Asiarooms.com Censored My Hotel Review.

[cdnvic]

Aside from the reviews written on the site (only a few independent booking agencies will have all the reviews) do a web search for that hotel. Some of the most honest reviews will be in forums and travel blogs, not on the hotel site.

[palm]

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%.

Yes, AsiaRooms SUCK - how can you possibly use a service that when you book tells you to wait 3 days or so for confirmation of the room is available? 60 minutes should be the maximum. I once made the fatal mistake of using them to book a 5 star hotel in Hong Kong, only to get a reply 3 days later - 'sorry that hotel is not available'. They are a joke.

[guru]

Used them many times and more than happy with their service when booking a couple of weeks in advance.

Only advice I'll give is if youre doing a last minute booking they're not the best because its hit and miss. Just like the above poster I was given 2 fully booked replies at 3 day intervals which meant I had wasted 6 days and ended up booking direct with a different hotel (dearer rates) as I had run out of time.

Edited March 20, 2007 by guru

[cdnvic]

That's not really their fault. If you want instant confirmation, book with Travelocity and pay double. If you want something closer to the local rate, you need to play the game. The hotels are the ones who won't commit to a price.

Faster confirmation and higher prices

or

Wait a bit and get lower prices

Can't have both. Make your choice.

[Maxman]

Used them many times and more than happy with their service when booking a couple of weeks in advance.

Only advice I'll give is if youre doing a last minute booking they're not the best because its hit and miss. Just like the above poster I was given 2 fully booked replies at 3 day intervals which meant I had wasted 6 days and ended up booking direct with a different hotel (dearer rates) as I had run out of time.

I dont't date to book with Asiarooms. Always hear loads of its bad reputation about refund and some cheating to clients. Never use it.

[mrtoad]

Before I lived in Thailand, I always used to use hoteltravel.com when travelling to Asia - always found them to efficient and I never had any problems.

[Carmine6]

I've used Asiarooms 5 or 6 times and I usually book just days in advance. In busy season they are not a good option since they are so cheap that the hotels basically run out of the cheap rooms. I'm one of the folks whose reviews have been edited by them, but I do find that the star ratings don't seem to be messed with. I've never stayed at a hotel and found the star rating to be different than what I would have given.

Agoda dot com is similar in rates, and just slightly cheaper in most cases, but has much fewer hotels. For last minute bookings they do often have some hotels with instant confirmation rather than the wait. It shows as a green reserve button instead of the blue button. But they are generally not my first choice of hotels, as you'd expect. However, I have not been disappointed in the hotels in the 3 or 4 times I have booked last minute. They also require you to use live chat for bookings within 72 hours which can be a tedious ordeal if you haven't already selected a few choices to try. But that way you are confirmed or not confirmed by the end of the chat.

[citizen33]

The Director of International Relations at my university had a bad experience with Asiarooms when he followed advice and tried to cancel a reservation right after the coup. He had prepaid and they deducted the whole payment (I think about 4 nights at a posh Bangkok hotel). They wouldn't budge and this led him to send out an 'all staff' warning about the company. Not a very smart bit of marketing.

[ClaytonSeymour]

For anyone who's interested Asiarooms.com is now part of TUI Travel plc so, that ought to remove fear of using their service. I haven't used them for several months so, I don't know what impact this will have on their service (I would have thought it will give them much more clout). In my experience, I can only say that on most occasions the experience has been positive, though I accept that trying to book specific hotels with them at short notice wasn't always successful, so in those circumstances I tend to look elsewhere. As for reviews, I can only assume that those who have had reviews removed must have gone way over the top; In my experience they publish both negative and positive reviews (there are plenty of negative hotel reviews on their site).

[onethailand]

Thanks for pulling this up, Clayton - I hadn't dug down deeply to see other threads about reviews.

AsiaRooms - I didn't know about a lot of the things that have been posted in here - but I did know that the rates they were quoting were lower than they should've been - you can blame it on an inaccurate exchange rate, or just gamesmanship, but I know they could not have sold at those prices.

I believe Lopburi also mentioned something about an extra bed being 500 baht - the reason they charged 590 is almost surely because there is a 17.7% tax at hotels and somehow it was not tacked on to the extra bed charge.

But enough about them and Sawasdee - I'll have to let my site do the talking once it's up. But you can forget the unscrupulous stuff because I refuse to play that game. Never heard anything bad about Agoda or DirectRooms though.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Thanks for pulling this up, Clayton - I hadn't dug down deeply to see other threads about reviews.

AsiaRooms - I didn't know about a lot of the things that have been posted in here - but I did know that the rates they were quoting were lower than they should've been - you can blame it on an inaccurate exchange rate, or just gamesmanship, but I know they could not have sold at those prices.

I believe Lopburi also mentioned something about an extra bed being 500 baht - the reason they charged 590 is almost surely because there is a 17.7% tax at hotels and somehow it was not tacked on to the extra bed charge.

But enough about them and Sawasdee - I'll have to let my site do the talking once it's up. But you can forget the unscrupulous stuff because I refuse to play that game. Never heard anything bad about Agoda or DirectRooms though.

Yes, I've used Agoda (planetholiday) a couple of times and that was positive too - the advantage over Asiarooms despite being more expensive is instant confirmation. Never tried Directrooms, used Sawasdee a couple of times & again no problem but, a little more expensive than the other two although you always seem to get the hotel you want. I've also used hotelclub.net & totalstay.com with success, though the latter is much more expensive (UK based I seem to remember).

I think the policy of blocking credit cards before the hotel is booked is what upsets a lot of people with Asiarooms, though in my experience at least, it's always been refunded a couple of days or so later if the booking failed. I first started using them when they were known as siam.net, at the time I seem to remember it being easier to get your hotel of choice; though admittedly I probably used to book earlier then. I believe they had individual sites for different countries then it was all amalgamated into one web site. I've used Asiarooms for a hotel in London (once) didn't get our first choice though so, I just took the hotel they offered but, again it was short notice.

I shall certainly give your site a try once it's up and running.

[CarlBkk]

Myself and my wife booked the Millennium Hilton BKK through Asiarooms last year. I had the email confirmation which included breakfast - when looking on their site I didn't remember selecting this option, but nevertheless I thought I must have done. We therefore went to breakfast, and upon check-out found that the hotel was charging us for it (something crazy like £25 each). After telling them that it was included, they called Asiarooms several times who continued to say that it wasn't included and that we would have to pay. I printed off the confirmation, showed it to the hotel who faxed it back to Asiarooms. It turned out that THEY had made a mistake and had given us breakfast by mistake. It was too late...if I thought it definitely wasn't in our room rate and that we'd have to pay such a sum for it, we wouldn't have gone to breakfast.

It didn't stop there. I then had the booking girl from Asiarooms telephone my mobile saying that I must pay for it, because I went. I was shocked to the point of nearly laughing, explaining to her that it was Asiarooms mistake. The hotel said I didn't have to pay it, but the phone calls didn't stop. I checked out, then for the next two days I got stronger and stronger emails from the Asiarooms rep trying to make me look like the bad man for not paying, and that I should change my mind, stop cheating, and pay the hotel or she will have a problem from her boss. Unbelievable. I very nearly reported her to the boss, but when you have such a company whereby it's policy to deduct staff wages for any mistakes made in the company name, you know the ethics are terrible.

The same thing happens with the banks - if a cashier makes a mistake with currency conversion and later finds out, they will badger the teller into recovering the money or he/she will have to repay it. My parents got hounded at the Marriott for this very thing with so many calls to the room and eventually a guy camped outside their room to try and recover the money. I wonder how easy it would be to get the money back if they made a mistake in THEIR favour?

[onethailand]

Myself and my wife booked the Millennium Hilton BKK through Asiarooms last year. I had the email confirmation which included breakfast - when looking on their site I didn't remember selecting this option, but nevertheless I thought I must have done. We therefore went to breakfast, and upon check-out found that the hotel was charging us for it (something crazy like £25 each). After telling them that it was included, they called Asiarooms several times who continued to say that it wasn't included and that we would have to pay. I printed off the confirmation, showed it to the hotel who faxed it back to Asiarooms. It turned out that THEY had made a mistake and had given us breakfast by mistake. It was too late...if I thought it definitely wasn't in our room rate and that we'd have to pay such a sum for it, we wouldn't have gone to breakfast.

It didn't stop there. I then had the booking girl from Asiarooms telephone my mobile saying that I must pay for it, because I went. I was shocked to the point of nearly laughing, explaining to her that it was Asiarooms mistake. The hotel said I didn't have to pay it, but the phone calls didn't stop. I checked out, then for the next two days I got stronger and stronger emails from the Asiarooms rep trying to make me look like the bad man for not paying, and that I should change my mind, stop cheating, and pay the hotel or she will have a problem from her boss. Unbelievable. I very nearly reported her to the boss, but when you have such a company whereby it's policy to deduct staff wages for any mistakes made in the company name, you know the ethics are terrible.

The same thing happens with the banks - if a cashier makes a mistake with currency conversion and later finds out, they will badger the teller into recovering the money or he/she will have to repay it. My parents got hounded at the Marriott for this very thing with so many calls to the room and eventually a guy camped outside their room to try and recover the money. I wonder how easy it would be to get the money back if they made a mistake in THEIR favour?

All that hassle over breakfast? You think they would make enough money that they should be able to cover their own mistakes...

Many of the high-end properties actually don't include breakfast in their rates. Some do - but there are a few that will quote only in US$ - and those are the ones usually who don't provide breakfast in the rate.

[asiancup2007]

- from the TUI travel website.......

TUI Travel PLC

Trading Update

Within Online Destination Services, we have strengthened our position

further in the Asia Pacific region by agreeing to acquire asiarooms.com, a

leading online B2C provider of hotel accommodation in Asia. Asiarooms.com has

established itself as a significant online retailer of accommodation by applying

leading edge technology and web capabilities in one of the fastest growing

travel markets. Its main source markets are the USA, UK, Singapore and Australia

serving key destinations of Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. In the

current year, the business is on track to sell nearly 4m bed nights. This

acquisition adds to our growing position in the Asia Pacific region and online

accommodation market where we continue to see excellent growth and margin

opportunities for the Group going forward.

[B-BOY]

agreeing to acquire asiarooms.com, a

leading online B2C provider of hotel accommodation in Asia. Asiarooms.com has

established itself as a significant online retailer of accommodation by applying

leading edge technology and web capabilities in one of the fastest growing

travel markets. Its main source markets are the USA, UK, Singapore and Australia

serving key destinations of Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. In the

current year, the business is on track to sell nearly 4m bed nights. This

acquisition adds to our growing position in the Asia Pacific region and online

accommodation market where we continue to see excellent growth and margin

opportunities for the Group going forward.

and winner is Asiarooms.com. Looking at their About us page, it amazes me that such a reputet company as TUI would buy a Pattaya based online company, with such an obvious and apparent lack of transparency not even offering a simple email address. No names of management team or ownership, which surely must be for some reason.....

[ClaytonSeymour]

agreeing to acquire asiarooms.com, a

leading online B2C provider of hotel accommodation in Asia. Asiarooms.com has

established itself as a significant online retailer of accommodation by applying

leading edge technology and web capabilities in one of the fastest growing

travel markets. Its main source markets are the USA, UK, Singapore and Australia

serving key destinations of Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. In the

current year, the business is on track to sell nearly 4m bed nights. This

acquisition adds to our growing position in the Asia Pacific region and online

accommodation market where we continue to see excellent growth and margin

opportunities for the Group going forward.

and winner is Asiarooms.com. Looking at their About us page, it amazes me that such a reputet company as TUI would buy a Pattaya based online company, with such an obvious and apparent lack of transparency not even offering a simple email address. No names of management team or ownership, which surely must be for some reason.....

They certainly are the winners; no doubt the management team you refer to have done very well out of this. Anyway, I'll reiterate, neither myself, my family and associates have had any problems with them despite countless bookings. The only issue I've experienced is that if you don't book early enough - generally you wont get the hotel of choice. As I've already mentioned, the practice of blocking your credit card for each booking attempt is disliked by many but, I can honestly say that we've got it back 2 or 3 days later and any difference in hotel rates has always been reimbursed likewise.

[onethailand]

As I've already mentioned, the practice of blocking your credit card for each booking attempt is disliked by many but, I can honestly say that we've got it back 2 or 3 days later and any difference in hotel rates has always been reimbursed likewise.

Never realized they actually authorize your card before a booking - I guess it's to prevent a bunch of unnecessary cancellations or change of minds.

I am not intending to even request your CC details for on-request bookings, unless I find that it becomes problematic. I will only take payment details for instant or CC guaranteed bookings, or after an on-request booking has been confirmed.

[ClaytonSeymour]

As I've already mentioned, the practice of blocking your credit card for each booking attempt is disliked by many but, I can honestly say that we've got it back 2 or 3 days later and any difference in hotel rates has always been reimbursed likewise.

Never realized they actually authorize your card before a booking - I guess it's to prevent a bunch of unnecessary cancellations or change of minds.

I am not intending to even request your CC details for on-request bookings, unless I find that it becomes problematic. I will only take payment details for instant or CC guaranteed bookings, or after an on-request booking has been confirmed.

They block the card for the total reservation fee; it's then unblocked which normally takes a couple of days if the booking was unsuccessful.

[vreemd13]

I personally had no problem with asiarooms.

Indeed, sometimes reply "hotel completely full". Maybe for the cheapest availabe rooms you think. However, once tried to book a more expensive room at such same "completely full hotel" hotel and same asiarooms message appeared. Called this hotel and I was able to book a room with free upgrade to more luxurious room. Knowing this I contacted asiarooms, but they were not able to do this upgrade. But the rate directly given by the hotel was much more expensive as asiarooms did offer online. Never noticed a transcript of such an unsuccessfully bookings. The credit card amount was always unblocked without problem.

BTW: I googled my asiarooms reviews and all of them were still correct and online to be found, even though some reviews had not been very positive. I just noticed that asiarooms has translations of my reviews in different language available. And even the negative reviews have been translated correctly. Was not aware of this translation, it is not mentioned anywhere, as far as I know.

[chicowoodduck]

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.

I've pretty much had the same experience with Asiarooms.com. Service / help / changes have always been prompt. The comments (both +/-) I have submitted have not been altered or changed in any manner. Maybe just lucky?

[THAILIBAN]

this topic can actually be closed now after they have been bought by TUI INTERNATIONAL. certainly a lot of things will change there soon.... and one thing for sure, this French guy with a dubious reputation in the tourism-scene made big bucks selling his company to such a "big player" as TUI....

[Samuian]

t... this French guy with a dubious reputation in the tourism-scene made big bucks selling his company to such a "big player" as TUI....

Business is all about making money - isn't it?

But HOW the money is made is the tiny difference!

I work for some time in the industry - there are a lot of "black sheep" out there!

But, the IT Agent is raking in money for a tiny service!

Most likely 10-15% a deal.

that is why they try to push the customer to pay all in advance, book inclusive, book the dearest room.. etc.

it's all just down to the use of common sense of the consumer - it's a jungle out there!

Some of the Agents, Hotel Review Sites do, out of legal reasons, allow the Hotel to edit the reviews...

it is rarely the Agent - it's usually the Hotels themselves - Marketing Companies.

And it has been said here before... there are plenty of ways to secure some proper Information via the www. plenty of travelsites, Forums, Travelocity... but be careful with "Hotel Reviews" its often their Marketing Manager or the Hotel itself...

I could bring plenty of examples...

But it is part of the game... nobody would buy goods on the market without checking them - so why then trust Internet Agencies?

It's ALL about money, no matter what they promise!

What did people do before 1997 and the massive taking over by the www. services... it all became so easy.. also for cheats!

[onethailand]

that is why they try to push the customer to pay all in advance, book inclusive, book the dearest room.. etc.

Point of clarification - the reason a site requires you to pay in advance in Thailand is because the hotels themselves require the agency to pay them in advance in order to get the special rates. It has nothing to do with pushing the customer. If the agency does not pay in advance there is no way a hotel will hold a room for you when they can sell it to someone else.

Not sure what you're referring to when you say "book inclusive". And there is certainly no reason to push a customer to book a dearer room, especially when the difference is only a few hundred baht. The only reason an agency should ask you to book a more expensive room is because the cheaper rooms are no longer available for that particular period of stay.

[THAILIBAN]

there are many websites who DON'T do that.

Hoteltravel.com for example, will only charge u a few days before ur actual arrival at the hotels, no matter how early u booked.

and other websites dont require full paymennt upfront.

for example, in Malaysia you can book with AWD (kl-hotels.com, for example) and they will only charge u 10% deposit at the time of booking, the rest u pay to the hotel directly upon check-in.

many ways lead to Rome, obviously.....

[onethailand]

there are many websites who DON'T do that.

Hoteltravel.com for example, will only charge u a few days before ur actual arrival at the hotels, no matter how early u booked.

and other websites dont require full paymennt upfront.

for example, in Malaysia you can book with AWD (kl-hotels.com, for example) and they will only charge u 10% deposit at the time of booking, the rest u pay to the hotel directly upon check-in.

many ways lead to Rome, obviously.....

I believe that with AWD, the 10% is actually the commission... that way they don't have to take the risk of chargebacks nor eat the credit card fees on a larger amount. Actually, it's not a bad idea - but not all hotels will allow this as it still poses a risk for them, and some hotels screw it up and try to charge you the whole amount which means you end up paying 110%.

Hoteltravel is a bit of an exception - they probably enter cancellation dates into their system, so you would be "warned" a few days before they need to make payment - but in some cases the cancellation date is still way in advance. Still, I think that's pretty useful.

But the majority of sites - including some of the biggest ones like Expedia - don't have similar capabilities and would prefer to get the transaction completed as soon as possible. I don't think I'd put AWD into a different category, but Hoteltravel's system looks fairly advanced in that regard.

[lazeeboy]

there are many websites who DON'T do that.

Hoteltravel.com for example, will only charge u a few days before ur actual arrival at the hotels, no matter how early u booked.

and other websites dont require full paymennt upfront.

for example, in Malaysia you can book with AWD (kl-hotels.com, for example) and they will only charge u 10% deposit at the time of booking, the rest u pay to the hotel directly upon check-in.

many ways lead to Rome, obviously.....

I believe that with AWD, the 10% is actually the commission... that way they don't have to take the risk of chargebacks nor eat the credit card fees on a larger amount. Actually, it's not a bad idea - but not all hotels will allow this as it still poses a risk for them, and some hotels screw it up and try to charge you the whole amount which means you end up paying 110%.

Hoteltravel is a bit of an exception - they probably enter cancellation dates into their system, so you would be "warned" a few days before they need to make payment - but in some cases the cancellation date is still way in advance. Still, I think that's pretty useful.

But the majority of sites - including some of the biggest ones like Expedia - don't have similar capabilities and would prefer to get the transaction completed as soon as possible. I don't think I'd put AWD into a different category, but Hoteltravel's system looks fairly advanced in that regard.

used asia rooms many times ,never had a problem ,maybe i've just been lucky .