Hotel Booking Websites

[River]

dadofthree:

http://www.agoda.com is reliable. I've used it for my shanghai and Beijing trip. Reliable, made payment through agoda and then that's it. Their comments and feedback are decent as well. I would recommend it.

Agreed. In addition, you get points which you can use to get rebates for future bookings.

[bobonana]

Hi everyone, virgin post here.


I work in the travel industry and am based in China. Allow me share my 2cts worth.

With so many different booking websites around and each having their strategic advantages, you should do your own comparison before booking.

Also always look at the rates carefully, as some of the rates do not include taxes and service fee which can be quite substantial. Booking condition as well as some rooms are non-amendable and non-refundable.

Typically room rates are classified into 2 different type;

* Post-paid - Book online and use credit card as a guarantee, payment will be settled over at the front desk upon checkout.

* Prepaid - Pay beforehand either via Credit card or cash.

I personally preferred prepaid as their rates are usually better compared to postpaid.

Agoda: Started in Thailand, got taken over by Priceline a couple of years ago. They are the most aggressive when it comes to online advertisement.

Membership points rebate system which you can utilise in your next booking. They have contracting agents all over the globe hence their pricing is relatively good throughout. However their main hq is in Bangkok hence if you need to contact them via the phone you will have to call Bangkok.

So far i have used them for my Russia and Japan trip. But please be careful as their cheapest room rates are usually those that cant be amended or refunded. As i have a change in my Russia trip i forfeited $1000 in my Moscow hotel.

Asiarooms.com: Also based in Thailand, i feel that their rates are not as good as agoda. Few of my friends book a room in Phuket via Asiarooms end up hotel was fully book and could not honour their booking. They were instead transferred to a nearby hotel which is not as good.

Asiatravel: My preferred booking website, as they are not just a hotel booking website, but rather a one stop service provider. I have used them to purchase flights, hotels and even transfers and packages before.

Started in Thailand, they are currently listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, HQ based in Singapore with offices in most of the Asia region, eg Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Philippines etc, making it easy to contact them if required.

IMO their reward system is the best compared to the rest, instead of giving points they rebate 5% cold hard cash to your credit card, once you hit 12 room nights. Hehe usually will use my account to help book for family members or friends, to earn some extra pocket money.

Ctrip: Without doubt the best rates for China, HQ in Shanghai. Best thing for Ctrip is that if you are booking China Hotels you do not need to use credit card to confirm the booking, all you need to do is to register for an account and book, unless it is peak season. But than again in China there is a over abundant of hotels so it is hardly peak season unless you run into large tradeshows like those in Guangzhou.

Expedia: Should be based in the States, hence they have good rates for US and Europe hotels. Took over Elong.com (China player, main competitor of Ctrip) few years back hence their rates for China is pretty decent. Also allow you to purchase flights online, but not really relevant to us as they requires you to have a US Credit card to make the payments.

Not very familiar with the others eg Zuji, booking.com as i never worked with them before, however should be more or less the same.

[River]

bobonana:

Hi everyone, virgin post here.


I work in the travel industry and am based in China. Allow me share my 2cts worth.

With so many different booking websites around and each having their strategic advantages, you should do your own comparison before booking.

Thank you for your useful summary.

[hquek]

Havent' been following this thread much but these days I always compare various websites before making my booking. Find that http://www.booking.com offers very very good pricing and many a time, option for free cancellation is offered. I usually go there now as first base. I will also check with the hotel/inn/homestay site directly becos they may give even better rates.


For thailand hotels, try http://www.sawadee.com. The list of hotels are incredible and the prices even more so - but of course nothing is absolute and one may just find cheaper prices in another website.

usually go to wotif, agoda to have look see but find their rates high in comparison. Asiatravel, I used to go as first look but then they may have limited hotels in some locations.

[bobonana]

Usually i use Asiatravel for Asia Region, sometimes they have free night promotion, i book before a resort in Phuket stay 8 nights pay 5 nights.


Agoda claims that if you can find a hotel cheaper elsewhere you can get the rebate from them, not sure if its true. Have anyone tried doing so? I had a hard time dealing with them with regards to my Russia hotel, seems like the staff handling the booking and customer service are two different department, everytime i call is always someone else handling me and i have to reexplain my case all over again.

Actually free cancellation is offered by all the websites, usually 3,7,14 days before check-in dates. Also do take note of the penalty most of the time it is 1 night penalty but sometimes there is 100% penalty.

Honestly i have never book anything on booking.com before though i always use them as a comparison, if u use Tripadvisor they will normally link you to either expedia or booking.com. But always managed to find cheaper hotel elsewhere.

[Giggler1]

Anyone heard of Worldwide Holidays?

[justlynne]

Any comments on Expedia sg…? I booked 2 trips with them, 1 to Bangkok and another Bali… Felt that they aren’t free good rates…anyone disagree? But pls note that u don’t get any loyalty points for hotel stays.

[happydl]

I personally feel that http://www.hotelclub.com/visa has the most competitive rate and moreover there's no hidden cost and they are billed in SGD.


But the above link is only applicable for visa card holders only as hotelclub has tie up promotion with visa.

[dianjun]

http://www.booking.com

try it.

[mfalcon]

tripadvisor recently launched TINGO http://www.tingo.com - the first hotel booking site that automatically rebooks hotel rooms at a lower price if the rate drops—and then automatically refunds the difference to travelers’ credit cards.


disclaimer: i have yet to try out this site or booked anything so cannot vouch if the refund really occurs....