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The only time I used booking.com, the hotel wouldn't honor my reservation, even though I showed them the booking confirmation number. They were sold out and sim

The only time I used booking.com, the hotel wouldn't honor my reservation, even though I showed them the booking confirmation number. They were sold out and simply said "not my problem, third party and we never got it". Who knows who's fault it was but with something as crucial as a hotel in a specific location/date I tend to just book through the actual hotel site from now on.

deleted 9y ago
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soneil 9y ago
I’m surprised this isn’t more common. I went through a period where I was frequenting the same hotel ~10 times a year. They knew me by name, and I knew most of them. There was no such thing as “full” - they would move heaven and earth to accommodate repeat custom. When they perceive your ‘loyalty’ as being to a portal, and me as years of repeat custom .. well what would you do? (Unrelated tip: If a hotel is booked out, visit them directly. Most don’t list all their rooms on portals, for similar reasons)
lucaspiller 9y ago
If you are booking with a chain you usually get better perks by booking through their site, especially if you are a loyalty member (even the most basic level often gives perks so it's worth signing up). Some are even cheaper by booking directly (e.g. Accor group). The place where booking.com really shines is for individual hotels and smaller properties like bed and breakfasts - often they only use one provider and it's usually booking.com/Priceline (at least here in Europe). You could just call them directly once you've found it though...
- petre 9y ago
  They're cheaper directly because booking.com takes 15 or 18% comission.
  - Simon_says 9y ago
    You would think so, but I travel a lot and it's been extremely rare that the price in cash at the hotel is less than Booking.com's price.
chesterc 9y ago
This happened to me a couple of months ago. If you contact CS they will help you get a room somewhere else at the hotel expense. :)

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

soneil 9y ago

I’m surprised this isn’t more common. I went through a period where I was frequenting the same hotel ~10 times a year. They knew me by name, and I knew most of them. There was no such thing as “full” - they would move heaven and earth to accommodate repeat custom. When they perceive your ‘loyalty’ as being to a portal, and me as years of repeat custom .. well what would you do? (Unrelated tip: If a hotel is booked out, visit them directly. Most don’t list all their rooms on portals, for similar reasons)

lucaspiller 9y ago

If you are booking with a chain you usually get better perks by booking through their site, especially if you are a loyalty member (even the most basic level often gives perks so it's worth signing up). Some are even cheaper by booking directly (e.g. Accor group). The place where booking.com really shines is for individual hotels and smaller properties like bed and breakfasts - often they only use one provider and it's usually booking.com/Priceline (at least here in Europe). You could just call them directly once you've found it though...

petre 9y ago
They're cheaper directly because booking.com takes 15 or 18% comission.
- Simon_says 9y ago
  You would think so, but I travel a lot and it's been extremely rare that the price in cash at the hotel is less than Booking.com's price.

chesterc 9y ago

This happened to me a couple of months ago. If you contact CS they will help you get a room somewhere else at the hotel expense. :)