Hotels: Booking direct v online booking services

Most hotels nowadays have their own website with a booking portal, so it couldn't be easier. One pro is that the nightly rate may be cheaper when booked direct. Not having to deal with a 3rd party and any buck passing is another pro.

I only book with a 3rd party if it is one I consider reliable and has a special rate offer I cant get with a direct booking.

I’ve seen enough friends be burned by 3rd party for hotels that there is just no good reason for me to use them. Not always 3rd party fault- there can just be a lot of drama if something goes wrong.

If you contact and show screen shots of better prices, 99% of time hotel will match. More $ goes right to hotel (esp important if independent owned), and you’re dealing right with the hotel not “you’ll have to take it up with —- 3rd party”.

The only 3rd party hotel vendor I use is booking.com and I find prices not to be much different to the consumer. I have booked many nights through them and never had an issue. Cancelling is easy as well as their communication platform. As noted above, most hotels have their own website platform as well. I stay away from email only reservations even though I know very small hotels still do reservations that way. I also never send cash in advance, only credit cards. Not saying the hotels performing that way are all problems. Just my preference.

I have done a mixture of both. I like Booking.com for the ease of booking in one place with free cancellation. (it may cost a little more to have this feature, but think of it as insurance in case you need to cancel). I have traveled to numerous countries using Booking.com and never had any significant problems. However, if you need to speak to someone there, it can be difficult getting hold of a real person. I do tend to book with hotel chains directly such as Marriott, Sofitel, Premier Inn, etc. For smaller operations with no language barriers, I may book with them directly also (website or over the phone). I also have used other third-party sites such as Airbnb, Vrbo and cottages.com, etc, and have not had any issues. But for places I am less familiar with, I use booking.com. I have booked most of my hotels through them for an upcoming island hopping trip to Greece.

Margaret

We tend to book directly with the hotels but sometimes the smaller hotel may insist you use a booking site. Never been burned either but be very, very sure that you understanding booking and especially cancel provisions. Generally the problems arise when people make assumptions about policies. All hotel policies are not the same and a common US policy may not be common in Europe. So ask question and be sure you understand. Some hotels will ask for deposits and maybe your passport number. It is not scam and sending your cc number on the internet is secure.

For our European trip earlier this year we used a mixture - direct booking with the hotel (however, these were small hotels and we were communicating directly with the owners that were also fluent in English) and booking.com. We had great experiences all the way around, with both booking.com ( and we changed 3 of our reservations and things worked flawlessly). The direct hotel bookings were fabulous as well.

The only time I used a booking service, the hotel had no record of our reservation. Luckily, they found us a better room than the one I thought I had reserved, and it was cheaper to boot!

I like to look at the hotel reviews on booking.com, but I always book directly with the hotel.

Hi Kristin, I have used both methods. Here’s my experience of the advantages of each:

Booking through a hotel’s website - sometimes they will offer a free breakfast or a personal perk in the room if booked on their site. For Italy this is less of a benefit since most hotel prices already include breakfast. I also think this method gives a better chance of having a nicer room since they don’t have to pay a 3rd party, but that is just my perception.

Booking through Booking.com - it is easier to manage if I need to make any changes, or just want a quick list of my current reservations. I usually move around a lot during my trips; my June trip to Italy had 13 hotels. Almost all of those were through Booking.com. I also like that if I have any questions, such as if I can leave my suitcase off around 11:00am (I travel by train), they answer very quickly through the Message on Booking.com.

Pros of booking directly:

Price match or better price (hotels pay fees to these third party booking sites so they can often offer a better rate to you to book directly).
Extra incentives like a bottle of wine in the room or a free upgrade on arrival
Not having to deal with a middle man if something arises and a change is necessary
Dealing with the hotel directly

I just booked all our hotels directly for our trip to Italy next year. 3 via their website at 2 by email when I was giving their offer. Via email was the best price. You can always compare places like Booking.com vs booking directly. I was not charged a deposit by any of my reservations. Plus breakfast is included for all of them.

I will look at Booking.com and also the hotel’s website. I have to say though that Booking.com was great when we had a place go out of business during the Covid shutdown. The place we rented in London would not change our dates. When I contacted them again they had gone out of business. I called Booking.com and explained my situation and they refunded me right away. The amount was over $2,000.00 so I was very happy that they were so accommodating.

Thank you for all your replies. I usually use booking.com so was nervous about booking direct so your answers are much appreciated. I have also noticed some hotel prices are the same or similar on either booking.com or direct and other hotels offer a saving if booked direct. I shall book our Venice hotel direct. I was looking at Hotel Bucintoro in the Castello area, if anyone is familiar with this hotel, feel free to comment. Again many thanks.

I use a combination of both, too. The nice thing about booking direct is that you can have a conversation with a real person at the hotel/lodging. We just went to Norway and Italy, and in both countries we emailed specific questions with the front desk and they were all very helpful.

Some of the smaller places only book through booking.com but I've still been successful communicating with the owners through that site.