e.g looked for 5 star hotel in Chiang Mai, Ratilanna, Agoda 3600b, Hotel.com 3200. that is a substantial difference, both guarantee the best price.

I tried the Ratilanna web site, it does´t run properly

Which site do you use/ trust?

I use booking.com for hotels.

hotelsthailand.com is another one I know of, but never used.

latestays.com

res24.com

Agoda pissed me off when the final price was more than what I thought it was going to be....

Sawadee.com is the one I always use for Thailand.

Never had a problem with their prices or service.

I second Booking.com

There is no Hotel.com (default is Hotels.com) and there price is advance purchase of 3,544 per night with no refund during last week prior to stay. But actual price becomes 4199.92 if you try to book it (they do not display full price).

Agoda displays 3568 with advance purchase and 3 day cancel refund with no refund no show. Actual price becomes 4200 baht if you try to book.

Booking.com shows true 4200 baht charge with same Agoda refund conditions but no advance payment (pay at hotel).

My last hotel booking - although often other hotels came out about the same total price in all cases cancellation policy was better with Booking.com and no prepayment required.

Agoda 850 displayed price become 1,000 when booking

No fee for cancellation becomes if 8 days early - less one day charge - no show full charge

Booking.com displayed true 900 baht price with direct payment to hotel.

No fee for cancellation if 2 days early and only one day charge no show.

Hotelscombined(dot)com is a search engine that give the all inclusive prices of individual websites like Agoda, hotels(dot)com etc.

Hotelscombined(dot)com is a search engine that give the all inclusive prices of individual websites like Agoda, hotels(dot)com etc.

Wow...I like that site. I'll pin it for sure!

Just as an FYI, I checked the rates on the last hotel I stayed in BKK. Going direct with the hotel got me the same rate as all of the booking sites. I do know from experience, they like when you go direct and will usually give you a better room. I didn't do that last time and ended up with a less than desirable room. FYI...

Wotif

I still prefer Agoda over Booking.com for the smiple reason that they have more room choices..

For example, I am trying to book a room at Tawana Bangkok for May.

Agoda has Deluxe Balcony, Junior Suite and Suite....all of which are not offered at Booking.com

And it is also true that if you book direct with the hotel, you might get favorable room preference. But sometimes prices at online sites are cheaper than booking direct.

I use the following in order of preference :

Booking.com

holidaycheck.com (or holidaycheck.de if you know enough german)

latestays.com

or the hotel website directly which more than often has the best deals for the hotel chains like Accor (Mercure, Novotel, Ibis etc.)for example.

Yermanee

I stopped booking ahead a long time ago, as long as there was no risk of the place being full for a festival or something. I take a taxi, tell him how much I want to pay, then go look at the room. Usually the taxi driver will get you a good hotel, if not he is still there to take you to another.

always use asia hotels had no problems in 14 years

I use Asia rooms or sawadee.com.never had a problem.

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I still prefer Agoda over Booking.com for the smiple reason that they have more room choices..

For example, I am trying to book a room at Tawana Bangkok for May.

Agoda has Deluxe Balcony, Junior Suite and Suite....all of which are not offered at Booking.com

And it is also true that if you book direct with the hotel, you might get favorable room preference. But sometimes prices at online sites are cheaper than booking direct.

If I get a cheaper price, I call the hotel and tell them. 9 out of 10 times, they match the price. Sometimes, like with Centrepointe hotels, they won't. Best deals are got elsewhere! And they will tell you where. Unreal.

Just as an FYI, I checked the rates on the last hotel I stayed in BKK. Going direct with the hotel got me the same rate as all of the booking sites. I do know from experience, they like when you go direct and will usually give you a better room. I didn't do that last time and ended up with a less than desirable room. FYI...

I've had room upgrades many times when booking through Agoda.

You certainly won't be disappointed with Ratilanna. It's one of the finest, if not THE finest, hotels in Chiang Mai and has a great secluded location, though still not far from the city centre. The Brazilian buffet restaurant in the hotel (a variety of meats served on skewers) is outstandingly good, if they still offer it (which they did 2 years ago when I was last in Chiang Mai) and represents exceptional value at around 650 baht per person. You can eat about 10 different types of perfectly cooked meats until you drop.

Just as an FYI, I checked the rates on the last hotel I stayed in BKK. Going direct with the hotel got me the same rate as all of the booking sites. I do know from experience, they like when you go direct and will usually give you a better room. I didn't do that last time and ended up with a less than desirable room. FYI...

I've had room upgrades many times when booking through Agoda.

Ya never know. Each hotel is different. But usually you hear from the hotel manager the best rooms are reserved for those who book direct. The worst for those coming in via discount websites. I've been told this in person by quite a few hotel managers. Of course the best are for those with membership in the hotel's loyalty program...I've gotten some awesome rooms that way in the past....without paying an extra dime!

Hotelscombined(dot)com is a search engine that give the all inclusive prices of individual websites like Agoda, hotels(dot)com etc.

Wow...I like that site. I'll pin it for sure!

Yeh, good site to compare, have bookmarked it.

Kayak is best

AtSiam

Wotif

So good I took the lying sods to court, and won.

Wotif

So good I took the lying sods to court, and won.

Please share if you can, I had so many issues with them and gave up.

Wotif

So good I took the lying sods to court, and won.

Please share if you can, I had so many issues with them and gave up.

Spill the beans. I hope it wasn't over 40 baht

Many helpful comments. I guess, whenever you book over a travel site there is no way of cutting your stay short and getting money back.

Only via direct booking.

Comparing Ratilanna direct and through hotelcombined. com , excellent tip!!,

Ratilanna delux room incl breakfast direct 4400b ,

hotelcombined from 3700b , no refund to 5600

That sux reading all the bad reviews about Agoda. I've always have great success with them. I've used them maybe 20 times in Thailand, plus Japan, Korea & Hong Kong. I have always gotten the advertised price, with no surprises after booking. And never noticed that prices were cheaper through other avenues. Maybe I've just been lucky, and maybe they've changed their business practices for the worse recently. I do accumulate points pretty quickly which translated to reduced prices every 3-4 stays. I always recommend them to my friends, but I'll be taking a closer look based on some of the comments here.

BTW, they are now part of Priceline. I don't know when that happened; maybe it's been forever. But if it's a recent change, it would explain their deteriorating business practices.

That sux reading all the bad reviews about Agoda. I've always have great success with them. I've used them maybe 20 times in Thailand, plus Japan, Korea & Hong Kong. I have always gotten the advertised price, with no surprises after booking. And never noticed that prices were cheaper through other avenues. Maybe I've just been lucky, and maybe they've changed their business practices for the worse recently. I do accumulate points pretty quickly which translated to reduced prices every 3-4 stays. I always recommend them to my friends, but I'll be taking a closer look based on some of the comments here.

BTW, they are now part of Priceline. I don't know when that happened; maybe it's been forever. But if it's a recent change, it would explain their deteriorating business practices.

But in that other closed thread with the 'bad review' about Agoda the OP actually states that the managers of the hotels confirmed to him that THEY had given Agoda the inflated prices he is complaining about, yet he is blaming Agoda???

I use hotelscombined.com

Site has agoda, HRS, booking.com and a few others that offer rates.

Agoda is on this site and always charges a $10 approx. service charge per day on top of the hotel rate they offer.

Beware of some of the hotel booking sites offered on the website above.

I've found booking.com is good. No service charge added.

But otel.com is a bunch of crooks.

They do not confirm instantly and put you on a waiting list.

Having already taken you card details.

I use hotelscombined.com

Site has agoda, HRS, booking.com and a few others that offer rates.

Agoda is on this site and always charges a $10 approx. service charge per day on top of the hotel rate they offer.

Beware of some of the hotel booking sites offered on the website above.

I've found booking.com is good. No service charge added.

But otel.com is a bunch of crooks.

They do not confirm instantly and put you on a waiting list.

Having already taken you card details.

All the times I have booked with Agoda (30+) they have been cheaper than the hotel rate direct or 50 Baht ($1.70) over it.

I use hotelscombined.com

Site has agoda, HRS, booking.com and a few others that offer rates.

Agoda is on this site and always charges a $10 approx. service charge per day on top of the hotel rate they offer.

Beware of some of the hotel booking sites offered on the website above.

I've found booking.com is good. No service charge added.

But otel.com is a bunch of crooks.

They do not confirm instantly and put you on a waiting list.

Having already taken you card details.

Again, in my experience with agoda there is no extra fee. Why book them through a 3rd party website, when you can go straight to agoda & cut out the middleman. If agoda does charge a service fee, the resulting price still ends up cheaper than I have found elsewhere.

It's weird that we're all getting different experiences with agoda. I will keep a closer eye on them. And as PattayaParent pointed out, in the case of that inflated price on Agoda, the hotel in question said they had given that price to agoda. It's hard to hold the website accountable for bad info from the hotel. It's not like an agoda rep is going to drive to each hotel to read the sign in the lobby. I would think agoda would penalize the hotel in question for this practice, bumping them off the website either temporarily or permanently.