I'm actually finding that to no longer be the case... just booked a hotel for a holiday and booking directly through the hotel's website was around 15% cheaper

I'm actually finding that to no longer be the case... just booked a hotel for a holiday and booking directly through the hotel's website was around 15% cheaper (and didn't try to charge me 50% extra for an infant). The hotel's payment flow for Amex was broken, but well that's another issue ;)