Beata

My family will be in NYC in December and we found this internet company for booking hotels in Manhattan. If you ever used them plese tell me what do you think. Would you use them again? They have some excellent prices. Are they for real?

Annie

Hi Beata:
I have used them for European Bookings most recentlt in September 2000. I was pleased with the prices and the hotel choices. Yes, they are for real. I would use them again.

Brian in Atlanta

Used them in 1997 for hotel in San Fran. Everything worked fine. Note that you have to pay for the entire stay at the time of making the reservation.

Am using them again this weekend in Nashville. I'll let you know how that goes.

Penny

I contacted them for a trip to NYC in September and found them very helpful. I visited their Web site and then phoned them directly for more information.

We ultimately didn't use the reservation we'd made through them, however, as we found a better last-minute deal at travelweb.com. You might want to check them on, say, the Tuesday before your trip. Whereas we'd booked to stay at a place for $266 a night through hoteldiscount.com, we were able to get a price of $189 for a comparable hotel through travelweb. It had a rack rate of about $400, so I can't sing travelweb's praises more highly.

Whichever service you use, make sure you print out the e-mail confirmation and take it along with you. Sometimes the front desk isn't well connected to the Internet deals and needs to see something in black and white. We almost had to pay the $400 until the desk clerk showed her manager the e-mail.

Hope this helps.

Patrick

Out of curiosity, what hotels did they offer you good prices for? I tried them for a stay in NYC also in December and could not find one hotel with a better price than I got by calling the hotels direct. I tried five different hotels by the way. Couldn't see the advantage of booking with them and paying in advance for the same price as booking direct and paying on leaving with a credit card. I was told that you usually have to do last minute planning with them to get a good deal.

Gary

My experience is similar to Patrick's. For recent trips to San Diego and Phoenix, I found better rates at the chains' (Hyatt and Embassy Suites) web sites than I did through hoteldiscount.com. And they didn't require the entire-stay deposit.

Patrick

Based on your post, decided to try them again for my December stay. Lowest at Waldorf Towers: $609.95; Millenium Broadway: $469.95; the new Sofitel: $529.95; the Intercontinental: $599.95; and my favorite offer from them --where I wouldn't stay on a bet but usually has special deals of around $150 a night -- The Milford Plaze with the lowest price from www.hoteldiscount being an unbelievable $ 349.95. I repeat, what deals are you talking about? Sure there are much cheaper hotels, but they are just that -- and just as cheap or cheaper by calling direct. Please tell us what hotel you are thinking of booking with them in NYC in December and maybe someone here can help you get a much a better deal.

Christina

I will join the crowd that thinks Hotel Discounts is misnamed. I've never seen a good deal on there, although I've only viewed hotels in NYC. All of their rates were high and I got better rates elsewhere, e.g., calling the hotel direct or www.quickbook.com which is better IMO, I know their rates are better. I could be wrong, but I think there is a real disadvantage to using them as they take your money in advance and if you have real complaints about the hotel or they cannot even find your reservation on checkin (which I've heard of), you can be in trouble. I have found Quikbook far superior. For example, right now Hoteldiscounts is hyping this big special NYC sale with limited availability of room, such as rooms at the Hotel Pennsylvania for $136 under this amazing deal -- well, guess what, you go to the hotel's own web site (www.hotelpenn.com) and find out that $139 is the std winter room rate in that hotel. I'm like someone else and the first time I used their web site, I checked their rates thoroughly against the hotel's own rates and other booking services for about 4-5 hotels, and found they were higher in every case, so I'll never bother using them again.

Ann

I just logged onto travelweb.com and guess what? It took me into hoteldiscounts.com! Looks like they've been bought out.

Patrick

Comeon, Beata. You posted this message and asked for responses. Surely you are rechecking this post for responses. Are you going to answer us? I am really curious which hotel you were planning to book with a fantastic deal. Or is it possible this whole post was a scam???

Noach

Antything is possible Patrick but aren't you being a little unfair?

Beata only posted this morning. Give here a chance.

Beata

Thank you all for your responses. We booked three rooms at the Belvedere Hotel at $122.00 each. I did not check hotels such as Waldorf Astoria or Plaza. I am this type of traveler who rather spend less and on hotels but plan a longer trip. For some of my family members this is a first trip to the US and I would like to show them as much as possible. So a question was: Should we travel for one week and stay at the Plaza or travel for three weeks (two weeks in New York, then on the way back home one week in Paris). Thanks again for your help and hope everything will work out well.
And Patrick. Yes, I tried to check this Forum every noon (my time not yours). However accessing from Europe sometimes is not possible or just takes too long and I can do this only during a lunch break. Come on Patrick. Relax!!! I consider myself somehow addicted to Fodors.com anyway because I rather do not have my lunch than not read the new questions and answers on this forum. I am in a process of planning my next trip in March to Rome and I booked a room based on sugestions posted here. So Patrick how many times a day do you enter this website?

Patrick

My sincere apologies. I guess I got a little carried away after reading the many posts about travel agent postings and advertising. I was also a little dismayed when I tried to send Beata an email direct -- "mail returned, no such address", so thought we might have found another one here. I guess I'm one of the few who uses my own email address. And as for how many times a day do I enter this website? Let's just say too many to admit to. I guess mine has gone beyond an addiction, but fortunately I'm retired so it's on my own time.

Penny

I was surprised to hear about getting hoteldiscount when going to travelweb. I just tried travelweb and got . . . travelweb. Not sure what link there might get you into hoteldiscount.

For the record: the great deal we got was at the Parker Meridien, right near Carnegie Hall. It's still popping up every weekend in NYC, and it's a month since our trip. Meridien hotels worldwide seem to be on special.

Brian in Atlanta

Back from Nashville and happy to report no problems whatsoever.

I don't use this service very often (2 times in the last 4 years) as their prices usually aren't much cheaper, but sometimes they are. We saved significant $$$ this time.

Debra

I just booked The Hudson hotel through Hotel Discount. I was quite pleased that they could find rooms--I called about seven other sources, including the hotel, and they said the hotel was booked for the next few months. I probably paid more than I would have had I booked straight through the hotel, but I was excited to get into a "sold out" hotel. I also had great luck with Express Reservations, express-res.com They had hotels available like The Warwick, The W Court and a few others. Try them out...