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Using booking.com for hotel reservations

Has anyone had experience using "booking.com" to make hotel reservations.
Any comments on reliability, etc?

Posted by
8934 posts

Have not used them, but have had excellent results with HRS.com as they usually have the best prices.

Posted by
590 posts

I have used it and had no problems. As previous poster said, try out hrs.com. I found some great deals with them!

Posted by
7209 posts

I've used Booking.com and it was fine. HRS is a good website, too. However, some of the best hotel fares I've found recently are on www.easyclicktravel.com

Posted by
19052 posts

Have not used any booking websites, but have checked out some. In general, I don't like any of them.

In large cities, they sometimes seem to have rates as good, occasionally even better than the hotel websites, themselves. However, be careful. They often don't includes some of the normally included services (like breakfast) in the price so as to make their prices look better. Than they add breakfast at a really exhorbitant price.

In small towns, they usually don't have a very good, often no, selection, or the ones they show are pricey.

I have had much better luck using the town website, in Germany www. [town name] .de.

Posted by
19052 posts

I just tried both HRS and Booking.com for a hotel with which I am familiar, having stayed there in November.

Booking.com shows a "rack" price for any day you book that is much higher (28-37%) than the price I paid, which is also the price on their website. Then they show "their" price, which is still higher than the website rate.

For weekends, which have a lower rate, they still show the fantasized "rack" rate, then "their" rate, which is still higher than the website rate.

In other words, Booking.com is trying to make it look like they are saving you a lot while actually charging you a little more.

I found HRS to charge close to the weekend and double room midweek rates, but €9 (15%) more than the website rate during the week.

Posted by
186 posts

I've used both booking.com and hrs.com. I've not liked the customer service at booking.com, I had questions on 2 reservations that I made through them and they basically just referred me back to the hotel instead of doing some research on it themselves. The cancellation procedure was good though, as I did make a number of changes on my itinerary. HRS did have some good prices and the seem to have a good cancellation policy also. I use these sites to compare rates, I also go to the individual hotels site and I have sometimes gotten a better deal going direct. And I also use tripadvisor to see what other travelers are saying about a particular hotel.

Posted by
8934 posts

I use HRS to find my hotel and if it is available, what neighborhood, etc. Then I go to the hotel website, check prices again, then to Trip Advisor and read reviews. Whichever is cheaper I book with. Honestly, sometimes HRS was cheaper than booking with the hotel. It is ok not to have the breakfast on there, especially business hotels as they do charge a fortune. I would much rather go out in town to a cafe and grab a pastry and coffee, then sit in a hotel sometimes. At least the website tells you if breakfast is included or not and what other amenities are there.

I also look up apts to see what they cost. Sometimes I just go to google and type in cheap hotel and see what comes up. The internet is fantastic for finding stuff, so why limit yourself to one company. Look at all of them, compare and pick the best.

Posted by
964 posts

I've used Booking.com many times, for hotels in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, and they have been really good.
I have also used a company called Roomsnet.com and they are good too (usually a bit cheaper than Booking.com, but you have to pay in full when you book, whereas with Booking.com, you usually pay the hotel when you have completed your stay).

Posted by
5471 posts

Hi Claudia,
I've used booking.com without any problem. However, if you do see something that you are interested in, you might try contacting the hotel directly. On a number of occasions, I've seen something on one of booking sites and then been able to get a much better rate contacting the hotel directly.