Asiarooms.com Censored My Hotel Review.

[ding]

I posted a review on asiarooms.com where I made the reservations for a hotel we stayed in. Later I read it and the negative item I mentioned was deleted and only positive was left. Is this common with these online hotel sites or just asiarooms.com?

My review was more concise than others posted, so I don't think it was edited for length. I warned that the excersize facility was not included by the hotel if the reservation was made by them, and it was 350B per day, per person, to workout.

Edited January 5, 2006 by ding

[on-on]

I have no personal knowledge about Asia Rooms, but I read many of these forums (thaivisa, talesofasia, huahinafterdark, etc) and I've seen more than a few warnings about Asia Rooms. I can't substantiate any of them and they could all be anecdotal, but it's worth noting that this isn't the first complaint I've seen about shady practices.

[thaiflyer1]

Strange...........ive used Asiarooms a few times always found their service good, including hotel changes ive made at the last moment.

Ive also wrote a few reviews about hotels ive stayed in (mainly Singapore) and they have not been edited in any way...........that said the reviews have always been good ones.

I have seen quite a few bad reviews on their site........including 0 stars and "worst hotel ive ever stayed in" type comments.

[AsiaWolfie]

everybody who is involved only a little bit in this business knows and will tell you, that ASIAROOMS is the "black sheep" of the internet-hotel-brokers and with their doubtful business-policies, they are damaging the reputation of the whole online-booking-business in Asia....

[thaiflyer1]

everybody who is involved only a little bit in this business knows and will tell you, that ASIAROOMS is the "black sheep" of the internet-hotel-brokers and with their doubtful business-policies, they are damaging the reputation of the whole online-booking-business in Asia....

What can i say..........ive always found them ok.

Would you care to expand a little on your above statement and also point me towards another online booking site i could look at.

Cheers.

[Vag]

I've used Asiarooms.com for probably 10times or more. So far so good. I wrote a bad review for Arnoma hotel. The review was there for a couple of days and later taken away. After that, I notice that there were only good reviews for all hotels. All bad reviews that you saw were posted recently and probably the web administrator didnt have time to take them down yet.

Edited January 6, 2006 by Vag

[Thaiquila]

I have used asiarooms a few times.

I am well satisfied with their service.

During my last stay at a hotel in Singapore (a year ago) I wrote a long review that detailed positive and negative things about the hotel, including some very negative things such as the fact that there was never any cold water, the room was the size of a postage stamp, and the surrounding streets were strewn with unattractive hookers. The review is still there.

[juggler]

Asia rooms sure are 'black sheep'. My girfriend worked for them for a while. It was her first job after uni and she was really proud to tell me she had got a job. I wasn't so happy though when the contract which she had already signed had her doing 14 days in a row (12 hour shifts) then one week off, then 14 nights in a row (12 hours again), then one week off....15,000 baht a month though, so well above the average salary....anyway after crying before having to go to work for a few weeks, as the staff (some very very rich french guys) were nasty, staff/ friends unfairly sacked, not allowed to eat lunch outside the office, told not to sell to thais phoning from within thailand as mai chawp kon thai, she left!!!!

the boss had two ferrari's..Nice

Also check this. The office was behind a french cosmetic shop which was permenantly closed. I think this is strange. I would like to be sure about this so correct me if i'm wrong, but as far as i know, if you are abroad (outside of thailand) with a western credit card, it's not possible to book something like an aeroplane flight from a travel agent whos office is in bangkok, the grounds being that they cant process the card from oversees (as the western card companies are weary with Thailands reputation for corruption...).

This at least is my own experience - Maybe this company are taking advantage of cheap labour in Thailand, with the convience of being online, whilst doing all the processing outside of Thailand. Maybe some room' (no pun intended ) for money laundering too. I know that they have moved office outside Bangkok since my girlfrined left, which was about 3 years ago, and i wonder if there isn't just another empty 'front' infront of their office.

The missus only did booking so she couldn't tell me much about the reviews. She did mention though, that she got loads of complaints about refund problems which she couldn't do anything about,

Whether they do or don't edit reviews they seems like a ruthless and unpleasant bunch to me. Apparently one room in the offices where data inputting/updating was carried out, was staffed by deaf people.

It's good they got work but i wonder if they were paid fairly. Anyhow that is only speculation. one thing and i do know though, is that your critical review fell on deaf ears - but that's just the tip of the iceberg)

Anways, better call it a night.

Edited January 6, 2006 by juggler

[phuketsiam]

I worked in this industry and can confirm all the above, including the ferrari, I also know a another company where all the customer reviews were made up, no one single genuine customer review in there

[cdnvic]

I don't know why anyone would take the word of these "recommendations" if they are 100% positive. NO complaints sounds dodgy to me.

cv

[Carmine6]

Woah, I was skeptical, but they have removed some reviews. I have one negative one still there and another gone. It looks like the overall stars are correct, so that hotels which were bad when I looked at them before still have low stars. But if you kind of average the stars in the writeups, they come up higher than the star rating in some cases. And I mean it's not even close.

Here's a funny 5 star rating for the Empire in Hong Kong:

"Posted by Vicky, Bahamas in August 2004

This hotel was the worst hotel I ever stayed in. We were on the 19th floor which the rooms were old and moldy. This horrible hotel had the worst service catered to Americans. The staff were rude and unhelpful. I will never stay at this hotel again."

The average of all the writeup stars, including the above "5", is 4.42, but the overall shows 3 stars. 3 stars is about right for that hotel, and I think that's what I gave them. But my review isn't there anymore.

So it looks like, go with the star rating. I do think the star ratings match my opinions of the hotels I've stayed at. There still are a lot of old negative reviews in there too. Some hotels are all bad reviews. Wonder if these guys are cleaning things up for certain hotels.

Bottom line for me is I haven't found any better rates for whatever hotel I've looked at. I also don't book unless I'm absolutely sure I'm going to stay somewhere since there are just too many horror stories about refunds with travel websites.

[Plecostomus]

You shouldn't have mentioned the words "talented bargirl" in your review.

[bomber]

Only used asiarooms.com once,but very happy as the £150 was never taken from my account.Defeintly use again in future.

[Rasel]

FOR ME THERE WAS NO PROBLEM WITH THEM MANY TIMES

[ding]

Thanks for the edifying input polks, I thought I was loosing the plot!

I also used Sawadee.com

and both worked fine but I wont use a phony service like AsiaRooms.com again, I don't trust them now.

Sawadee.com seems cleaner and my Thai friend uses it.

As a sidenote;

I cancelled a booking on a previous trip within the online site's allowed timeframe. They denied my cancellation. So I wrote (in writing!) my credit card company and the charge was 100% removed. not 80%.

[thaiflyer1]

I also used Sawadee.com

and both worked fine but I wont use a phony service like AsiaRooms.com again, I don't trust them now.

Sawadee.com seems cleaner and my Thai friend uses it.

Think i/ll give sawadee a miss.............have just checked at random The Royal Plaza on Scotts in Singapore, sawadee quote 8400 baht/night while Asiarooms quote 4800 baht/night both inc breakfast and all taxes.............thats a huge difference!

3600 baht/night difference will help me get over any qualms about their employment conditions for their workers..

[Levent]

İ used Asiarooms two times, for a stay in Bangkok and in Macau. No problems, but both times İ got an SMS saying that the rooms were full and İ had to book another (more expensive) hotel.

İ prefer to use octopustravel.com because there you can see immediately whether a room is available. With Asiarooms you have to wait one day.

By the way, İ am in İstanbul right now and have booked my room through octopustravel. 96 euros for three nights in a four star hotel.

[lambous]

I posted a review on asiarooms.com where I made the reservations for a hotel we stayed in. Later I read it and the negative item I mentioned was deleted and only positive was left. Is this common with these online hotel sites or just asiarooms.com?

My review was more concise than others posted, so I don't think it was edited for length. I warned that the excersize facility was not included by the hotel if the reservation was made by them, and it was 350B per day, per person, to workout.

Woah, I was skeptical, but they have removed some reviews. I have one negative one still there and another gone. It looks like the overall stars are correct, so that hotels which were bad when I looked at them before still have low stars. But if you kind of average the stars in the writeups, they come up higher than the star rating in some cases. And I mean it's not even close.

Here's a funny 5 star rating for the Empire in Hong Kong:

"Posted by Vicky, Bahamas in August 2004

This hotel was the worst hotel I ever stayed in. We were on the 19th floor which the rooms were old and moldy. This horrible hotel had the worst service catered to Americans. The staff were rude and unhelpful. I will never stay at this hotel again."

The average of all the writeup stars, including the above "5", is 4.42, but the overall shows 3 stars. 3 stars is about right for that hotel, and I think that's what I gave them. But my review isn't there anymore.

So it looks like, go with the star rating. I do think the star ratings match my opinions of the hotels I've stayed at. There still are a lot of old negative reviews in there too. Some hotels are all bad reviews. Wonder if these guys are cleaning things up for certain hotels.

Bottom line for me is I haven't found any better rates for whatever hotel I've looked at. I also don't book unless I'm absolutely sure I'm going to stay somewhere since there are just too many horror stories about refunds with travel websites.

Have either of you contacted Asia Rooms for an explanation about why your reviews were removed?

[Carmine6]

Have either of you contacted Asia Rooms for an explanation about why your reviews were removed?

I guess I can shoot off an e-mail. They do request a review for every reservation so they're at least not made up. Most other sites I've seen with reviews were pretty skimpy so I think it's good info to have even if it's skewed positive. I've seen a lot of sites where I think the editing was way more blatant.

Actually, maybe some others should just e-mail them asking why their reviews aren't there. If it's a widespread practice, there's no way they'll know you weren't an original reviewer.

[ding]

What is their email? (you can PM me -if you would) I might do that. I didn't see it when I looked.

I know it's not worth calling the long distance numbers they have listed -to me. I just wont use them. There are plenty of others.

[lopburi3]

I just made a check (asiarooms) on a good upcountry Thailand hotel (they have the lowest listed rates) but if you have a child of 4 years you pay an extra 590 baht per night (50% of room rate). I know the hotel is not charging that so wonder what exactly that gets you (no bed according to web site). I know the hotel price for an extra bed/person is only 500 baht.

[Jack Jones]

Another happy punter here, no problems using them

[lambous]

What is their email? (you can PM me -if you would) I might do that. I didn't see it when I looked.

I know it's not worth calling the long distance numbers they have listed -to me. I just wont use them. There are plenty of others.

Interesting to see that they have no email address displayed however they have an online enquiry form on their website. You might want to send them a link to this thread so they can discover that we're switched on to their dodgy procedures. It will also give them a chance to answer all their critics.

[Khun Yak]

I just made a check (asiarooms) on a good upcountry Thailand hotel (they have the lowest listed rates) but if you have a child of 4 years you pay an extra 590 baht per night (50% of room rate). I know the hotel is not charging that so wonder what exactly that gets you (no bed according to web site). I know the hotel price for an extra bed/person is only 500 baht.

Working in the hotel business myself I may simply advise all of you to find out the contact details of the hotel. Some (trustworthy) websites even state an email adress of the hotel/hostel or a telephone number next to the quote or among the hotel information(e.g. hostels.com). Otherwise just google the hotel once you found out its name and check the own website of the place - there you'll find contact details for sure.

ASK THE HOTEL DIRECTLY. They should be usually able to answer your questions best and they should be able to give you the best price by booking directly with them as well just because the save the commission of the website by selling the room by themseves. If they don't want to get back to your email/questions, you can still bock them through a website if you still like to. Done exactly this a few times and it simply worked out perfect.

Even with critic and reviews you should contact the hotel directly. Most of the time they are thankful for any kind of advise and they should use it to improve their service. Usually hotels will answer most grateful when you send them a review wether its positiv or negativ.

To publish the reviews is of corse bad PR especially when they are published next to the (high) room rates you should book though its understandable that maybe even the hotels intervene in cases like this or maybe edit the review like mentioned above quite often.

My advise: GET IN CONTACT WITH THE HOTEL DIRECTLY BEFORE GOING TO STAY THERE AND YOU RATHER GET WHAT YOU WANT !

Enjoy travelling !

Edited January 10, 2006 by Khun Yak

[ding]

Good advice Khun Yak. I did contact the hotels to confirm and felt easier for it.

Usually I just show up in LOS and wing it, but I had kids along and it was high season.

Special rates I've seen on these sites are less that I could get asking at the desk, except in Khao San Road area.

I come here for unadulterated info

[frenchFARANGbkk]

I just made a check (asiarooms) on a good upcountry Thailand hotel (they have the lowest listed rates) but if you have a child of 4 years you pay an extra 590 baht per night (50% of room rate). I know the hotel is not charging that so wonder what exactly that gets you (no bed according to web site). I know the hotel price for an extra bed/person is only 500 baht.

ASK THE HOTEL DIRECTLY. They should be usually able to answer your questions best and they should be able to give you the best price by booking directly with them as well just because the save the commission of the website by selling the room by themseves. If they don't want to get back to your email/questions, you can still bock them through a website if you still like to. Done exactly this a few times and it simply worked out perfect.

Really? I never found any hotel which could give me at least the same price I could get on internet. So no need to mention cheaper.

[AsiaWolfie]

there are numerous internet-booking-options to get rooms cheaper than asiarooms (not to say: less hassle).

when it comes to discounted rates: the more expensive the hotel's rack rate is, the more likely you will get a (huge) discount by booking with one of the TRUSTFUL (e.g.: NOT asiarooms) internet booking websites.

but most inexpensive hotels in the range of 400-800 Baht or so, especially those upcountry which seldom receive bookings from websites, dont give discount to internet-hotel brokers. thats from my very own experience as I travelled to more than 20 provinces in 2548 (some very remote areas). its always helpful to call the hotel directly before booking online....

[Je6509]

there are numerous internet-booking-options to get rooms cheaper than asiarooms (not to say: less hassle).

when it comes to discounted rates: the more expensive the hotel's rack rate is, the more likely you will get a (huge) discount by booking with one of the TRUSTFUL (e.g.: NOT asiarooms) internet booking websites.

but most inexpensive hotels in the range of 400-800 Baht or so, especially those upcountry which seldom receive bookings from websites, dont give discount to internet-hotel brokers. thats from my very own experience as I travelled to more than 20 provinces in 2548 (some very remote areas). its always helpful to call the hotel directly before booking online....

Hi AsiaWolfie,

I use asiarooms.com often for my bookings in Thailand as well as Singapore and trust them.

I never experienced any problems with them, and got what I paid for. Before booking, I checked the rates on other websites, and found them cheaper. This is why I made bookings, and I was happy with their service. I received a message on my mobile phone (about 24 hours later) to advise me when the booking was confirmed.

I would rather recommend asiarooms.

[ding]

Anyone care to recommend trustworthy sites to book through?

I have 'octopustravel.com' so far.

[cdnvic]

Anyone care to recommend trustworthy sites to book through?

I have 'octopustravel.com' so far.

http://hotels.thaivisa.com/

cv