Warning - Booking Hotels On Agoda

[rycmai]

i have used agoda.com to book hotels in thailand + malaysia for about 4 years now. i have usually gotten some good discounts. so i was surprised when i had 2 bad experiences.

in march i booked a room with agoda.com in hat yai at the cathay guest house. list rate = 300 baht, agoda rate 174 baht. sounded good, so, i booked it. with their fees, i paid approx. 200 b. i was really surprised when i checked in that the walk-in rack rate on the wall was 160 baht!!! they said they never had a 300 baht room!! (btw, walk-in rate is now 200 b as of april 9th)

i also booked a room on langkawi island in malaysia. agoda was the only website that had lots of listings. i booked 4 nights at the Rumours guest house. list rate 136 RM, agoda rate 64 rm. with their fees, i paid about 75 rm. but when i got there and checked in, the manager said the walk-in rate for low season (high season is nov-feb, and this was april) was 60 RM!!! high season rate is 80 RM. i was pretty pissed at this point. i checked 2 other hotels that agoda listed, and all their discount rates were higher than the walk-in rate.

my advice is that if you are in thailand, you should call the hotel to find out the walk-in rate BEFORE booking. calling is cheap if you have a cell phone or use TOT's special service - dial 1 2 3 4 + number (1.5 b/min). in any event, dont book more than 1 night with them.

[kurnell]

So you are 40 baht out of pocket? Suppose that is 1 beer. I didn't know that there were rooms that cheap on Agoda.

[rfukata]

I normally search the particular hotel website for rates before making any decisions on Agoda or other online agents.

Why don't you email Agoda and ask them for a refund, I am sure they will under the circumstances you have mentioned.

[yermanee]

So you are 40 baht out of pocket? Suppose that is 1 beer. I didn't know that there were rooms that cheap on Agoda.

That's not the point is it ?

The point is that in OP's case Agoda invented the list rates.

Yermanee

[PattayaParent]

So you are 40 baht out of pocket? Suppose that is 1 beer. I didn't know that there were rooms that cheap on Agoda.

That's not the point is it ?

The point is that in OP's case Agoda invented the list rates.

Yermanee

Agoda don't set the room rates on their website, the hotels themselves do.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/518666-agoda-bookings/#entry4908543

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/518666-agoda-bookings/#entry4910756

[angiud]

I can only guess what a 160 Baht room could be

I always book the hotels with Agoda, never a problem in 4 years.

[tfc]

I've found that sometimes Agoda will display the list price up so that it can offer what seems to be a greatly discounted rate and then when I check the site of the hotel I see that the actual hotel price is close to the discounted rate. I'm not so bothered though, any discount is better than none.

[yermanee]

I've found that sometimes Agoda will display the list price up so that it can offer what seems to be a greatly discounted rate and then when I check the site of the hotel I see that the actual hotel price is close to the discounted rate. I'm not so bothered though, any discount is better than none.

Thank You

Yermanee

[Derifo]

It happened with a hotel I booked in Rayong. I paid 200 baht more than the walk in rate.

[phl]

i can not believe some people STILL do not understand simple logistics

1. As already said, Agoda does not set the rates

2. OF course hotel would give cheaper rate direct, as hotel pays 15-50% to agoda and would prefer to have booking direct than via Agoda

[martin81]

You are right. Agodas list rates are often invented by Agoda and has nothing to do with reality. I have seen this many times and sometimes you can also get a cheaper walkin rate than agodas. Agoda likes to advertise large discounts that are not discounts. It is probably a marketing trick.

You can compare prices from many hotel booking engines with hotelscombined dot com. There Agoda will often come out as the cheapest option.

[surayu]

That's not a new trick, for example, during the "discounted sales" period, many stores would inflate the real rrp even by 1000%, so that their rip-off new price tags would look to the unaware customer as a great deal, however, some authorities have stepped in to punish these crooks.

In Thailand, well, let's talk about something else.....

[PattayaParent]

I've found that sometimes Agoda will display the list price up so that it can offer what seems to be a greatly discounted rate and then when I check the site of the hotel I see that the actual hotel price is close to the discounted rate. I'm not so bothered though, any discount is better than none.

Thank You

Yermanee

But it's actually the hotel themselves that input the rates into the Agoda website (same as for other hotel search websites) and of course they offer cheaper rates on their own website as they don't have to pay commission.

Edited April 19, 2012 by PattayaParent

[phl]

I've found that sometimes Agoda will display the list price up so that it can offer what seems to be a greatly discounted rate and then when I check the site of the hotel I see that the actual hotel price is close to the discounted rate. I'm not so bothered though, any discount is better than none.

Thank You

Yermanee

But it's actually the hotel themselves that input the rates into the Agoda website (same as for other hotel search websites) and of course they offer cheaper rates on their own website as they don't have to pay commission.

slightly incorrect. Hotels who deal with agoda or with any of the online engines, can not have cheaper rates on their own website, because agoda and alike always do parity searches and force hotels to have the same rates.

HOWEVER, by contacting hotel direct, one can always get a better rate than agoda(providing manager or staff on the phone has some brain)

[Shurup]

What OP said happens sometimes with Agoda but most of the times they are good to book a room with. Their listing rates are totaly insane no matter who set them, hotel or agoda themselves. Most of the hotels I know, never ever had rooms anywhere near to what listed price!

[UbonOz]

I have been happy with Agoda for many years now and have had several free nights and reduced rates using their loyalty programme.

I sometimes check the hotel's website and compare, Agoda has always been less. I have also checked other hotel search engines and found Agoda to be about the same or less.

I do not worry too much as I make the decision to stay at the hotel of my choice after comparing other properties of similar standard.

I do not think I would book an hotel for a couple hundred baht.

[bartender100]

The OP must be racking up the loyalty points

[gamini]

I normally search the particular hotel website for rates before making any decisions on Agoda or other online agents.

Why don't you email Agoda and ask them for a refund, I am sure they will under the circumstances you have mentioned.

Agoda don't have an email adress anymore. No way to contact them in Thailand.

[LuckyLew]

With agoda or any other hotel booking web site you are also

paying for their service. You are able to use their site to see

all the hotels in a particular area.

If you are "smart" enough to book without comparing hotels

actual web site or comparing to other hotel booking web sites

so be it, you have paid a few extra baht for the convenience and

you should just consider the extra fee a "lazy" fee

[mowgus]

I have been using Agoda for some time as well. I usually only book one night in the hotel via Agoda, get there and see what the deal is. Depending on the season you can sometimes get prices lower than Agoda, or you may find a new hotel that isn't on Agoda yet and has cheap prices. On the flip side, when I wanted to extend a stay I was told by the counter staff to book through Agoda because it was cheaper. So, it goes both ways.

Also note that sometimes the Agoda price will include breakfast or free WiFi whereas that might be an add-on to the walk-in rate. Be sure you're comparing mangosteens to mangosteens. . MMMmmmmmm...mangosteen.

Edited April 19, 2012 by mowgus

[thrilled]

I've never had any problems with agoda or any of the other hotel booking sites.

It's probably the hotel thats the problem.I would complain to agoda,and do the review section of the hotel also.

[manarak]

On such low rates as the OP mentioned, Agoda overhead fees such as credit card processing and possibly FX transaction fees have to be taken into account. Can easily amount to 40 baht and more.

One thing to do would be to check if ANY online platforms were able to offer the same rate as the hotel?

Edited April 19, 2012 by manarak

[JAS21]

I suggest that you have a look at the prices that booking.com offer ... all in price and very easy booking ... recently have used them quite a bit for Thailand bookings. Personally I never liked the Agoda web site.

[PattayaParent]

I normally search the particular hotel website for rates before making any decisions on Agoda or other online agents.

Why don't you email Agoda and ask them for a refund, I am sure they will under the circumstances you have mentioned.

Agoda don't have an email adress anymore. No way to contact them in Thailand.

02 646 1200

02 646 1225 fax

[PattayaParent]

I have been happy with Agoda for many years now and have had several free nights and reduced rates using their loyalty programme.

I sometimes check the hotel's website and compare, Agoda has always been less. I have also checked other hotel search engines and found Agoda to be about the same or less.

I do not worry too much as I make the decision to stay at the hotel of my choice after comparing other properties of similar standard.

I do not think I would book an hotel for a couple hundred baht.

Me too, used them for the last 7 years but I've recently gone off them as they've changed their website and now you can't enter children as hotel guests in the search function. Some hotels want to charge extra for a child so I can't get reliable pricing or booking info which I can on other websites.

[rycmai]

to kurnell: u totally missed the point. it's not the 40 baht, it's the idea that agoda inflated the list price to offer a discount which was higher than the walk-in rate.... actually, i'm out about $25 if you count the rumours guest house in langkawi.

i asked the managers at both places and they said they did not give agoda the inflated prices.

anyhow, i am gonna be much more cautious using agoda, and i suggest that others do too. i have used them everytime i have had an early departure from swampy in bkk. the listed rates of the hotels near the airport are correct, and the discounts decent. but i know these hotels well (walk-in rates, facilities), so i believe them.

i'll check booking.com... i hadnt heard of them before. i've used asiarooms and asiahotels before.

[george]

Agoda also have a lowest rates guarantee, they will match any other online offer.

I'm closing this thread, as the subject line is misleading and is against forum rules.