Hotel Booking Websites

[mummychua]

marmum:

jetsetter:

[quote=\"marmum\"]Anyone used Ctrip to book hong kong and macau hotels b4? Any comments on Ctrip? Is it safe to prepay with them?

Good...efficient and wide range of hotels listed, from quaint inns to aparthotels.

Dun worry...Ctrip is listed on NASDAQ. Very reliable.

Hi Jetsetter, Thanks for your reply. Have you used them before? I was enquiring on the bed types avail for my choice of hotel. The hotel offers two queen beds or one king bed but the booking on Ctrip states otherwise (I think its twin / king). I went online to chat with Ctrip and got a reply of \"Queen Bed = King Bed\" which I am worried that I would not get my preferred choice of hotel when I check in as I am travelling with kids in tow (total 4 pax) unlike booking direct with hotel thou the same room type but different pricing (direct with hotel costs S$100 more. Which should I book with, both prepayment, am pondering on this. Any advise, anyone?[/quote]for me i will email the hotel directly, clarify what ever question i got then make the booking via booking website for the cheaper rates. and just to be a bit more kiasu, i will inform the hotel of my booking and repeat my request again.

site like ctrip has alot of listing, we can't expect them to know it all. therefore i tend to contact the hotel direct and book with whoever that provides me with a cheaper rate.

hope that this helps.

[jenny1701d]

Japan holidays are the best! Highly recommend Nara for the kids

[Elizabeth92]

Why didn't anybody mention such the hospitality service, like couchsurfing, that allows you to stay in someone's home and experience the world with low costs? You will meet new friends and that person who opens his house is definitely friendly and good. There are a lot of variants, you can also do house exchange. Next winter I'm going to find somebody in France: http://swap-house.com/host/france/ for home exchange. That allows me to bring the whole family to vacation and save the costs of living for 6 people! I with husband, two children and my parents. We all can spend the vacation together in a house, instead of paying for hotel that would cost us a fortune.

[jetsetter]

marmum:

jetsetter:

[quote=\"marmum\"]Anyone used Ctrip to book hong kong and macau hotels b4? Any comments on Ctrip? Is it safe to prepay with them?

Good...efficient and wide range of hotels listed, from quaint inns to aparthotels.

Dun worry...Ctrip is listed on NASDAQ. Very reliable.

Hi Jetsetter, Thanks for your reply. Have you used them before? I was enquiring on the bed types avail for my choice of hotel. The hotel offers two queen beds or one king bed but the booking on Ctrip states otherwise (I think its twin / king). I went online to chat with Ctrip and got a reply of \"Queen Bed = King Bed\" which I am worried that I would not get my preferred choice of hotel when I check in as I am travelling with kids in tow (total 4 pax) unlike booking direct with hotel thou the same room type but different pricing (direct with hotel costs S$100 more. Which should I book with, both prepayment, am pondering on this. Any advise, anyone?[/quote]hi sorry i didn't see this...hv u left the country?

yes, used Ctrip a few times many years ago to book mainland hotels. think my dh used it for one of our prc trips. no prob at all.

Room types shown on any hotel booking website will be diff from the hotel's own website. The hotels tend to reserve certain room types for their own members. i prefer to check with the hotel first, then do a comparison. To be frank, I prefer to book directly with the hotels these days. Ctrip is good for those 'exotic' inns or less renowned guesthouses i mentioned in some rural parts of china which don't have any account with major hotel booking websites like booking.com, agoda.com, expedia.com or own hotel portal.

[Twinkle2016]

Is it true that Ctrip is more reliable for china destination only?

[durian0096]

Some of the good ones are sg.hotels.com and agoda.com.

[jetsetter]

Twinkle2016:

Is it true that Ctrip is more reliable for china destination only?

I guess so, since it's a Chinese company?

If you're going to HK and Macau like marmum, why not book directly with those Cotai Strip casino hotels? No need to go thru such hotel booking sites and let them take a cut. I booked direct with The Venetian.

Ctrip as I've mentioned is good for booking traditional inns in mainland China, e.g. Dali, Lijiang, Yangshuo, Jiangnan region, Lhasa, etc. If you have a knack for 胡同、四合院、客栈等, this Ctrip has a more comprehensive listing than agoda.com. Most 'angmoh' hotel booking websites do not offer exotic inn listings, if u know what i mean.

http://english.ctrip.com/hotels/xiecheng-hotel-detail-374777/hutong-inn-tiananmen-courtyard/
http://www.ctrip.sg/hotels/tongxiang-hotel-detail-436547/wuzhen-tongan-inn/

They also have more 3-star to 4-star home-grown contemporary hotel brands that you may not find on other booking sites. They are affordable and centrally located.

Another impt thing to note: Ctrip.com (the main China site in Chinese language) seems to have a wider selection and indiv/corporate customer base than its Ctrip.sg and English global site that cater to overseas travellers. Ctrip also has a loyalty programme and coupon code system that give its Vip members good discounts that one-off overseas travellers may not be able to enjoy.

I cannot assure overseas travelers, who may need to prepay thru overseas credit cards, that the aforesaid subsidiary sites are 100% reliable, as we normally book thru the main site using our mainland hp and account. You have to book at your own risk!

Try qunar.com or tuniu.com. Tuniu just listed on Nasdaq a couple of years ago. Probably not as reputable as Ctrip which has been around for over 10 years.

[ngl2010]

Best website now may not be the best website in the future. What I am sharing below is what I experienced these 2 years.


I ever had a really great bargain on Shangri-la hotel from RoomerTravel.com :boogie: . It is a website where people are re-selling their non-refundable hotel bookings. But I suspect the website also get rooms from the hotels directly otherwise how come there are so many hotels available, right?

Usually if I can't get bargains from RoomerTravel.com, then I will use HotelsCombined.com to compare prices from various hotel search engines. If the prices are similar, then I will book from Hotels.com because Hotels.com gives 1 night free after we booked 10 nights with them.

Happy travelling!

[tutorchen]

Hi ngl2010,

thanks for your sharing !

Very useful info.

[elenang]

jessie_t82:

For me, it's always booking.com


And the website is really easy to navigate around

Same here! We always self-drive and thats where the GPS coordinates comes in handy.