Booking.com

I have been using Booking.com as the my primary channel for hotel reservations in Europe, and never had a single problem with them, including the several cancellation/rescheduling I've need to do online.

I'm not saying the service is perfect, I'm sure there are hiccups here and there other people faced and I might face in the future, but I think it is a reliable reservation service, customer-friendly and without hidden surprises or "gotchas".

I've used booking.com for well over a hundred reservations, and only once was a hotel not able to honor the reservation. They drove me to a better hotel with which they had an arrangement for overflow; the second hotel honored the booking.com price for the reservation, even though their prices were listed about 25% higher.

I also have using Booking.com lots of times in US and Europe... never any problems. Don't suppose she wants you to use her booking/travel services????

I don't have any experience yet as far as Booking.com not having the reservation or room- I am just using it now and planning for a trip in Sept.
But after I had sorted out itinerary and decided for sure where we wanted to stay- I went to each hotel's website and rebooked my reservations thru their own site. All gave me a better rate than Booking.com offered and offer 48 hour cancellation policies etc.
I like that I now have a "relationship" of sorts with the actual hotel rather than relying on the middle man booking.
Several of them had specials or deals only available on their website so I was able to save a bit.

A few that I had booked were RS recommended and when I requested RS rates I was actually quoted a rate higher than what I could get myself just using their website.

I think terry is right on with comments, is this person trying to get your business? We also have never had a problem with booking.com all over US and Europe.

I have used booking.com a lot and have experienced no problems. We usually travel for 3 - 4 weeks, often staying at 10 or more different places. I find it very convenient to have all my reservations in one place in my computer. I also like getting immediate confirmation (or the no availability information). Reservation glitches happen with direct booking, too. If you read reviews on Tripadvisor, you'll often see that as a reason for a negative rating.

I too have been using booking.com quite a bit and have not yet had any problems with my reservations. However, I am in the habit of re-confirming directly with the hotel a few days before I arrive, advising them of my ETA and beds/room preference.

I really like the convenience of nailing nights while in the planning stages of a trip. It's not unusual for me to cancel and re-book elsewhere as this process advances. I've also cancelled and re-booked the same hotel on the same dates if the price has dropped. I just have to be careful that I choose the option that allows me to cancel without penalty...

I'd say that half of my accommodations for the last couple of years' trips have been secured through booking.com.

I often get an email from the hotel soon after I make the booking.com reservation, so that relationship is possible even with a booking service.

Regarding cancellation and rebooking: booking.com recently added the "pay now, no free cancellation" level of service; there is a slightly higher rate for free cancellation within two or three days, so make sure you hit the right button. Apparently so many people use reservations as "bookmarks" while they continue to shop for better deals that the smaller properties end up with empty rooms that are cancelled at the last (free) minute. I've spoken with many B&Bs and small hotels about this. This used to happen with airline reservations, too.

Zoe, you're absolutely right about this.

Property owners are well aware of this "bookmarking", as you call it, and it is an accepted industry practice.

It is hard for small owners though, who don't have many rooms - hence the value, especially for them, of offering the "pay now, no free cancellation" option.

It's also a factor that many small operators don't accept, or make available, their rooms until I'm well into the trip planning process and I like to keep my options open to see these come up (and be able to book them when they do).

Booking.com allows for different cancellation policies... these are not standard across the board, so I carefully make sure that I'm aware of these before I book through them.

For example, for the next trips that I am planning:

I have two reservations with strict no-refund conditions: one with booking.com and the other with airbnb. The price savings and limited availability motivated me to nail that bit of each plan.

I have many nights booked with free cancellation, one of which I'm about to cancel and re-book to "pay now", as I'm now sure of that one and I'll be saving money. I've already outright cancelled maybe a half dozen or so. I'm usually done "tweaking" a month or so before I leave.

@Diane in Ottawa, "bookmarking" is widespread in the US but not all over the world. I mentioned it because there is a reason for the various levels of service. I've noticed this on hotel websites as well.

Never had a problem with booking dot com, I don't bookmark, and only had one problem booking directly - with a woman who needed her attitude adjusting. Maybe she should have seen the hula hoop lady???

I tried to use Booking.com for a room for this weekend in Louisville. The room rates quoted looked like something out of New York City. I went to ChoiceHotels.com and booked a room for less than 1/2 the rates of Booking.com.

I've had great rooms with fair prices in Europe with Booking.com. I'm just hoping their Louisville listings are "out of wack" and not normal. Just make sure the room rates are what you expect to pay. You can always get the name of the hotel and go on their own website (direct) to see their regular rack rates.

Generally prices on booking.com are higher than hotel's official website!
They take high commission nearly 20%! All hoteliers hate them...

Can Alina MacMillan please substantiate her claim made above re booking.com. Otherwise, please pass the grains of salt.

Thank you Norma

I also must beg to differ with Alina. I booked all but one of my hotels (for a 1 month trip through France) through booking.com and always checked the hotel's website, and in some cases contacted the hotels before making the reservations. As often as not the rates were LOWER (or the same) on booking.com and in some cases the availability to cancel w/o fees was only available through booking.com and much easier to do (online as opposed to by phone or email with the hotel). I liked getting immediate email confirmation that I printed and took with me. I only felt the need to reconfirm the reservations a couple of times. There was never any issues at any of the hotels.

My experience * exactly * reflects Nancy's... otherwise I wouldn't be using them as much as I do, for as many trips as I have, if they weren't competitive and easy to deal with.

Alina MacMillan has also posted under "Italy Reviews" a long and fulsome message praising a particular hotel in Rome (I think), praising not only the hotel but the wonderful people who run it, etc., etc. My guess is that this particular hotel is not associated with booking.com or am I being too cynical?

Yes, Norma, I saw that post, which is not part of the website's testimonial section. Could it be an ad?

Hmmm, could she possibly be the Italy information class instructor mentioned by the OP?

I only recommended you to check the hotel's website first.
Why everybody is attacking me?
By the way the particular b&b I stayed IS associated and bookable on booking.com

Just to add a little info on the price differential question . . . A couple of years ago, I attempted to make a reservation directly with a B&B in Italy. I started getting nervous when I didn't hear back after a few days, because the dates fell during the holiday period of 4/25 - 5/1. I went ahead and seized the "last room" on booking.com. That same day I received a reply from the owner offering us a room. The price was 10 euros/night less, which wasn't even 10% below the booking.com price (120 euros?). I was happy to reserve directly, especially since that's what I had started off to do; I'm happy to see small owners get more of the tariff; and I'm always happy to have 30 more euros (3 nights) in my pocket. However, it's not enough to induce me to forego the convenience I mentioned above and to put a lot of energy into comparison shopping. My experience is that when I have compared, the prices are the same or close to it, except for the no free cancellation option.
And a sidebar on that. The one time I went for the bargain price with no cancellation, because I was so sure of our itinerary, we missed our flight and lost $300. Put me right off taking up that option ever again.

I did the 'no cancellation' price a few times and also had a delay and thus lost all my savings. So, I typically just stick with the free cancellation. I think most people here who use booking.com are frequent and savvy travelers, and are not being ripped off or paying higher prices. I always check the other options and very rarely found a cheaper price... usually it is more. I just find keeping all my reservations in one site is very helpful, especially if you travel a lot it makes it easy to change or cancel.

Because I do like making the reservation directly with the hotel or hostel, sometimes when I've found a hotel or hostel on booking.com and the price is cheaper than that of the hotel's website, I have emailed the hotel, asking if they will charge me that rate rather than the (more expensive) one quoted on the website. This has worked out for me. As far as I know, booking.com/hostelworld.com do take a percentage of the rate for themselves - so this is why I have been able to find the hotels in agreement when I request the lower rate - although it may be cheaper than what's on the website, they still get a better price (the full rate) than if I had booked through booking/hostelworld.com. This is just a personal preference though, I've never had problems using booking.com in Europe.

Booking.com is my first choice when I don't have any idea what to book. Prices are often far better than other websites and sometime better than hotel-direct booking (never understood that one). I also really like that you see the total price, vs surprises on some other website when taxes and fees are added. I can usually get a pretty accurate idea of the relative location of properties. And I've never had a problem with them.

I use booking.com a lot and recommend it. The website works well: it's easy to shop around and see what's available for what price and which location. You can easily reserve online, and you can easily cancel at no charge if you find something 'better' later. I usually check directly with the hotel/B&B website to see if there's a price different, and in most cases there's no difference. But one time I found a lower price at the hotel website, a few weeks after using booking.com -- maybe there was a sale going on at the hotel at that time? Anyway, I just booked directly at the hotel website (using my wife's name, to avoid confusion with my other reservation) and then canceled the reservation that I made using booking.com. In all cases, I email the hotel/B&B directly at some point to confirm the reservation, in addition to having the confirmation received from booking.com.

I want to thank everyone for writing back your feedback has decreased my anxiety levels by 90% :D

I use Booking.com a lot too. As a precaution, I always contact the hotel DIRECTLY after I have my confirmation number from Booking.com just to be on the safe side. Sometimes when you use these third party sites, you save money but the actual property doesn't get the reservation correctly, etc. That's only happened to me ONCE and it was in the U.S., not Europe. So I'd say book away and don't sweat it, but make sure you e-mail or call the hotel directly to confirm that you are "on their books." Have a great trip!

Why are you giving your money to Booking.com instead of the hotel? I use booking.com to find "good" hotels and to determine prices. I always then go to the hotel site and book directly with them so that they get 100% of my money. All of the hotels I have delt with have money back guarantee unless you are getting a special rate, and this is true also for Booking.com.

Booking.com has been a big savings for us both on trips in Europe as well as stays in Canada. Even when I had to cancel one of two nights they were the owner of the villa still gave us a full night's refund (which he did not have to) that was in Dubrovnik Croatia last summer.

True, hotels pay a commission to booking.com, but there are a couple of advantages to the hotel: first, it's a lot of advertising that doesn't directly cost the property anything (especially for a small property); and second, the hotel benefits from reviews that are done by people who have recently stayed there. When I stay for a second time at a property I've been to and enjoy, I'll ask the owner if they want a review of their hotel on booking.com and I will book one night that way, the rest directly with the hotel.

I used booking.com for my 14 day trip in Germany with no problem. I like the feature that all my bookings are shown under my account. I always look for the little 'lightbulb' icon meaning: 'Smart Deal' and found some real bargains that way. I also check the hotel's website and compare prices so I don't get ripped off.

Norma said, "Can ... please substantiate her claim made above re booking.com. "

I can't substantiate her claim for Italy, because I don't go there, but I have stayed at multiple places in Germany where that was true. I would not say "generally", but often enough to make it worthwhile looking at booking directly.

I never use Booking.com. I always find the hotel's own website on the town's website and book directly with the hotel. Then I check with booking websites to see what I would have paid. Usually the property I found isn't even on a booking website. Booking websites probably makes them sign an agreement not to charge more through Booking than on their own website, but there are ways to get around it.

Packages: Last fall I stayed at a place in the Black Forest. Their price for a room alone is the same as on Booking, but on their website they offer a package deal, 2 nights with spa admission (no reason to go to this town except to go to the spa) for less than 2 nights from Booking and separate admission to the spa. In another place, I got 5 nights with Halb Pension for the same price as 5 nights on Booking, without dinner.

Different rooms: Another place where I have stayed has 8 double rooms. Only 4 of them are offered through Booking.com, at the same price as on their website. Four other rooms are essentially the same, but those room are only offered on their website, for less. I have also seen websites for other places with several categories (Luxury, Standard) of rooms. Only the most expensive category is offered on Booking.

But, the biggest problem with Booking (and other similar websites), and I have studied this extensively, comparing the places listed (with URLs) on the town's website with places offered on booking websites for the same town, and in most cases booking websites show 1/3 to 1/2 the number of places shown on the town website, most of them on the higher end (because these are the places with enough profit to pay the commission). I've run spreadsheets for most of my recent trips, comparing what I paid to what I would have paid (for the same or a comparable place), and I find that I saved hundreds of dollars by not using Booking.

But, to be truthful, of the sites I have used for comparison, Booking.com seems to be the best.

I have used booking.com for about 5-6 years now for trips to Europe. I'm a "senior citizen" woman traveling alone and have found them extremely reliable and accurate. I have not had any problem with my accommodations/reservations being available when I arrive. I ALWAYS do e-mail the individual hotel about 10 days before I arrive to let them know and double check. I have found the recommendations and ratings to be accurate and extremely hlepful to me. I would be lost without booking.com.