hey all, i%26#39;m a newbie to this forum so i%26#39;m not sure if this question is appropriate for this forum, but here it is:
i was trying to book a room for the Pan Pacific in SF.
the rates through hotels.com are the same as the rates directly with the hotel website. is there any difference besides the fees that hotels.com may charge? is the room rate guaranteed thru hotels.com and not directly w/ the hotel?
TIA.
Booking a hotel thru online travel site vs directly w...
Whether you use a hotel%26#39;s website or an online travel site, you are guaranteed a room, or at least with my experience you are. I always book through an online travel website and have never had a problem. Now a lot of times, if you are booking airfare. and hotel, you get a better price break. I see that you are from California, so you most likely will not need to fly there. You can always try priceline.com, there are several people on this forum that use them for the 4 star hotels and get good deals. Otherwise, you can just choose whether to go with the travel site or directly with the hotel. You might see if the hotel can give you some kind of special or discount.
Booking a hotel thru online travel site vs directly w...
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If all things are equal, I would definitely book with the hotel directly. You will get much better customer service from their management staff than if you do it through a discounter, even if you%26#39;ve paid the same rate. They do know how you made the reservation, and they figure that people trying to save money by using discounters don%26#39;t care as much about how they are treated as thoise who have chosen their hotel and booked directly.
It sounds Orwelian, but I actually read an article in a travel magazine that had quotes from a hotel manager stating this.
H%26amp;S.
Hugey and Samantha -
Can you tell me where I can read that article about guests being treated differently based on how they booked their room?
I would really like to see that.
Sorry...Huey and Samantha
That%26#39;s funny, Huey (one of our 2 cats) is actually pretty huge, so we call him Hugey!
It was in Budget Travel, I just found the link (incredibly easy, nice for a change)
budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/articl鈥?/a>
If the link doesn%26#39;t work, go to http://www.budgettravelonline.com/?nav=msnbc
and search for ';online hotel reservation customer service';
The article is titled:Confessions of a Hotel Executive
April 20, 2005
The source is anonymous, but believable.
H%26amp;S.
H%26amp;S- Thanks. I read the article and I think it is poppycock. It might be the way that person runs the hotel, but not wide spread in my opinion. Just as in any industry, we have all types that are hotel managers, and that is just one example. The comment that people who book on these sites don%26#39;t care about service is ridiculous. People who use those sites show no brand loyalty and that upsets chain hotels. They still want service, they don%26#39;t care who gives it.
This is my post to the question on this forum before. I think it is more accurate:
Some hotels will assign the rooms based on the rate a guest is paying and less desirable room locations will be assigned to Online discount bookings. The fine print on those bookings indicate ';run of house'; and nothing is guaranteed, etc. Some hotels will use this as an excuse for sloppy reservation management. A few things to keep in mind...Some hotels get more online discount bookings than they have undesirable rooms, so you may get a nice room regardless. Only the front desk agent checking you in and the room cleaner (maybe) knows the rate you are paying. Generally, staff members will not know the rate you are paying when you have contact with them and you will be treated just like everyone else. Especially at a large hotel. A concierge may access your account to leave you a message or something and look at your rate, but if you treat them well, they will treat you well. If you are treated badly, chances are its just bad service and not the rate you are paying. One thing about online bookings is that requests and comments that people enter when making their reservations do not always reach the hotel. One of the bad things about internet bookings is that it removes the human element of the process. Follow your online booking up with phone call to the hotel the next day. It can%26#39;t hurt and will only help you get what you want. Ask for the reservations manager for extra caution. Getting names of the people you speak to is a good idea too.
I booked a room at the downton Hilton in SF using priceline.com and I certainly felt as though I got the ';priceline'; room. It was an extremely small room at the end of the hallway. I wasn%26#39;t overly upset...I just figured I got what I paid for.
My experience has been that I usually find the best deals at the hotel%26#39;s own website. I used to book through Orbitz almost exclusively, until there was one occasion when the hotel did not have my reservation when I showed up. I was told it was the fault of Orbitz, but who really knows.
From what I have heard on this forum, the Hilton is notorious for giving internet bookings the worse rooms. On one hand it seems fair that people paying more should get better rooms. However, although some are paying less, it may be just as proportional of a financial ';hit'; to them and they want a nice vacation experience too. The fact is, people could not buy a room for a price the hotel does not decide to sell it for. If a hotel decides to sell a room to a third party internet company to resell it to another person, it is not the person%26#39;s fault they got a good deal. In my opinion, once they buy the room, no matter how much they pay, they are now the ';customer'; and deserve to be treated as such. Although, sometimes, it surprises me when people are paying Motel 6 rates and complain that it is not good enough. If you are ';particular about things'; don%26#39;t use a blind bidding site like Priceline. You need to be willing to accept the hotel you get. Otherwise, shop around, research, call them and select the right hotel for you.
I have never booked through priceline or orbitz so I can not comment on these services.
However, I recently booked a hotel room in SF and got a great deal by just calling the hotel directly. It was better than any deal I could have received from expedia or hotels.com.
It was a total fluke but hey it can never hurt to call and see what kind of deal they can give you!
Here is my experience the one and only time I used an online discounter. Over the course of a year, I had stayed twice in the same NYC Hotel which I had booked through their web site. It was a tourist class hotel but both stays I found the rooms to be quite spacious, clean, modern and overall very good.
My third stay I went with hotels.com and got a better rate then I had gotten by booking directly with the hotel previously. I was very pleased to be staying at an establishment that was known to me and at a good price. However, the room we were assigned upon check-in was so unsatisfactory I found it hard to believe that it was part of the same hotel. It was tiny, (you literally had to edge past the bed to get to the dresser), dark (no natural light), stunk of smoke (although it was non-smoking) and had a view of the back of a building (which explained the lack of light). I quickly returned to the front desk to request another room. Reluctantly the front desk assigned a marginally better one. I realized then that I was most likely given the worst rooms in the hotel because of the price I was paying. Which, basically I understand is only fair. Why should those who are paying close to rack rate get the worst rooms?
Now whenever I book it is only through a hotel%26#39;s web site so I don%26#39;t have a repeat of that experience. But I have friends that use priceline all the time because they aren%26#39;t as picky as I am. Sometimes they get dumpy rooms, sometimes they get great ones.
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