Bargain Hotel rates?

[Orton Rd]

Looking to stay bkk for a few days next month. Found price of 2470 on Agoda and went into the Hotel in Siam to see their price- 2700 same package inc tax and fees. They would not match the online price, never understand this as if booking online the Hotel pays Agoda, so they are not even going to get 2470 baht. 2700 is the same price, no virus deduction- hardly anyone staying there though.

Anyone know of any Hotels in Bkk with bargain rates at the moment?

[beachproperty]

Don't know your specific dates or where in Bangkok you want to stay but on Booking.com they have plenty of 5  star hotels for under 1600 baht.

[Airalee]

Contrary to what some people have posted in the past, I have never gotten a better deal going directly through the hotels front desk or the hotel website than I get booking on Booking.com or Agoda.  Makes no sense to me either.

[BritManToo]

42 minutes ago, Airalee said:

Contrary to what some people have posted in the past, I have never gotten a better deal going directly through the hotels front desk or the hotel website than I get booking on Booking.com or Agoda.  Makes no sense to me either.

Contract with Booking.com/Agoda usually states no undercutting by the hotel.

[Upnotover]

47 minutes ago, Airalee said:

Contrary to what some people have posted in the past, I have never gotten a better deal going directly through the hotels front desk or the hotel website than I get booking on Booking.com or Agoda.  Makes no sense to me either.

I've always understood that the hotels agreement with Agoda or whoever says that thay must not match or undercut the Agoda rate hence their reluctance to do so as they probably get many times more bookings through booking sites than directly.

[PFMills]

47 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

I've always understood that the hotels agreement with Agoda or whoever says that thay must not match or undercut the Agoda rate hence their reluctance to do so as they probably get many times more bookings through booking sites than directly.

Well I have got better rates at times, have even had hotel say book direct next time please...also some get around undercutting by 'slightly' changing the offer ... but 5* hotels tend not to even offer to match the rate advertised on booking.com etc.  

[moontang]

My experience with Agoda is mostly within Thailand, and I have never felt that I made a mistake by not going direct to the hotel.  Now, their ratings are a different matter.  Agoda will price match, too.  One time out of 100, I demanded a refund on a place in CR..filthy, disgusting trash packer dump, with glowing reviews..no problem.  VIP status is cool, too.  

[SePl]

Only cheap hotels are often cheaper at the desk.

 

[moontang]

The hoteliers don't like Agoda..that speaks volumes for how good it is for the consumer.  They try to balance giving good discounts with charging people the rack rate, and often lose.  So in Thai fashion, those protecting their ego are often in a failing business.

[sanuk711]

I stayed at page 10 .... small boutique hotel 4 star--they give it an 8.5 ==Soi 10 giving good deals at the moment...(I suppose they all are) usually about 2,500----about 800 with brekie now.

 

 

[dddave]

I just stayed 5 nights in Pattaya.  I booked 4 nights at my usual hotel on Booking.com, price 25% less than I usually pay.  I decided to extend for an additional night.  Went to the front desk and they explained that the Booking.com price I had gotten was the lowest available and that they could not go lower.

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, sanuk711 said:

I stayed at page 10 .... small boutique hotel 4 star--they give it an 8.5 ==Soi 10 giving good deals at the moment...(I suppose they all are) usually about 2,500----about 800 with brekie now.

But, the 90 minute drive to Bangkok where he wants to stay will add to the price.

[bkk6060]

10 minutes ago, dddave said:

I just stayed 5 nights in Pattaya.  I booked 4 nights at my usual hotel on Booking.com, price 25% less than I usually pay.  I decided to extend for an additional night.  Went to the front desk and they explained that the Booking.com price I had gotten was the lowest available and that they could not go lower.

That's because these web brokers buy the rooms in bulk at a discount.

 

[CGW]

6 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

That's because these web brokers buy the rooms in bulk at a discount.

No doubt they do, but they are buying from the hotel which then refuses to sell to the general public at the same price, makes no sense unless as "Britman" states they have a legal clause to prevent them selling at a lower price than they sell to "broker"!

[clearance]

Agoda usually showing price for 1 night without taxes and service charges, so you see final price only on last page of booking, before payment.

Booking is much more convenient this way. Strange that Agoda uses different approach because Agoda.com and Booking.com is same company.

[Rookiescot]

Prices have not dropped in Udon. They are still asking the same price pre corona.

I have no issues with that. I pay the price for a hotel based on my needs.

But there are no bargains to be had.

[4MyEgo]

23 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Anyone know of any Hotels in Bkk with bargain rates at the moment?

We recently stayed at iBis Riverside, thoroughly enjoy these iBis hotels around Thailand. They are family friendly with double bunks for two kids in the same room as the parents, we also had a twin for the teenage boys, can recommend, BTS is about a 10 minute walk, although the hotel has a shuttle service on the hour and if you like eating in, the outdoor area at night looking out to the river with boats lite up is quite refreshing after being in the sticks for a while.

 

We booked through Bookings.com as usual for a night, but decided to stay two more nights and they gave us the same rate, no reduction and we weren't really looking for a reduction as it was cheap enough, although I did see on their part of the receipt that booking.com received 17.5% commission for the hotel being advertised on their platform for the one night stay, so it was 1,997 for the family room and 1,298 for the twin both included breakfast, there is onsite security parking and a good size swimming pool, it's a good clean modern hotel, and trust you me, I am fussy, only thing it didn't have was a balcony as I like to hang my costumes out to dry, apart from that, I would give it a 9.

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

That's because these web brokers buy the rooms in bulk at a discount.

 

Which also explains cases where the third party website has rooms available but the hotel website does not.

[sanuk711]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

But, the 90 minute drive to Bangkok where he wants to stay will add to the price.

Its back for a visit to---specs for you............????.............DUH

[jacob29]

22 hours ago, Upnotover said:

I've always understood that the hotels agreement with Agoda or whoever says that thay must not match or undercut the Agoda rate hence their reluctance to do so as they probably get many times more bookings through booking sites than directly.

Which is such a scummy move when Agoda points (future discount) means they're undercutting the hotel, even if the hotel were to match the rate. I don't understand why all large hotels don't have 'Direct booking points' or some nonsense, which sidesteps the undercut rate clause.

 

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

That's because these web brokers buy the rooms in bulk at a discount.

 

I'm not sure Agoda does, they don't want the inventory risk. That doesn't mean they don't get a reserved allocation, but I think I read they don't incur any of the risk, which is why hotels aren't so thrilled about it.

[Orton Rd]

These booking sites must be lying, still say stuff like 4 people just booked and only one room left etc, bit hard to believe at present

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

43 minutes ago, jacob29 said:

 I don't understand why all large hotels don't have 'Direct booking points' or some nonsense, which sidesteps the undercut rate clause.

 

 

Many major international hotel chains do but the value of their points is sometimes debatable.  In some situations I use Hotels.com but first click through a portal such as Topcashback for an additional discount.  Its also often possible to get Hotels.com giftcards at a discount for more savings.  There are advantages and negatives regardless of the option used.     

[Orton Rd]

5 star we decided on is 1800 inclusive on booking.com, rang hotel who said the rate is 2700 but with the 40% state discount that makes it 1533 baht. So you can save a bit but more like 10%.

[hackjam]

22 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

5 star we decided on is 1800 inclusive on booking.com, rang hotel who said the rate is 2700 but with the 40% state discount that makes it 1533 baht. So you can save a bit but more like 10%.

Sounds good price, which hotel?

[Orient Express]

On 7/27/2020 at 4:17 PM, BritManToo said:

Contract with Booking.com/Agoda usually states no undercutting by the hotel.

 

On 7/27/2020 at 4:18 PM, Upnotover said:

I've always understood that the hotels agreement with Agoda or whoever says that thay must not match or undercut the Agoda rate hence their reluctance to do so as they probably get many times more bookings through booking sites than directly.

This only applies to rates offered on the hotel's own website. It does not (and could not) apply to rates obtained by direct contact with the hotel (phone, email, walk-in).

 

Also, hotels (in some other countries, at least) legitimately get round the no-undercutting rule by offering freebies (welcome gift, late check-out etc) if you book on their website.

[dsf9]

Most of the time the front desk staff aren't enabled to make a deal - discretely or otherwise, so they'll let you use the wifi in the lobby to make a booking on agoda or whatever your preference is, explaining the 15% comission loss is pointless.   I've sometimes got a better deal by a few % extending and paying in cash, but obviously they dont declare these extra nights to the travel company. 

[dsf9]

 

14 hours ago, Orient Express said:

 

This only applies to rates offered on the hotel's own website. It does not (and could not) apply to rates obtained by direct contact with the hotel (phone, email, walk-in).

 

 

Why couldn't the contract apply to walk-in and phone rates?

 

[Surelynot]

Had, what I considered to be a very good deal with Hopeland Hotel, soi Sukhumvit 8.

 

25,000 baht for 30 days, or 22,000 baht electricity extra (no breakfast, cleaners once a week).

 

Soi 8 is really nice, very quiet, good restaurants and pleasant bars.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 7/28/2020 at 5:25 PM, SePl said:

Only cheap hotels are often cheaper at the desk.

 

Exactly, which is why I find it strange that the OP would complain about it when he wanted "bargain rates" and over 2,000 baht a night is anything but "bargain rates".

Sukhumvit has dozens of very nice hotels for under 2,000 and not so nice ones for a lot less.

[BritManToo]

27 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Exactly, which is why I find it strange that the OP would complain about it when he wanted "bargain rates" and over 2,000 baht a night is anything but "bargain rates".

Sukhumvit has dozens of very nice hotels for under 2,000 and not so nice ones for a lot less.

If it's more than 500bht/night, I don't want to stay there.