Booking Hotel

[filipef]

Usually,I book hotels through their websites. Now, wanting to book hotel in Samet, i find some hotels can be booked easier and with cheaper fares using some booking sites. I already read about agoda, but never heard about r24.org, or hotels2thailand.

Anyone used their services already? Any reviews? Any other good sites?

Thanks a lot.

[alant]

often the best way to do it, my mrs is an affiliate of r24 so i can say with confidence, pity i cant tell you our web site though! have a good hol

[jgm005]

http://www.thaihoteldiscounts.com/

Run or owned, not sure, by a guy named Tim. Good rates and very helpful.

Rate show IS the rate unlike agoda who tack on taxes later on in the process.

[tonititan]

Yeah, Agoda adds taxes later (which you can of course see before purchasing), but I'm still a loyal Agoda member. I usually compare the Agoda rate to all of the other sites, and 9.5 times out of 10, they're the cheapest. Well known and recognized, so no problems at the hotel. Very good customer service when I've needed to change/cancel my reservation. And best of all, they have a reward point system. Every time you book, you rack up reward points to use towards future rooms. You also get points for other things, like reviewing the hotel after your stay. I've gotten a couple free rooms just from using Agoda over the last year.

[theseahorse]

Try not to use these companies if you can avoid it, they are just middlemen and charge alot for it. If you can get a phone number call directly, most places on Samet you'll be able to find their number by a quick internet search. All these companies do is ring around for you and add there fee (once I discovered it was 80% extra). I've had numerous problems and have mentioned it on TV before -

Careful of alot of the smaller Thai sites, such as hotel thailand dot com You have to give all your creditcard details and then they try and get you your room, then you get an email saying 'sorry your 1000 baht room isn't available how about a 5,000 baht room in a completely different area'. Complete con! If you can find the number, just ring up yourself, suddenly theses places aren't full and they're half the websites price!

Also beware of 247 Siam, after booking through them I noticed they'd added an extra 500 baht to my bill without my consent, I'd already paid booking fee so it wasn't that. After having 3 emails ignored I tried phoning but as soon as I mentioned what had happened they suddenly forgot how to speak English and claimed they couldn't understand my Thai.

I now only use companies that do real online booking or just call the place myself!

If they don't do instant confirmation and just say they'll get back to you within 24 hours don't use them!

[thrilled]

He may be right about Samet.But Bangkok is A different matter.( out of 10 times you'll get the hotel cheaper on the websites than you will from the hotel.Don't believe it call them they'll even tell ya it's cheaper.

[Shrubbery]

I have used R24/Sawdee.com many times for hotels in Thailand and never had a problem with them.

I've also used Agoda several times, again without any problems.

I have found both to be cheaper than booking with the hotel directly.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Shrubbery

[NanLaew]

I am a recent convert to agoda. I used to bugger about looking at various hotel websites direct and the smaller hotels usually have a weak online reservation system that may involve unanswered emails or asking for a credit card number via unsecured means.

I initially cross-checked the agodo prices with the hotels own website and found that the the 1 or 2 dollars difference was negligible so now just use agoda unless the hotel I want isn't listed. Someone else has pointed out their fast service, full disclosure of prices BEFORE you accept (there's NO hidden taxes or service charges added on unknowingly) and their 'frequent flier' type deal is also attractive.

[theseahorse]

True it is very different when booking a hotel in Bangkok (or Chaing Mai and Hua Hin), but the OP was about using smaller companies to book places in Koh Samet. I've had some amazing deals using companies like latestays when staying in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai. But it's always through companies that have a proper online booking facility. Although I've never used Agoda, they seem to have instant confirmation aswell and I'm sure they are very good when it comes to cities or larger resort islands.

The problem is , when it comes to smaller islands like Samet the larger booking companies have such a small selection. There's alway the posh resorts on Ao Prao and then a couple of mid priced resorts that are still 2500 baht a night. Then when you arrive you realise you could have got somewhere much nicer for 1500 baht. Maybe its the resorts way of cheaping it cheaper for regular visitors to the island, but making some money off the tourists?

I agree that with some places you don't always get an answer from emails, thats why I suggest phoning (there will always be someone who speaks English if your Thai isn't up to it). But, unsecure credit card details is never an issue as they always ask you to transter a deposit into their bank account, which takes about 30 seconds at an ATM ,not so easy if you're not in Thailand though.

The other advantage is you don't pay the full amount upfront, so if there is a problem with your room or you realise next door is nicer and cheaper you can do something about it. Some friends recently booked a place on Vong Duan beach only to be greeted by a tout when they got off the boat saying that rooms were 1000 baht for the same place they'd prebooked at nearly 2000 a night, but of course there was nothing they could do as they'd paid upfront.

[JAS21]

I can recommend a guy call Rob, he lives in Krabi and runs/owns asiareservations.net. Have used him many times for booking here in Thailand. I have only once managed to beat his prices and that was a special offer with accord hotel group. Worth a look...he will probably answer the phone personally if you phone the company. They will also accept an ATM transfer for payment...very useful as I don't have a Thai credit card.

[sharecropper]

often the best way to do it, my mrs is an affiliate of r24 so i can say with confidence, pity i cant tell you our web site though! have a good hol

Isn't that what PMs are for???