Book hotel online from third party or book directly with the hotel?

Directly with the hotel always. There are many threads explaining the numerous reasons why.

I disagree with Barbara on this. Unless I'm pressed for time, I check rates on both the hotel's website and on booking.com. Sometimes booking.com is enough less expensive that it makes sense for me to go that way. I'm a solo traveler looking for a cheap room; I don't care if it's the tiny one the hotel is ashamed of.

I think you're a lot more likely to get an unexpected upgrade if you book directly, and for chain hotels the corporate website will usually be cheaper if you join the affinity program--or at least not more expensive. And sometimes corporate websites offer things like senior discounts with very generous cancellation policies.

In all cases it's critical to pay attention to cancellation rules. Often multiple rates are presented, and care is needed to book the right one for your needs. One good thing about booking.com is that the cancellation rules are presented very clearly; sometimes you have to hunt around on a hotel website to find that information.

If you find an exceptionally good rate on a website like Expedia, read the details very carefully. The room is probably non-refundable.

I always book direct but occasionally use booking.com when the hotel's website isn't very good or when it gives me more options. Otherwise, I book direct especially with chains since I'm probably getting points I can use for future free stays or free flights. Booking direct also means the hotelier gets to keep more of the money. For small hotels and B & B's, that can be helpful.

Please understand that not all third party booking sites are the same. Booking.com is like a travel agent. They are booking the hotel for you and they will get a commission from the hotel. You pay the hotel directly.

Sites like Expedia work differently. Expedia negotiates rates with hotels and then sells the room to you. The difference is their profit. You are not booking a room with the hotel. You are booking a room with Expedia. Expedia pays the hotel. If there is a problem or you want to cancel, you have to go through Expedia. Booking directly with the hotel or in most cases via booking.com means the hotel will take care of any problems.

I always book directly with the hotel if at all possible. If there is a problem with the booking, it is much simpler to deal directly with the hotel rather than a third party site. I've heard far too many horror stories of that. Direct booking has also provided us with some extra perks and upgrades throughout the years. If I find a lower price on the booking sites, I will email the hotel and the majority of the time they will meet (and sometimes beat) the price offered on those sites. Some of the smaller, family owned establishments do not have direct booking, in which case I use booking.com. As mentioned before, pay very close attention to the terms as far as cancellation, if breakfast is extra, pre-payment etc. On our trip to Switzerland, everything was booked direct.

@Frank II, I didn't realize Booking.com and Expedia et al were different. That's very helpful to know! I too tend to avoid third party bookings because I don't want to deal w/a middleman in the event of a problem, but sometimes I just want to see all my hotel options on one website. I'll give Booking.com a try next time.

Always book directly with hotel to avoid any problems that will inevitably surface.

Interesting info from Frank about Expedia vs. booking.com. I hadn't known that difference either. I use booking.com for searches and reviews, and I don't think I've ever seen a better rate there than at the hotel itself. So I always book directly with the hotel if possible.

Now for the wow information.....

Booking Holdings owns Booking.com, Priceline and Kayak among others.

Expedia Group owns Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Trivago, VRBO, Hotwire and Orbitz among others. (When Trivago claims to search other booking sites, it does, the ones owned by the parent company.) They also own Tripadvisor and CruiseCritic.

Both parent companies are based in the US.

If you book direct, the hotel gets to keep most of the money. Sometimes, they offer something extra for booking direct.

We have always booked directly after a few really bad experiences with online TA’s. However, recently we have moved onto using a well traveled and knowledgable travel agent. We research hotels then compare notes with her. She often has visited the place we are looking at or has other suggestions based on her experiences. We’ve been very happy so far. As we age we are more and more looking at better quality hotels where we don’t have to climb stairs schlepping our bags.