Hi,

Just wandering if anyone has any good recommendations of websites to book hotels? Whats the best way to book hotels. I dont want to get to the hotel and told that it is full and that my booking has not gone through, as I've heard it happen to others.

Also would it be cheaper from booking online, or going straight there?

Cheers

Hi,

Just wandering if anyone has any good recommendations of websites to book hotels? Whats the best way to book hotels. I dont want to get to the hotel and told that it is full and that my booking has not gone through, as I've heard it happen to others.

Also would it be cheaper from booking online, or going straight there?

Cheers

Booking online is usually cheaper. Asiarooms used to be the cheapest, these days I usually use Agoda or, Hotelopia (search the internet for their latest promo code - most often 10-15% discount). I've never had a problem with any hotel booking site, this includes HotelTravel, Asiarooms, Sawasdee, Agoda, Hotelopia, Hotels4u, Hotelclub, Totalstay.

After trying a few different before I've sort of settled with Agoda, mainly for the convenience they are based in Thailand.

After trying a few different before I've sort of settled with Agoda, mainly for the convenience they are based in Thailand.

Make sure that you look at the final price with Agoda though. The headline prices are not very transparent and do not include taxes/fees etc - a bit like a budget airline before the rules were changed. Asia Rooms which used to be cheap have gone through the roof. I have found that some smaller Thai companies give good deals, but these may carry a risk. Surprisingly the hotels' own websites are now often cheaper than the agents, especially for pre-paid deals without breakfast.

Make sure that you look at the final price with Agoda though. The headline prices are not very transparent and do not include taxes/fees etc - a bit like a budget airline before the rules were changed. Asia Rooms which used to be cheap have gone through the roof. I have found that some smaller Thai companies give good deals, but these may carry a risk. Surprisingly the hotels' own websites are now often cheaper than the agents, especially for pre-paid deals without breakfast.

Whilst I certainly agree that you should always look at the final price with Agoda, even with the taxes & cc charge they are still often the cheapest. Another thing with Agoda is that they've have also followed the example of many airlines & the credit card used for booking may be requested along with photo id when checking in. If you wont be able to show the card, you have to complete a fax form. The hotels don't always ask to see the card though - recently stayed at the Prince Palace in BKK & they didn't.

Asia Rooms prices increased after they were acquired by TUI Travel & as I mentioned in an earlier post, another TUI travel site, Hotelopia, often comes up with cheaper deals, especially if you use their latest promo codes which are readily available on the internet if you search for them. I also like Hotelopia as the price displayed is the final price, no taxes, service charges, credit card charges whatsoever - the price you see is the amount that will be deducted from your account.

I usually go with Agoda, but my favourite hotel in Phuket doesn't appear there so I go to Hotels2Thailand.com and get very good prices.

I usually go with Agoda, but my favourite hotel in Phuket doesn't appear there so I go to Hotels2Thailand.com and get very good prices.

It is true Agoda can be cheap but one negative thing about the booking engine is that it seems to add an extra bed for a 5 year old child, even when one knows from past experience that the hotel in question has a free child policy. Tried one BKK hotel just now that I have stayed at many times and has twin bedded rooms at same price as King bed rooms. Sure enough Agoda added about 40 dollars per night to the headline price as well as tax.

Edited January 12, 200917 yr by citizen33

hi i have always used wwwdotasiaroomsdotcom and I always had good experiences

Hi,

Just wandering if anyone has any good recommendations of websites to book hotels? Whats the best way to book hotels. I dont want to get to the hotel and told that it is full and that my booking has not gone through, as I've heard it happen to others.

Also would it be cheaper from booking online, or going straight there?

Cheers

We frequently use asiareservations dot net usually a guy called Rob based in Krabi. I have his number as 075 637 437 or 0208 123 7850 is the UK number. You could also try the hotel web sites..promotions. Walk in is usually bad news.

Hi,

Just wandering if anyone has any good recommendations of websites to book hotels? Whats the best way to book hotels. I dont want to get to the hotel and told that it is full and that my booking has not gone through, as I've heard it happen to others.

Also would it be cheaper from booking online, or going straight there?

Cheers

We frequently use asiareservations dot net usually a guy called Rob based in Krabi. I have his number as 075 637 437 or 0208 123 7850 is the UK number. You could also try the hotel web sites..promotions. Walk in is usually bad news.

Thanks for the replies.

I've looked at the websites and Agoda seems to be pretty good. Asiarooms not bad either.

I usually book with wotif.com and hotelclub.com, but will be looking around more as the prices on the sites mentioned are usually cheaper.

cheers