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Because the ten-blue-link results are trash. And counterexample - every time I look up a hotel, I want to go to their actual homepage because I find the aggreg

by Pxtl 7y ago

Because the ten-blue-link results are trash. And counterexample - every time I look up a hotel, I want to go to their actual homepage because I find the aggregators often intermingle pictures of the different room types and I want to see what the actual actual suite I'm booking looks like. And Google buries the actual hotel homepage pretty deep, in my experience.

dreamcompiler 7y ago
I've also found I could get the same deal or better when I book directly with the hotel. And when I check in, if I've booked with a third party booker, it's impossible to change the reservation at the hotel itself, and things that are normally free (like wifi or a ride to the airport) suddenly cost extra. Many hotels hate the outside bookers and either lose money on those bookings or don't make as much, and they're happy to split the booker's fee with the customer who books directly.
- AJ007 7y ago
  If people realized how much money of their hotel booking was going to Google and the OTAs, they would piss their pants. It is an excessive, useless, and largely avoidable tax. * also note it’s driven substantial consolidation in the hotel industry, because big companies like Marriott can just rake in their direct bookings.
  - st1ck 7y ago
    You'd think that by walking in or calling you could get the price around 10% below booking.com or Agoda, but it's almost never the case from my experience booking budget accommodation in Europe & Asia. Most of time they offer standard rate which is _higher_ than what you'd find on OTA.
- m_eiman 7y ago
  Booking (iirc) forbids hotels from having better deals on their own site than what they offer on booking.
naravara 7y ago
It's even worse when you just want to find a menu for a restaurant.
- squiggleblaz 7y ago
  Alas for this task, Google seems best. Just take a look at the photos of the place in Google Maps. The menu is usually there.

by Pxtl 7y ago

dreamcompiler 7y ago

I've also found I could get the same deal or better when I book directly with the hotel. And when I check in, if I've booked with a third party booker, it's impossible to change the reservation at the hotel itself, and things that are normally free (like wifi or a ride to the airport) suddenly cost extra. Many hotels hate the outside bookers and either lose money on those bookings or don't make as much, and they're happy to split the booker's fee with the customer who books directly.

AJ007 7y ago
If people realized how much money of their hotel booking was going to Google and the OTAs, they would piss their pants. It is an excessive, useless, and largely avoidable tax. * also note it’s driven substantial consolidation in the hotel industry, because big companies like Marriott can just rake in their direct bookings.
- st1ck 7y ago
  You'd think that by walking in or calling you could get the price around 10% below booking.com or Agoda, but it's almost never the case from my experience booking budget accommodation in Europe & Asia. Most of time they offer standard rate which is _higher_ than what you'd find on OTA.
m_eiman 7y ago
Booking (iirc) forbids hotels from having better deals on their own site than what they offer on booking.

naravara 7y ago

It's even worse when you just want to find a menu for a restaurant.

squiggleblaz 7y ago
Alas for this task, Google seems best. Just take a look at the photos of the place in Google Maps. The menu is usually there.