5 ms·

I've taken to calling hotels directly and dealing with them, or their chain's booking, as they offer the same or better rates usually, are more accountable, are

I've taken to calling hotels directly and dealing with them, or their chain's booking, as they offer the same or better rates usually, are more accountable, are more willing to refund or cancel without problems, and are much more interested in keeping you happy and wanting to come back.

avgDev 3y ago
Not always the case. In Dominican Republic I was told to just use an online booking site as it was much cheaper than doing it in person. Their own site was also more expensive than expedia.
- throwaway290 3y ago
  Similar in Israel and Thailand, they upfront say it'd be more expensive to book at reception. I wonder if it's only different in US.
  - marenkay 3y ago
    If you speak Thai and do it via LINE messenger you get a much cheaper price though. Pricing seems to be inflated for foreigners.
    - throwaway290 3y ago
      On flip side, I bet if you are Thai native speaker foreigner in the US you will also not necessarily find it easier/cheaper to negotiate with hotels directly compared to Booking etc.
  - marwis 3y ago
    It's the same in US
wordpad25 3y ago
Hotels always offer worse rates offline than online
- kbenson 3y ago
  Not my experience, especially when you actually break down the cancellation policies (which booking aggregators will sometimes charge extra for) and whether they require payment up front or at the time of arrival. When I last did this, for a vacation, the cost at an aggregator was less if there was no cancellation allowed, and more if the option to cancel was added (but to a couple days before I believe), and needed to be paid at time of booking. When I called, I got a rate slightly less than the online+cancellation, I was able to cancel up to 24 hours in advance, and I only needed to pay on arrival, meaning I didn't tie up a few thousand for a few months. There's also always the option to state the rate you found online and see if they are willing to match it. It's not like there usually some magic involved, if they're willing to offer it to an aggregator, why wouldn't they at least consider offering it to you direct?
  - lepus 3y ago
    > It's not like there usually some magic involved, if they're willing to offer it to an aggregator, why wouldn't they at least consider offering it to you direct? The magic is actually being given the direct authorization to give you a matching rate or if not then having to get management to authorize that rate for you. That depends entirely on the hotel. Some employees might also recognize a deal seeker as someone who's also more likely to be picky and complain more and so would rather deny your price negotiations and avoid working with you if they have the choice depending on how filled they already are.
- P_I_Staker 3y ago
  Yup this is nonsense advice. I will say in most cases, it seems around the same. I highly suspect most hotels aren't prepared to negotiate over the phone. As I said elsewhere, the hotel's support can be even worse, and amount to them basically robbing you.
  - 3y ago
dcdc123 3y ago
I am a full time digital nomad and stay in a ton of hotels. I have once gotten the same rate directly, usually it is 20-30% higher. Hotels basically force you to third parties.
- jononomo 3y ago
  Why would they do this?
  - Macha 3y ago
    Do they think that direct callers are more invested in their specific hotels while price comparison site users will just pick someone else if the price is too high?
    - lmz 3y ago
      Or the people handling bookings at the hotel have no discounting authority and don't care where you're booking from as it's not their problem anyway. "If you say it's cheaper on the Internet go book there!"
      - nojvek 3y ago
        Correct. I always find cheaper prices on Expedia than I do at Marriott’s website or their counter. But Hyatt is almost always cheaper directly. Hyatt is my fav chain, they maintain a proper standard of service for their price. I’m a believer.
        staticautomatic 3y ago
        Their points are still worth something, too.
P_I_Staker 3y ago
My last experience dealing directly with the hotel, I called to cancel. Later, they tried to charge me for the whole trip. The whole system was to just call a person, with no confirmation provided. The hotel did not give a rats ass about how happy I was, if I wanted to come back, and were not accountable. They basically gaslit me. The person pretended I was crazy or stealing, and I would surely have proof otherwise. In most systems, you get some kind of ticket notification. I really felt I would be better with any portal system. I know booking can be shitty too, but dealing with hotels individually just seems worse to me. By the way, they finally only charged me for one day. Chargeback rejected. Assume all of your chargebacks will be rejected if you don't have evidence. They WILL side against you, in favor of a large hotel at least (I don't think they were a chain either).

avgDev 3y ago

Not always the case. In Dominican Republic I was told to just use an online booking site as it was much cheaper than doing it in person. Their own site was also more expensive than expedia.

throwaway290 3y ago
Similar in Israel and Thailand, they upfront say it'd be more expensive to book at reception. I wonder if it's only different in US.
- marenkay 3y ago
  If you speak Thai and do it via LINE messenger you get a much cheaper price though. Pricing seems to be inflated for foreigners.
  - throwaway290 3y ago
    On flip side, I bet if you are Thai native speaker foreigner in the US you will also not necessarily find it easier/cheaper to negotiate with hotels directly compared to Booking etc.
- marwis 3y ago
  It's the same in US

wordpad25 3y ago

Hotels always offer worse rates offline than online

kbenson 3y ago
Not my experience, especially when you actually break down the cancellation policies (which booking aggregators will sometimes charge extra for) and whether they require payment up front or at the time of arrival. When I last did this, for a vacation, the cost at an aggregator was less if there was no cancellation allowed, and more if the option to cancel was added (but to a couple days before I believe), and needed to be paid at time of booking. When I called, I got a rate slightly less than the online+cancellation, I was able to cancel up to 24 hours in advance, and I only needed to pay on arrival, meaning I didn't tie up a few thousand for a few months. There's also always the option to state the rate you found online and see if they are willing to match it. It's not like there usually some magic involved, if they're willing to offer it to an aggregator, why wouldn't they at least consider offering it to you direct?
- lepus 3y ago
  > It's not like there usually some magic involved, if they're willing to offer it to an aggregator, why wouldn't they at least consider offering it to you direct? The magic is actually being given the direct authorization to give you a matching rate or if not then having to get management to authorize that rate for you. That depends entirely on the hotel. Some employees might also recognize a deal seeker as someone who's also more likely to be picky and complain more and so would rather deny your price negotiations and avoid working with you if they have the choice depending on how filled they already are.
P_I_Staker 3y ago
Yup this is nonsense advice. I will say in most cases, it seems around the same. I highly suspect most hotels aren't prepared to negotiate over the phone. As I said elsewhere, the hotel's support can be even worse, and amount to them basically robbing you.
- 3y ago

dcdc123 3y ago

I am a full time digital nomad and stay in a ton of hotels. I have once gotten the same rate directly, usually it is 20-30% higher. Hotels basically force you to third parties.

jononomo 3y ago
Why would they do this?
- Macha 3y ago
  Do they think that direct callers are more invested in their specific hotels while price comparison site users will just pick someone else if the price is too high?
  - lmz 3y ago
    Or the people handling bookings at the hotel have no discounting authority and don't care where you're booking from as it's not their problem anyway. "If you say it's cheaper on the Internet go book there!"
    - nojvek 3y ago
      Correct. I always find cheaper prices on Expedia than I do at Marriott’s website or their counter. But Hyatt is almost always cheaper directly. Hyatt is my fav chain, they maintain a proper standard of service for their price. I’m a believer.
      - staticautomatic 3y ago
        Their points are still worth something, too.

P_I_Staker 3y ago

My last experience dealing directly with the hotel, I called to cancel. Later, they tried to charge me for the whole trip. The whole system was to just call a person, with no confirmation provided. The hotel did not give a rats ass about how happy I was, if I wanted to come back, and were not accountable. They basically gaslit me. The person pretended I was crazy or stealing, and I would surely have proof otherwise. In most systems, you get some kind of ticket notification. I really felt I would be better with any portal system. I know booking can be shitty too, but dealing with hotels individually just seems worse to me. By the way, they finally only charged me for one day. Chargeback rejected. Assume all of your chargebacks will be rejected if you don't have evidence. They WILL side against you, in favor of a large hotel at least (I don't think they were a chain either).