Hotel/Motel Booking Websites - Which Do You Recommend?

[PeterG]

I did well with Orbitz.com, liked the motel and the rate.

I also lucked out with Hotwire.com, but only because someone else booked there before me and told me about their great deal. A big negative with hotwire is that they don't tell you the name of the place you're booking until after the booking is finalized! One downside to hotwire was that I paid for their extended coverage and when I wanted to leave one day early, they would not refund me for that extra night. Who knows WHAT that extra coverage was for....it certainly wasn't for cancelling one extra night!

One site I haven't used that seemed to list the same places as other sites, but at a few dollars less per night was motelplanet.com

I don't recommend the sites that instead of listing the price for each place, you have to click on a separate link for each and every place! (Yeah, RIGHT!!) An example of this is travelhero.com, so I don't recommend them.

Who have you booked with that you recommend? And which service will you never use again?

ETA: OOPS! I forgot expedia in my poll!

Other sites that didn't make the poll:

Biddingfortravel.com
cheapostay.com
Discountfares.com
Easyclicktravel.com
itravel.com
lastminutetravel.com
motelreservations.net
quickbook.com
sidestep.com
skyauction.com

[milanessa]

Do you have a destination in mind or are you talking in general?

[overedge]

Travelocity does hotel bookings too.

[Nan]

I use expedia almost exclusively. I do look at other sites because people are always telling me they get "better" deals other places, but often once you add in taxes and other charges (which expedia usually shows you up front), there isn't much difference.

I've been using expedia for over eight years and never had any problems with them or the items I booked through them including planes and hotels. I feel comfortable sticking to a familiar place.

[icedance21]

I also lucked out with Hotwire.com, but only because someone else booked there before me and told me about their great deal. A big negative with hotwire is that they don't tell you the name of the place you're booking until after the booking is finalized! One downside to hotwire was that I paid for their extended coverage and when I wanted to leave one day early, they would not refund me for that extra night. Who knows WHAT that extra coverage was for....it certainly wasn't for cancelling one extra night!

I've looked on Hotwire.com and the way the booking process there works looks like a nightmare waiting to happen. It's essentially a crap shoot; you may end up with good accomodations or terrible ones, and either way, it's non-refundable under any circumstances (based on the reviews of the website that I've read).

I've personally booked on expedia, travelocity, and hotels.com. I do think expedia's site is the best organized. Hotel.com's website had one of the better rewards program, but they've made changes it to it, I understand. Their website looks very unpolished and messy though.

[PeterG]

One thing I forgot to mention in my original post was that after looking over many different sites, it seemed like 90% of them listed the exact same hotels and the prices were almost identical. motelplanet.com might have been cheaper because it did not includes taxes, like Nan has said.

It seems strange/silly that all these sites are doing almost the exact same thing. I used to work at a public library and one common saying was about "repetition of work"...we were constantly looking at how things were done and trying to avoid any instance where two people might be doing the same thing. It looks like these sites are definitely offering a repetition of service...over and over and over and over....

Do you have a destination in mind or are you talking in general?

In general.

I've looked on Hotwire.com and the way the booking process there works looks like a nightmare waiting to happen. It's essentially a crapshoot; you may end up with good accomodations or terrible ones, and either way, it's non-refundable under any circumstances (based on the reviews of the website that I've read).

I'm wondering if it only looks like a crapshoot (I agree with you about that!). But has anyone ever booked through hotwire and not liked what they got? Through hotwire, I stayed at the Fairbridge Inn Express in Spokane for U.S. Nationals for only $36.00/night and that included a LOT of stuff to eat for breakfast. I'm tempted to use hotwire again because it seems like a better deal than what the other sites are offering. Or maybe booking one night through hotwire and then researching the place I'm booked at since then I'd have the name and address!

[BelleBway]

I usually book directly with the hotel.

[overedge]

Since we're talking in general.....I've read that hotels set aside blocks of specific rooms to sell on these sites (i.e. you're not getting any room that happens to be available) and they tend to be rooms that other travellers might not want for various reasons (e.g. next to the elevator, facing a noisy street or a brick wall). And if the room turns out to be a dud the hotel generally won't upgrade you, give you a discount, or change the room, as they might if you booked directly or through a travel agent. So as usual, buyer beware.

[Erica Lee]

I use hotwire if I "just need to sleep" somewhere, don't really care where exactly I am and budget is a concern. I've had good luck being able to figure out what the hotels are before booking with a little extra research.

If I have a bit of extra lead-time I'll try bidding on priceline. It's a somewhat similar concept, but needs a bit more lead-time - I have got cheaper prices using it.

If it's a bit more important of a trip and I want to pick and choose, I'll use expedia to do my research and then usually book directly with the hotel (usually cheaper, though sometimes expedia does have special deals or bundles that are worthwhile).

[LynnW]

I also lucked out with Hotwire.com, but only because someone else booked there before me and told me about their great deal. A big negative with hotwire is that they don't tell you the name of the place you're booking until after the booking is finalized! One downside to hotwire was that I paid for their extended coverage and when I wanted to leave one day early, they would not refund me for that extra night. Who knows WHAT that extra coverage was for....it certainly wasn't for cancelling one extra night!

If you use Priceline and/or Hotwire, you mightwant to use betterbidding.com
in conjunction with them. They keep track of winning bids on both priceline and Hotwire so you can generally tell which hotel you are bidding on.

http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=300&

[icedance21]

I'm wondering if it only looks like a crapshoot (I agree with you about that!). But has anyone ever booked through hotwire and not liked what they got? Through hotwire, I stayed at the Fairbridge Inn Express in Spokane for U.S. Nationals for only $36.00/night and that included a LOT of stuff to eat for breakfast. I'm tempted to use hotwire again because it seems like a better deal than what the other sites are offering. Or maybe booking one night through hotwire and then researching the place I'm booked at since then I'd have the name and address!

PeterG, the various opinions on epinions.com about hotwire may interest you. Many opinions are positive, but lots of bad experiences as well (take a look at the negative reviews ).

[Garden Kitty]

I try travelocity and hotels.com, but also check the hotel directly. If the direct rate is close (using whatever discounts such as AAA that may apply), I book directly with the hotel.

[luenatic]

If you use Priceline and/or Hotwire, you mightwant to use betterbidding.com
in conjunction with them.

I know! I check that site frequently to get a feel on the price and hotel names. I use priceline quite often these days. I paid about $70-80/night in 4 star hotels using priceline. It's really a good deal.

[Kasey]

I've always used hotels.com, and have had no problems with it. They've been really helpful the few times I've needed to contact their customer service as well.

[tracylynn]

Ooh, I like this topic. I work as a reservation agent for a hotel, Red Roof Inns. Though not a major hotel I can tell you the experiences that I have as a reservation agent. First of all, if you book through any of those sites and you need to change any part of your reservation or even have to cancel your reservation, you have to do it directly with the booking agent whether it be Priceline or Expedia, for example. I am not sure if this is with other hotels, though it might be, but it is with us. Why? Because you have already paid for the room. We can't adjust something that has already been paid for. You'll have to get your money back from them and not the hotel.

Secondly, if you book directly with the hotel (maybe not for all) you are not paying for the room up front, therefore it is easier to make changes to or cancel the reservation without a fee. For some people, this if great because they are locking in the room and the rate without having to pay for it right away.

Thirdly, sometimes you will get a better deal by booking with the hotel chain itself. I had a customer today who got in the city a day early and wanted a room for tonight. When I gave him a discount, his room was cheaper than the one he had booked with Expedia for tomorrow night. The rooms were the same.

Finally, if you book with a dicount service, please, please read the fine print. That is where most people get into trouble. They don't read it and then they end up getting screwed.

[Carolla5501]

I tend to book direct. So for a Marriott hotel I use the Marriott website. For smal mom/pop I try to book with them.

[Tinami Amori]

overall, the best one is www.expedia.com for my purposes.

[nalgene]

I research with Tripadvisor, then price check with Travelocity and Expedia, then check the hotel's website directly to see if there is a price difference. I try most often to book directly with the hotel.

Also, I've had success booking hotels in Asia with Agoda.com.

[mila19]

overall, the best one is www.expedia.com for my purposes.

I second and third Expedia but try checking it also with expedia.it when flying to/through/from Italy because they might give you also other airlines as an option. I used expedia.it when flying to Brazil through Rome and it gave me a better price compared to expedia.com

[KCC]

I use hotels.com for booking hotels because of getting a free night after 10 nights booked. Never had a time where booking directly with the hotel was cheaper than hotels.com, although I checked that 4 times. I also like using vacation rentals (such as vacationrentals.com and vrbo.com) for cities where hotel rooms tend to be very expensive.

(And I book all airlines through the airline websites because of getting to choose your seat.