Booking com

[uli65]

Hello! I would like to use booking com. Will go patong next week and I see they have some good rooms for a decent price. Any feedback about this company.

thanks

[taxout]

1. Booking.com and the other booking sites don't really do any background check on the hotels they list. They show whatever descriptions and photos the hotels provide. It's important to understand this.

2. So long as there's no problem with the booking when you arrive, then booking.com and its competitors work fine, and are a great convenience. In most cases -- 80-90 percent of the time in my experience -- there is no problem.

3. When there is a problem -- the room's not available as booked, the hotel wants more money, the promised "ocean view" doesn't exist, etc etc -- then you'll find yourself in a computer-controlled morass. In particular, if the room doesn't match what was promised and you walk, then you will be hassled for the room charge as a no-show by booking.com (which wants its commission). To protect yourself, document the problem with photos and contact booking.com as soon as possible with your complaint. This will waste a good deal of your time.

4. Read the site very carefully for all the terms and conditions, especially extra amounts payable at the hotel and cancellation conditions and penalties.

5. Since you can't rely on the hotel-provided photos and descriptions, you have to read the reviews, using Google Translate if necessary. And Google the reviews on other booking sites as well.

6. Look at the location and the map carefully; smaller places in particular are often extremely difficult to find without a map in hand, and sometimes you've no choice but to call the place for directions.

7. If you get upset at booking.com and decide to head to a competitor, remember that booking.com, Agoda and Kayak are all owned by the same company, Priceline.

Edited October 3, 2015 by taxout

[Amusements]

I Have used booking.com over 10 times, and have had some great deals. I have also used thier support, and been delt with quickly and efficently, so I would recommend them based on my own personal experience.

[neitmoj]

I agree with taxout on points 1-2 and 4-7. I've used Booking-com many times and I have no experience of point 3. In addition:

1. Booking, payment, and cancelation conditions are set by each hotel, not Booking.com, so there's a lot of variation.

2. Booking-com quotes may or may not include taxes. That's always indicated clearly, but be sure to read that and calculate the total price before booking if the quote excludes taxes.

2. First use Booking.com to identify a place you like in terms or description, location, and price. Then do a search to see if the hotel has its own website and perhaps offers lower prices. Sometimes, the Booking.com price is higher, sometimes the same, and sometimes lower. I recently spent a week in Cornwall and Devon and staying in B&Bs and in every case, the Booking-com price was about £5 higher.

3. A big plus point is that Booking.com will not let you review a hotel unless you booked through its website and presumably actually stayed there. TripAdvisor let's anyone write anything, including presumably owners or business rivals, so TripAdvisor reviews are totally unreliable, whereas Booking-com reviews are generally spot on, give or take variation in personal preferences.

4. The Booking-com map is far easier to use than the Agoda equivalent.

On balance, I have no complaints.

[phuketrichard]

You will NEVER get a lower price at the hotel direct online than booking.com or agoda ( both owned by Priceline ) offers. They are not allowed to and if the staff finds out they offer a lower price online they will be dropped.

I have never had a problem with them and love being able to book the room and cancel 2 days ( average) before i need show up and incur no extra fees.

[patekatek]

Note, too, that Booking dot com prices include the VAT and Service Charge (17%) in their quotes. Agoda does not show these charges up front. At least for the Thailand hotels, this is the case. Not sure of other countries as I only use these agencies for Thailand travel.

[uli65]

thanks for all the information

[South]

Why not book directly with the hotel? That way the 18+% the hotel has to pay the booking companies can be used to offer better amenities/services for their guests.

[pieeyed]

I have used booking.com the most out of all the companies and have found that they usually have the best deals. Quite often you can get offered upgrades for very cheap prices.

[taxout]

"Why not book directly with the hotel?"

The booking sites offer instant confirmation, 24/7.

Booking direct with a hotel means using their website or calling them or sending an email. Smaller hotels at least rarely seem to update their websites, if they have one, with rack rates not current rates usually listed. Instant confirmation is also rare, and you'll probably get a reply the next day sometime. Same for sending an email. Calling is a hassle, especially when there's a language issue.

[rocketboybkk]

I agree with taxout on points 1-2 and 4-7. I've used Booking-com many times and I have no experience of point 3. In addition:

1. Booking, payment, and cancelation conditions are set by each hotel, not Booking.com, so there's a lot of variation.

2. Booking-com quotes may or may not include taxes. That's always indicated clearly, but be sure to read that and calculate the total price before booking if the quote excludes taxes.

2. First use Booking.com to identify a place you like in terms or description, location, and price. Then do a search to see if the hotel has its own website and perhaps offers lower prices. Sometimes, the Booking.com price is higher, sometimes the same, and sometimes lower. I recently spent a week in Cornwall and Devon and staying in B&Bs and in every case, the Booking-com price was about £5 higher.

3. A big plus point is that Booking.com will not let you review a hotel unless you booked through its website and presumably actually stayed there. TripAdvisor let's anyone write anything, including presumably owners or business rivals, so TripAdvisor reviews are totally unreliable, whereas Booking-com reviews are generally spot on, give or take variation in personal preferences.

4. The Booking-com map is far easier to use than the Agoda equivalent.

On balance, I have no complaints.

I might agree if I could be bothered to read the whole post

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JMWPACIFIC]

1. Booking.com and the other booking sites don't really do any background check on the hotels they list. They show whatever descriptions and photos the hotels provide. It's important to understand this.

2. So long as there's no problem with the booking when you arrive, then booking.com and its competitors work fine, and are a great convenience. In most cases -- 80-90 percent of the time in my experience -- there is no problem.

3. When there is a problem -- the room's not available as booked, the hotel wants more money, the promised "ocean view" doesn't exist, etc etc -- then you'll find yourself in a computer-controlled morass. In particular, if the room doesn't match what was promised and you walk, then you will be hassled for the room charge as a no-show by booking.com (which wants its commission). To protect yourself, document the problem with photos and contact booking.com as soon as possible with your complaint. This will waste a good deal of your time.

4. Read the site very carefully for all the terms and conditions, especially extra amounts payable at the hotel and cancellation conditions and penalties.

5. Since you can't rely on the hotel-provided photos and descriptions, you have to read the reviews, using Google Translate if necessary. And Google the reviews on other booking sites as well.

6. Look at the location and the map carefully; smaller places in particular are often extremely difficult to find without a map in hand, and sometimes you've no choice but to call the place for directions.

7. If you get upset at booking.com and decide to head to a competitor, remember that booking.com, Agoda and Kayak are all owned by the same company, Priceline.

Agree with all you've said plus I would pay particular attention to the payment & cancellation provisions. My experience with booking.com though has always been good with no problems.

[smokie36]

Before booking on any of these sites you should check the reviews on Tripadvisor and pay attention in particular to any detailed bad reviews.

Usually those will give you the clearest picture of what to expect.

[tolsti]

I have used booking.com on several occasions and like the range of hotels they have agreements with. I have not used them out of Thailand. I do like not having to pay up front to make a booking which they offer on a number of hotels. Cancellation is also easy and hassle free.

[asanee]

Good overview of taxout.

What Phu-rich claims is NOT true anymore, at least here in EURope now. There have been several court-procedures about it and hotels/accomm are now free to quote lower prices if they so want on own sites, on the ground or whatever. Ans I myself have found this to be true. The booking site has indeed been adapted to reflect this. There have before also been procedures about its exxaggerated claims about ''no more rooms left for tomorrow'' etc-they also were forced to blow a little less high.

Agoda is a sub-site of booking, as is hostelworld (specialising on hoStels=multi bed dorms). HW still wants customers to pay a commission upfront when booking, the acomm sees nothing of that.

[phuketrichard]

Before booking on any of these sites you should check the reviews on Tripadvisor and pay attention in particular to any detailed bad reviews.

Usually those will give you the clearest picture of what to expect.

point in fact

reviews on trip advisor are worthless compared to the ones u will see on booking.com, agoda, hotel travel etc

reason is on TA u do not have to have stayed at the establishment to make a review

on the hotel sites u MUST have stayed there to post a review

[phuketrichard]

Good overview of taxout.

What Phu-rich claims is NOT true anymore, at least here in EURope now. There have been several court-procedures about it and hotels/accomm are now free to quote lower prices if they so want on own sites, on the ground or whatever. Ans I myself have found this to be true. The booking site has indeed been adapted to reflect this. There have before also been procedures about its exxaggerated claims about ''no more rooms left for tomorrow'' etc-they also were forced to blow a little less high.

Agoda is a sub-site of booking, as is hostelworld (specialising on hoStels=multi bed dorms). HW still wants customers to pay a commission upfront when booking, the acomm sees nothing of that.

Agoda is NOT a sub site of booking.com

Both are owned by Priceline ( as is hotelsbycity.com, who i work for as a second tier affiliate.) Kayak & Hotwire Hotel

of course u can offer a lower price BUT if u do, (at least here in Asia) the hotel booking site will no longer work with you ( its in ur contract) . and as most hotels get upwards of 65% or more of their guests thru the hotel booking site they will not offer a lower price

PS: looking for deals>

start here

Name ur own price on Priceline

http://www.wikihow.com/Bid-on-Priceline

Edited October 5, 2015 by phuketrichard

[wileycoyote]

Booking .com OK for me in both Japan & Thailand

[STMx]

I did not have any problems with booking.com

There are a lot of such websites in Internet.

[AlexRRR]

I have used booking.com on several occasions and like the range of hotels they have agreements with. I have not used them out of Thailand. I do like not having to pay up front to make a booking which they offer on a number of hotels. Cancellation is also easy and hassle free.

Your wrong about that, a Ko Saumai hotel deducted the whole amount on booking,,,,3 months in advance when i booked through Booking.com, apparently each hotel has its own set of rules...read the fine print.

Also had issues with a hotel in New Dehli, wasn't anything like its description and to top it off it hadn't been cleaned, well my room in weeks, did a deal with the manager when i refused another room, paid one night got off the other 3 left after one hour, Booking.com did absolutely nothing several emails and pictures of my disgust, so folks your on your own.

These days i use AirBNB in Thailand much better value, outside of Thailand i use Booking.com sometimes but only sometimes I'm still disgusted in the way they fobbed me off and took no responsibility, really there just a broker no visual checks anything goes....ho and where possible i book direct with the hotel once I've looked through sites like Booking.com, its 50/50 sometimes cheaper sometimes not.

[Spaniel]

I have used several hotel booking sites here in Thailand and found bookings.com to be the best.

[konying]

You will NEVER get a lower price at the hotel direct online than booking.com or agoda ( both owned by Priceline ) offers. They are not allowed to and if the staff finds out they offer a lower price online they will be dropped.

I have never had a problem with them and love being able to book the room and cancel 2 days ( average) before i need show up and incur no extra fees.

Very incorrect.

There is no rule and nothing to stop hotel from selling room at a cheaper rate and no hotel will not be dropped .

The only condition is that hotel can not advertise cheaper rate on other websites.

[konying]

Good overview of taxout.

What Phu-rich claims is NOT true anymore, at least here in EURope now. There have been several court-procedures about it and hotels/accomm are now free to quote lower prices if they so want on own sites, on the ground or whatever. Ans I myself have found this to be true. The booking site has indeed been adapted to reflect this. There have before also been procedures about its exxaggerated claims about ''no more rooms left for tomorrow'' etc-they also were forced to blow a little less high.

Agoda is a sub-site of booking, as is hostelworld (specialising on hoStels=multi bed dorms). HW still wants customers to pay a commission upfront when booking, the acomm sees nothing of that.

Agoda is NOT a sub site of booking.com

Both are owned by Priceline ( as is hotelsbycity.com, who i work for as a second tier affiliate.) Kayak & Hotwire Hotel

of course u can offer a lower price BUT if u do, (at least here in Asia) the hotel booking site will no longer work with you ( its in ur contract) . and as most hotels get upwards of 65% or more of their guests thru the hotel booking site they will not offer a lower price

PS: looking for deals>

start here

Name ur own price on Priceline

http://www.wikihow.com/Bid-on-Priceline

Incorrect again .

In the contract it only states offering cheaper rates on other sites , it does not mean in person or over the phone.

And no they will not drop hotel, they will however call non stop annoying you if they see hotel being offered through other site even at 25 satang cheaper .

[GARYZX6R]

You will NEVER get a lower price at the hotel direct online than booking.com or agoda ( both owned by Priceline ) offers. They are not allowed to and if the staff finds out they offer a lower price online they will be dropped.

I have never had a problem with them and love being able to book the room and cancel 2 days ( average) before i need show up and incur no extra fees.

False Info..The last two bookings i made in Bangkok were with the hotels booking system,both cheaper than Booking and Agoda which both had the same price.

[phuketrichard]

Good overview of taxout.

What Phu-rich claims is NOT true anymore, at least here in EURope now. There have been several court-procedures about it and hotels/accomm are now free to quote lower prices if they so want on own sites, on the ground or whatever. Ans I myself have found this to be true. The booking site has indeed been adapted to reflect this. There have before also been procedures about its exxaggerated claims about ''no more rooms left for tomorrow'' etc-they also were forced to blow a little less high.

Agoda is a sub-site of booking, as is hostelworld (specialising on hoStels=multi bed dorms). HW still wants customers to pay a commission upfront when booking, the acomm sees nothing of that.

Agoda is NOT a sub site of booking.com

Both are owned by Priceline ( as is hotelsbycity.com, who i work for as a second tier affiliate.) Kayak & Hotwire Hotel

of course u can offer a lower price BUT if u do, (at least here in Asia) the hotel booking site will no longer work with you ( its in ur contract) . and as most hotels get upwards of 65% or more of their guests thru the hotel booking site they will not offer a lower price

PS: looking for deals>

start here

Name ur own price on Priceline

http://www.wikihow.com/Bid-on-Priceline

Incorrect again .

In the contract it only states offering cheaper rates on other sites , it does not mean in person or over the phone.

And no they will not drop hotel, they will however call non stop annoying you if they see hotel being offered through other site even at 25 satang cheaper .

when u sign up, you sign a contract that states you will NOT offer lower prices for your rooms ON YOUR website

wha u do with call in and walk in guests is up to the hotel

[PocoLoco]

I have used booking.com over 100 times, i love it and rarely use any other service.

You just have to be smart when it comes to booking. My rules are as follows.

1. Minimum review score by customers of 8 and higher

2. Nothing under 2000 THB, usually 3500+ THB for the better hotels.

3. No reviews? Then don't book

4. 4 stars minimum, 5 stars prefered which is very afforable in Thailand anyway.

If i have doubts i also check the reviews on tripadvisor.com and do a google search.

I always use the booking.com searchfilter to apply the rules, it saves me a lot of hassle (and potential problems/disappointments later on).

[konying]

Good overview of taxout.

What Phu-rich claims is NOT true anymore, at least here in EURope now. There have been several court-procedures about it and hotels/accomm are now free to quote lower prices if they so want on own sites, on the ground or whatever. Ans I myself have found this to be true. The booking site has indeed been adapted to reflect this. There have before also been procedures about its exxaggerated claims about ''no more rooms left for tomorrow'' etc-they also were forced to blow a little less high.

Agoda is a sub-site of booking, as is hostelworld (specialising on hoStels=multi bed dorms). HW still wants customers to pay a commission upfront when booking, the acomm sees nothing of that.

Agoda is NOT a sub site of booking.com

Both are owned by Priceline ( as is hotelsbycity.com, who i work for as a second tier affiliate.) Kayak & Hotwire Hotel

of course u can offer a lower price BUT if u do, (at least here in Asia) the hotel booking site will no longer work with you ( its in ur contract) . and as most hotels get upwards of 65% or more of their guests thru the hotel booking site they will not offer a lower price

PS: looking for deals>

start here

Name ur own price on Priceline

http://www.wikihow.com/Bid-on-Priceline

Incorrect again .

In the contract it only states offering cheaper rates on other sites , it does not mean in person or over the phone.

And no they will not drop hotel, they will however call non stop annoying you if they see hotel being offered through other site even at 25 satang cheaper .

when u sign up, you sign a contract that states you will NOT offer lower prices for your rooms ON YOUR website

wha u do with call in and walk in guests is up to the hotel

Exactly, but this is not what you said. You said staff can not sell for cheaper.

Contract states ONLY about advertised rate on other sites, including hotels own site, it does not stop me from having huge sign with cheaper rate or offer cheaper rate to walk in guests or over the phone.

I can also offer a rebate on my own site, making it cheaper.

[anotheruser]

You will NEVER get a lower price at the hotel direct online than booking.com or agoda ( both owned by Priceline ) offers. They are not allowed to and if the staff finds out they offer a lower price online they will be dropped.

I have never had a problem with them and love being able to book the room and cancel 2 days ( average) before i need show up and incur no extra fees.

That may be true online but use booking.com to book your first night and you will find that most owners will drop the rate for the rest of your stay if they are not full. Booking.com charges 15%. Seems the formula at least where I live is double your prices and add 15%. Don Det island used to have many rooms for $5 now most hover around the $20 mark. The cancellation policy makes me smile a bit. The more people that book and cancel later the more tired people get of it. Many places have reservations that aren't only from booking.com.

Next time you cancel a room and the next place you didn't put a deposit on is over booked think about it. Booking.com is aware this is a problem for small businesses and are already planning to implement a guaranteed payment policy. All of that said I love booking.com they keep me full in the low season and keep the prices up. I used to sell rooms for $5 this time of year and now they are $20.

I don't make exceptions because they can cancel anytime and they do. In big hotels in the west you might find rooms cheaper and in some cases if you ask at the lobby they will tell you to book through booking.com.

However they have doubled the prices of small bungalows and rooms in other places. They are currently aggressively marketing systems for holding funds from customers and trying to sell small owners websites so they can control that too. As a business owner what I love about them is they take the face to face haggling out of the equation. No discount is ever necessary when you use their service. My independent website that mentions no prices leads only to booking.com under the contact us button.

[anotheruser]

Why not book directly with the hotel? That way the 18+% the hotel has to pay the booking companies can be used to offer better amenities/services for their guests.

Because any savings are lost when people show up and haggle. The customer will not in my experience let the hotel itself keep this. Also as I mentioned in my earlier post hotels tend to double their prices and add the 15% to the top.

To clarify that is my position as a property owner. If I am the customer I am aware of the fees and can generally get the same amount off in regards to smaller establishments. Any smart owner that deals with booking.com asks the money up front if you stay at least during the high season. They do not guarantee payment.

Edited October 24, 2015 by anotheruser

[Razzler1973]

Why not book directly with the hotel? That way the 18+% the hotel has to pay the booking companies can be used to offer better amenities/services for their guests.

I have checked stuff on booking.com and agoda for places that I sort of know about or have stayed in the past. I have called them and asked current prices if I haven't been for a year or so and often quoted lower prices, particularly in low season. Have told them more expensive on agoda or booking and then agreed the price with them

Even paid using paypal and got the booking confirmation direct from them or given them a small deposit

Maybe that's a low season thing but a couple have requested I do that rather than pay the 17 or 18%. One in particular I wanted a certain room overlooking the sea so called to check if a particular room number was available then I will book 'sea view' on agoda and make a note I want that room (now I know it's available) but they said no, no, no ... do it direct, etc