Hotel Search Engines

[brizzle]

I think we can all agree that no one search engine has the best prices for all of the hotel offers. If you fall in love with one hotel supplier then that is your choice but IMHO it pays to shop around. For every booking I make with Agoda(yes they do sometimes offer the best price) I make another 10 or so bookings with other providers,the reason being they offer a better deal,and sometimes the savings are quite considerable.

[britmaveric]

Best to check around always, found sometimes agoda, sometimes asiatravel, sometimes direct with the hotel might be cheaper.

[game4shame]

Why would anyone get so up-tight about trying to argue against an internet company? It's hilarious.

good comeback - that's stumped me.

I am an open-minded person who accepts other people's opinions - I just struggle to tolerate grown adults who can't accept differing views and persist on trying to prove a point when no opposing opinion could be defined as right or wrong.

the debate is in relation to consumer choices - I made the comment that I would not use agoda as they add charges at the end and dont offer the customer the full story from the outset. other members on this thread agreed, not all, but some. I accepted that everyone has their own views on the topic and can make their own consumer choices.

PP took offence to this and - for some unknown reason - kept pushing his point. however, in trying to push his point he started cherry picking examples, swaying way off topic and clutching at straws.

he also had the odd piece of nonsense added in eg the claim re ALL airlines omitting surcharges.

PP made a few bitey remarks too so I don't know why you're trying to make me public enemy #1.

anyway, what's your motive? have I offended your bf?

My motive? A motive for what, having an opinion?

your motive for sticking your nose in with your irrelevant comments like some premenstrual girl.

[tw25rw]

your motive for sticking your nose in with your irrelevant comments like some premenstrual girl.

You really are obnoxious. Welcome to my ignore filter.

Edited March 30, 2010 by tw25rw

[game4shame]

your motive for sticking your nose in with your irrelevant comments like some premenstrual girl.

You really are obnoxious. Welcome to my ignore filter.

it's an honour.

[PattayaParent]

Is breakfast included when booking through Agoda??

I can't find it in their terms and conditions.

It's nothing to do with Agoda, it's up to the hotel.

There's usually several rates, some including breakfast and some excluding.

Edited March 31, 2010 by PattayaParent

[PattayaParent]

What's the matter?

Been proved to be wrong so you have to resort to insults because you've lost face?

I've been proved wrong?????

Yes you.

The guy that said

I use asiarooms where I can and ratestogo.com for last minute bookings.

I had a look at agoda but I noticed they had a few sneaky add-ons when confirming final cost - that's a big, big thumbs down in my book. saying that, by the looks of the previous posts on this thread, plenty of people must be falling for their sly tricks.

ratestogo.com are good for last minute rooms (within 28 days). some bargains to be had.

and recommends a company that adds on a previously undisclosed fee when making the final confirmation. Isn't that a sly trick eh

Whereas Agoda states up front that their prices exclude taxes and charges.

AND on comparison to the 2 sites you recommend and claim are cheaper than Agoda we find that one of them is actually 20% more expensive than buying direct from the hotel and 16.5% more expensive than Agoda.

So I guess we can only conclude that you really don't know what you are talking about and you're not worth listening to in future.

Edit: Did I mention that there's a 24 hour chat line connection on Agoda so you can talk to a representative if you have any queries or having trouble with the booking?

Edited March 31, 2010 by PattayaParent

[PattayaParent]

Oh, and another thing with Asia Rooms not only are they more expensive, but they try to con you into thinking that you're actually saving money by using them!!!

Just look at what is says under Final Price!

[game4shame]

What's the matter?

Been proved to be wrong so you have to resort to insults because you've lost face?

I've been proved wrong?????

Yes you.

The guy that said

I use asiarooms where I can and ratestogo.com for last minute bookings.

I had a look at agoda but I noticed they had a few sneaky add-ons when confirming final cost - that's a big, big thumbs down in my book. saying that, by the looks of the previous posts on this thread, plenty of people must be falling for their sly tricks.

ratestogo.com are good for last minute rooms (within 28 days). some bargains to be had.

and recommends a company that adds on a previously undisclosed fee when making the final confirmation. Isn't that a sly trick eh

Whereas Agoda states up front that their prices exclude taxes and charges.

I assume you are referring to ratestogo? as I said, I primarily use asiarooms where I can and ratestogo for last minute bookings. I can't recall any add-ons with ratestogo but I would only use ratestogo for lastminute bookings as A they specialise in them and B their rates can be very very good. I use asiarooms in the main.

also see: you've desperately cherry-picked some example to compare (which iirc has been proven wrong) and have completely lost sight of the point.

AND on comparison to the 2 sites you recommend and claim are cheaper than Agoda we find that one of them is actually 20% more expensive than buying direct from the hotel and 16.5% more expensive than Agoda.

see: you've desperately cherry-picked some example to compare (which iirc has been proven wrong) and have completely lost sight of the point.

So I guess we can only conclude that you really don't know what you are talking about and you're not worth listening to in future.

see: PattayaParent = Agoda employee.

Edit: Did I mention that there's a 24 hour chat line connection on Agoda so you can talk to a representative if you have any queries or having trouble with the booking?

see: PattayaParent = Agoda employee.

reaffirms my previous points:

'PattayaParent = Agoda employee.'

'if PP genuinely has no business interests in agoda then I can only imagine he is one sad, sad desperate little man!!'

'you've desperately cherry-picked some example to compare (which iirc has been proven wrong) and have completely lost sight of the point.'

'I am an open-minded person who accepts other people's opinions - I just struggle to tolerate grown adults who can't accept differing views and persist on trying to prove a point when no opposing opinion could be defined as right or wrong.

the debate is in relation to consumer choices - I made the comment that I would not use agoda as they add charges at the end and dont offer the customer the full story from the outset. other members on this thread agreed, not all, but some. I accepted that everyone has their own views on the topic and can make their own consumer choices.

PP took offence to this and - for some unknown reason - kept pushing his point. however, in trying to push his point he started cherry picking examples, swaying way off topic and clutching at straws.'

[THAIPHUKET]

Anyone tried hotwire.com??

Interesting concept= You select e.g. Frankfurt, Germany, plus the number of stars you expect. Rating is based on many reviews from several sites.

They tell you roughly in which area of the town the hotel is, BUT the name you learn only after booking!

For the days mid April selected hotwire quoted 44USD (not Euro) for 4 star hotel with 90% positive reviews in the direct area.

South / airport are different areas.

5 star hotel 116USD (not euros)

Should be worth a try

[PattayaParent]

I think you've proved to everyone you're not worth wasting any more time on.

[RAZZELL]

www.chaklo.com

Has a list comparing all sites including fees.

RAZZ

[jfchandler]

I'll book with whomever has the best all-in rate and deal for a comparable reservation, whatever the name of the agency may be...

As I said, I always check Agoda, but never yet have found them to have the lowest price for the hotels I have booked. If they had, I would have booked with them. And lowest price meaning their all in rate, not the pre-tax and fees rate Agoda initially shows...

I have no connection or interest with any of these companies.... But if anyone's doing conning here, it's Agoda by not being upfront in their pricing by excluding taxes and fees until the final stage of your reservation making.

At least with Asiarooms, Directrooms and Asiatravel, and most of the other booking sites I have ever used, the rate you see when searching for hotels is the rate you get when you make the reservation.

Agoda is one of the few I've ever encountered where they DONT do that...

Oh, and another thing with Asia Rooms not only are they more expensive, but they try to con you into thinking that you're actually saving money by using them!!!

Just look at what is says under Final Price!

[smokie36]

I'll book with whomever has the best all-in rate and deal for a comparable reservation, whatever the name of the agency may be...

As I said, I always check Agoda, but never yet have found them to have the lowest price for the hotels I have booked. If they had, I would have booked with them. And lowest price meaning their all in rate, not the pre-tax and fees rate Agoda initially shows...

I have no connection or interest with any of these companies.... But if anyone's doing conning here, it's Agoda by not being upfront in their pricing by excluding taxes and fees until the final stage of your reservation making.

At least with Asiarooms, Directrooms and Asiatravel, and most of the other booking sites I have ever used, the rate you see when searching for hotels is the rate you get when you make the reservation.

Agoda is one of the few I've ever encountered where they DONT do that...

Oh, and another thing with Asia Rooms not only are they more expensive, but they try to con you into thinking that you're actually saving money by using them!!!

Just look at what is says under Final Price!

I tried Agoda and found them to be consistently more expensive than their competitors so I don't even bother looking there anymore.

[THAIPHUKET]

RAZZ, www.chaklo.com looks really interesting.

No problems to their vouchers accepted?

[PattayaParent]

RAZZ, www.chaklo.com looks really interesting.

No problems to their vouchers accepted?

Certainly looks good.

They are not the booking agent that issues the vouchers they direct you to the website of the booking search engine itself.

So I did a search for my regular resting place when visiting Bangkok and the result was no surprise. The rate quoted includes tax but when directed to the booking agent to book you get a different price than Chaklo quotes.

[onethailand]

Chaklo and Painai are affiliates of HotelsCombined. HotelsCombined compares a number of sites, then presents the results in order of price.

In some cases, like Agoda for example, you will get the price before taxes, but they will show the taxes and fees due if they can.

[PattayaParent]

Chaklo and Painai are affiliates of HotelsCombined. HotelsCombined compares a number of sites, then presents the results in order of price.

In some cases, like Agoda for example, you will get the price before taxes, but they will show the taxes and fees due if they can.

In the example I have posted above the Agoda price is inclusive of the taxes.

Also they don't show ALL the results in order of price, for example they search Asiarooms but it's price at 1,800 Baht is not listed even though other more expensive ones are.

I notice there is a board sponsor called HotelTravel.com yet nobody has mentioned them yet, does nobody use them?

[badcdn]

Is breakfast included when booking through Agoda??

I can't find it in their terms and conditions.

Well just looked at the last Agoda booking I made for a hotel in Saigon. Yes - breakfast is included!

On the results page, under the 'Rooms With Availability' tab, referring to the 'Room Type' it will either state "Standard with Breafast" or whatever room is available, or directly under the type, in green font, it will state "Breafast Included". If you don't see it listed, it probably isn't included.

[brizzle]

Instead of all this " I think this website is better than this website bla bla " would it not be a good idea to start a thread where we could all help each other to find the best deals? Name your hotel and dates,name your best price and ask others if they can quote you a better deal? It's just a thought but a few thousand pairs of eyes are better than one!

[RAZZELL]

RAZZ, www.chaklo.com looks really interesting.

No problems to their vouchers accepted?

Certainly looks good.

They are not the booking agent that issues the vouchers they direct you to the website of the booking search engine itself.

So I did a search for my regular resting place when visiting Bangkok and the result was no surprise. The rate quoted includes tax but when directed to the booking agent to book you get a different price than Chaklo quotes.

Mmm...I've never actually "booked" through Chaklo.

I've just used them to check the prices.

RAZZ

[smokie36]

Interesting to see what people are looking for from the hotel booking websites. I prefer a site that is easy to navigate and book mainly.

And one which allows me to book using a card which I do not have to use to pay. I prefer to pay on arrival using cash as I've had my card skimmed more than once in different countries through different bookings(not all hotel bookings!).

Don't really care about 100 Baht either way on this issue.

[RAZZELL]

Don't really care about 100 Baht either way on this issue.

When looking to book a "decent" 4* hotel for a week I've seen prices vary by hundreds of £'s.

RAZZ

[smokie36]

Don't really care about 100 Baht either way on this issue.

When looking to book a "decent" 4* hotel for a week I've seen prices vary by hundreds of £'s.

RAZZ

Please show me an example of this currently.

[RAZZELL]

Don't really care about 100 Baht either way on this issue.

When looking to book a "decent" 4* hotel for a week I've seen prices vary by hundreds of £'s.

RAZZ

Please show me an example of this currently.

Using Chaklo - Chedi Hotel, Phuket, 8th April for one week.

£800 difference in price. Hardly 100 baht either way

RAZZ

Edited April 1, 2010 by RAZZELL

[smokie36]

Using Chaklo - Chedi Hotel, Phuket, 8th April for one week.

£800 difference in price. Hardly 100 baht either way

RAZZ

When I checked the website and typed in the above I got ads from google recommending other sites. In addition which site are you comparing it to??

[RAZZELL]

When I checked the website and typed in the above I got ads from google recommending other sites. In addition which site are you comparing it to??

Well, go to Chaklo. Type in the name of the hotel, and phuket and dates.

It will bring up a list of possible room "suppliers", Expedia, Agoda etc

Give it a go. I assure it's true

RAZZ

[tw25rw]

Tripadvisor brings up a number of search engines as well.

[PattayaParent]

Don't really care about 100 Baht either way on this issue.

When looking to book a "decent" 4* hotel for a week I've seen prices vary by hundreds of £'s.

RAZZ

Please show me an example of this currently.

Check Asiarooms for hotels in Bangkok on 24 April and the first one that comes up is Lebua at 8,000 Baht a night, but look at the same hotel on Agoda and it's 5,200 odd.

[jfchandler]

Shilling for Agoda again, eh PP??? That's a job that's keeping you pretty busy here...

All I know is this... I have no economic or other relationship with any of these hotel booking providers... And I have no business involvement in anything relating to tourism. So I am simply a consumer, and 100% impartial in these matters.

The wife and I have been planning a Song Kran get-away within Thailand during the past few days, and I've been looking online at and pricing probably a dozen different hotels in several destinations....

In none of those cases, did Agoda emerge with the best price to be found... And neither always did Asiarooms, but in general, they seemed to do a bit better more often.

But I will admit, I wasn't pricing 8000b (or 5000b) per night properties... more in the everyday 2000-3000 per night range... I can't speak to what the silver spoon crowd might encounter.