Somehow, that is not sticking to the truth ,as stated in the Thai news letter I get every day.

I just spent the last 3 weeks in Bangkok and have been so far in 3 dif hotels and booking my stay with Expedia

was a big saving, compaired to the suggested partner site Booking Com.

As an example the 3th hotel I stayed was priced with B/C for $512 AU for 5 nights,

And I got with Expedia for $334.

I can make a simular repeat for the other 2, I stayed in.

And I am going to book my fourth one before I leave.

Any feedback can be very helpfull to other members.

Thanks all

 

I think that no matter what you are looking for it always pays to consult several comparison websites before deciding as there is no single best answer. This certainly applies to flights comparison sites. You should also check prices direct from the provider as occasionally they will have offers that are not available via comparison engines.

Check the hotel's own site before making a decision. You'll discover either one of two things.

 

1. The discounted price quoted by the booking site is the same as the one offered on the hotel's own site.
2. The cost of the room is cheaper if you book directly with the hotel.

People seem to believe those 'discounted' prices some of which are inflated beyond belief. That's how these booking sites like Booking.com and Expedia make their money i.e. by appearing to offer dramatic savings on hotel rates. It never ceases to amaze me how gullible people are.

Seen on Agoda once they had the rack rate 3,300 baht and on the hotels website it was 1,980 baht, made Agoda look like they had a big discount wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.

I found on 3 occations that booking direct with the hotel by telephone or walk-in

is far more expensive than booking with an agent.

As an exemple the cost of staying at "G.D.Suites"

at Phatunam is via Expedia 2400 bath  p/night and when I decided to stay another week the rate was 4000 bath,told by hotel reception.

The lady said  "Why don't you book again with your agent"

So I did, and book with the agent again.

To me the hotel is loosing out and would make more profit by handling the booking themself.( And get paid on the spot)

I know that agents will charge at least 15% com.

The same routine happened with the next 2 hotels we stayed in.

Book thru an agent  and you save heaps.

Now this is not true in Aust, the opposit is the norm.

It's definitely worth checking the hotel's own website as sometimes there are some good deals to be had. A number of properties are offering book direct deals to avoid paying commision to the OTAs etc. One property I know of were offering up to 40% discount room only by booking direct which well undercut the price elsewhere and another was offering free airport transfer, 5 pieces of laundry and complimentary mini bar by booking direct. Of course always check the conditions because when I worked in the industry a number of guests thought the special Early Bird price conditions of no cancellations, amendments or refunds didn't apply to them with one guy threatening to inform the police of the hotel's "scam" when he wanted to cancel but couldn't. That's why you got a THB 4000 room for THB 2500 brainiac. You takes the risk...

 

"Trivago" does site comparisons and comes up with the best deal instead of trolling through individual sites.

It then directs you to the site that offers the best deal whether that be Wotif, Expedia etc.

Openroomz does the same as Trivago...

My thank-you to sipi and Clamhua for their site referrals. Checked them out and look good, will be using for my next trip.

7 hours ago, Clamhua said:

Openroomz does the same as Trivago...

 

Possibly so, but the girl in the Trivago ad is soooo cute I know which hotel booking site my fingers stray to