Just wanted to give everyone a heads up... we were fleeing hurricaine Ivan and booked a room through Hotels.com only to arrive in Houston (after an 11 hour drive) and find out that we did not have a room at all. It seems that when you book a room through them and get a confirmation# that your room is not REALLY confirmed until Hotels.com actually calls the hotel property to be sure there are rooms available. So what is the point of prepaying for your room and getting a confirmation #, I wonder? It does not guarantee you a room at all!!! They sold me a room that did not exist!!! Here I was, with a 1 yr old and a 2 yr old fleeing the wrath of Ivan and I am told that I don't really have a room. The hotel- The Sheraton Suites in Houston-was really awesome about it. I know they did not have any rooms, but I think the manager felt sorry for me. She probably gave me the last room. I know there was a waiting list a mile long for those rooms. Believe me, I was thankful. But anyway, to everyone out there, beware of Hotels.com and call the property yourself to verify any reservation. Good luck.

By the way, there is nowhere to rant/rave about the hotel we stayed in-Sheraton Suites but I wanted to comment. I was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was. It was no 5 star luxury hotel, but was a very nice place to go with kids. The room had a small fridge and sink and was a nice size. We didn't feel cramped at all even with our 2 toddlers. There were 2 TV's so they could watch cartoons and we could watch hurricane coverage on the other. The staff was fantastic!!! They were very nice and accomodating to our family. Great attitude of service. I would not hesitate to stay there again.

I was in Houston Thurs through yesterday for business. Couldn't get a room anywhere downtown in any type of hotel, due to both the MBA convention and even more so the hurricaine evacuees like yourselves. Ended up staying in the Galleria area, but even that was hard to get. You were indeed lucky Sheraton Suites got you in. BTW- where is that Sheraton Suites? I know the Sheraton Brookhollow and the Sheraton at the airport, but not familiar w/a Sheraton Suites.
I never have had this problem on other hotel discount sites. I too would expect that if I prepay and get a confirmation number that there is a room, although i admit I do call the hotel myself to double check when I use Expedia.

It was 1 block before Westheimer on West Loop I think. Anyway Just before you get to Westheimer and Galleria Mall.I liked it enough to stay 2 extra days. The hotel restaurant was just ok, though. Anyone else have this type of experience w/ travel booking websites?

Wait! You say there was "no room at all" but yet they DID give you a room? And even though they were booked up they allowed you to stay two extra nights? Isn't that good? Doesn't hotels.com come out of this smelling like a rose???

How awful that that happened to you especially with two toddlers. I posted a few months ago to beware of expedia and also reconfirm with the hotel. I had booked for the xmas holiday a condo in vail, and when I tried to confirm it with the condo association, they stated I didnt have a reservation, even though I had a reservation#. Long story, but expedia uses secondary booking agents and it was a mess. It took 2 hours of my time to realize noone could confirm this condo and I wasnt going to take a chance like you did that 6 of us would have no place to stay when we arrived in vail, so they let me cancel. I agree with you to reconfirm your reserv directly with the hotel.
Susan

So did you have to pay 2x?
Will you have to seek a refund from hotels.com?

I've experienced a similar sort of thing. On my first visit (from the UK) to NYC, the UK travel agent - Travelbag - didn't bother to pass on my money to the hotel. So there we were 2000 miles from home being told that we'd have to pay again. As you know, New York hotels aren't cheap! Anyway, I'd faxed the hotel a few days before to check and had a reply telling me that there was no need to reconfirm. Luckily I'd brought the paper with me. The manager said that as one of his staff couldn't be bothered to check if I had a reservation, he felt obliged to help. It was all sorted in the end but it did rather take the gloss off the trip as we couldn't enjoy it.
The second time was last February when I'd booked through Quikbook and had to pre-pay for the hotel in DC. When I checked out, the receptionist gave me an invoice for the stay. I told her that I'd already paid Quikbook. She asked for written confirmation (I'd brought my email from Quikbook) and she reluctantly agreed that I'd paid up front.
The moral of the story is always to reconfirm that your name is on the hotel guest list, and bring the paperwork with you. I know it wouldn't have helped with Hotels.Com but it certainly helped us twice.

Joan,
Hotels.com did not get me a room. They did give me a refund. Other than that they were totally worthless. The Sheraton gave me the room. All I know is that over 2 million people fled hurricane Ivan and there were no rooms left in Houston. I guess every hotel keeps a few rooms aside for situations like this. Maybe someone cancelled at the last minute and they gave me the cancellation. I was just glad to get it!
: )

To clarify, Hotels.com did give me a refund, and I only paid once for the room. Yes, it is good that I got a room, for the whole time. But again I suspect that there was a last minute cancellation. The Sheraton was wonderful, hotels.com wasn't-I won't be using them again. BTW- we had a great time with our kiddos anyway. : )

Ohhhh...now I see. You prepaid the room, and then had to pay again directly to Sheraton - all the while not knowing if you'd get a refund from hotels.com. Sorry I was thick-headed!

Joan,

You weren't thickheaded-the whole experience was a bit confusing...

Bright?

Blacktie? 'dat you?

Ya think?