Best way to book a hotel?

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

I'll be in Boston for 3-4 days pre-cruise early next October. I really enjoy older, more traditional, charming hotels and price isn't a huge issue. A friend from Boston has suggested either the Lenox, The Eliott or the Copley Plaza.

 

Usually I simply book a hotel by calling their reservation desk, asking various questions about different types of rooms, views, etc. and then booking at the rate quoted. I usually find that I get what I've asked for.

 

However, I frequently read on these boards about bidding on Priceline, using hotels.com, expedia, etc. and I wonder if I'm really missing something by just calling reservations. The only time that I tried using a booking service was hotels.com for a New Orleans trip; I reserved two rooms at an upscale hotel and when we arrived they were "overbooked" and we were put in their "sister hotel", a very dirty (by any standards) mess which was about $100 less per night than the hotel I'd booked. Since it was only one night and we were in a hurry to get to dinner reservations, we stayed at the grungy hotel, ate breakfast elsewhere and escaped to board our cruise ship.

 

Since this time, I've been hesitant to book a hotel through anything other than hotel direct reservation lines. Would someone a little more savvy than I am about hotel bookings please tell me the difference between the way I'm doing it and potential savings with some of the other services?

 

Thanks very much.

 

murphysmum;)

[Twickenham]

There is no one best way to book a hotel. I use a variety of online sources for research and booking basically for convenience. I have researched hotels on online booking sites such as Travelocity or Expedia many times, but only a couple of times have I actually booked a hotel with them, as usually the hotel's website has either special deals if you book directly with them or a 'best rate guarantee', whereas if you find a cheaper rate from another source, they will match the rate and either give you an additional discount or give you some other sort of bonus (I actually got this for a Sheraton once, matched the lower price plus an extra 10% off).

Priceline and Hotwire, however, are different animals altogether. With Priceline, you bid for a hotel of a certain star class in a general area, but cannot chose a specific hotel, nor can you cancel once the bid has been accepted. There are sites and threads on this site that explain the procedure in more detail, but if you want a specific hotel - or even a more specific characteristic like 'historic' - Priceline is not for you. Hotwire, on the other hand, is like a booking site but with the names of the hotels hidden; rather, you have the hotel's star rating along with a list of amenities for the hotel (and sometimes its Tripadvisor score) to guide you. Sites like betterbidding and biddingfortravel give lists of hotels won on both Priceline and Hotwire, so one can usually approximate the hotels offered on Hotwire at least.

[murphysmum]

Hello...

 

Thank you for a very concise answer to a complicated question.

 

Based on what you've said, I think I'll stick to booking directly through hotel reservations and if I see a great deal listed somewhere else I'll copy it and see if they'll honor the price at check-in. If not, no problem.

 

No, I don't think that bidding for unknown hotels is for me. It would actually drive me crazy...much too compulsive.

 

Again, I appreciate your time and explanation.

 

Best,

 

murphysmum;)

[tomko2]

A good site to get information on hotels is TripAdvisor. After reading the boards here and getting some good information, we go to TripAdvisor and research the hotels. People write their reviews and some post photos of the hotel which are always helpful. Last year we found out that our hotel in Rome had some rooms with private terraces for the same price as other rooms. We had a lovely 14' x 20' terrace as a result!

 

This week we made reservations for a pre-cruise two night stay in Barcelona next summer using the combo described above. We make the reservations directly with the hotel.

 

For North American reservations you can always ask if they offer special rates, e.g. CAA/AAA, Military, Seniors, etc.

 

Kathy:)

[murphysmum]

Hello Kathy,

 

Thanks for assisting me with the information regarding TripAdvisor. This is actually a website that I always rely on before booking ANY hotel, even if it's been highly recommended.

 

The part that I was concerned about was AFTER choosing....I was curious if it's possible to get that "special room" that you talk about without booking directly with the hotel. Based on what I've been told, I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing. I may pay a bit more, but I'll have that balcony or view of water or larger corner room with fireplace or whatever I read about on TripAdvisor and then see on the hotel's website.

 

Thanks again.

 

Happy traveling.

 

murphysmum (Janed);)