeful one of my emails went through their form and that I might receive a response from someone who is willing to help, but I am wishing now I had just gone with a more reputable company. I could have gone with a bigger company for $20 more and it would have been so worth it for peace of mind.

A double room does NOT mean two beds everywhere in the world. It means that two people can sleep in the room, if you care about the number of beds you need to confirm that before booking.

Hotels and Online Hotel booking companies like Otel.com or Expedia does not charge international transaction fee. It is charged by credit companies.Some credit card company like Capital One and Bank America Travel Card does not charge for International Transaction fee. Online booking companies has nothing to do with conversion fees. I booked with otel.com twice.I had no probem what so ever. I had prepaid voucher by GTA Travel. Carline gave the hotel confirmation number as I requested (after three days I booked the hotel) and I verified with the hotel right away. She was a eccellent customer service Rep. I spoke to a man in Otel.com before I spoke to Caroline was very rude. He had no customer service skill at all.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

This company gave out my personal information (e-mail and PASSWORD) to someone other than myself. No security questions were asked or anything!

They told me they would refund me money and just be hit with a cencelation fee, and almost two months later havent seen a dime. So I called them and asked to speak with the gentlemen I was previously working with, they told me he was out to lunch and to call back in a half hour. Called back in a half hour and they told me he was out sick and would be out for five days (exact words). They just give you the run around.

Do not even go down this road, I am not the type of person to even write reviews but everyone should be made aware of what you may potentially have to deal with.

First off, please check this site directly to see if it is even a running site. Currently I am not able to open their homepage and tried several different routes. Red Flag #1.
I had a particularly AWFUL experience with this site. An ongoing dispute involving my credit card company that unfortunately is not going to result in my favor. We decided to cancel after booking and I was able to get in contact with someone the following business day. They told me I would be refunded and there were no penalties since I was cancelling within the cancellation period. We even received a cancellation email confirming this transaction was made. Long story short, no transaction was made and we had to go back and forth with the credit card company trying to settle the dispute. With that being a long process in itself, the cancellation period had then passed and they now have our money claiming that no cancellation was ever made. Now that I am re-reading their policy it does say something needs to be made in writing to cancel. However their site is not up and running. So there is no way of doing this either. We made the transaction and after reading the reviews had a bit of a panic and withdrew which turned out making the situation ten times worse. Listen to the bad reviews, dont try cheaping out and not knowing whats going to happen with your vacation booking. Just pay the price of a trustworthy company and the ease of knowing your money transactions are safe.

It looks like my experience has a repeated history with this site. Please do not use this site.