Avoiding surprises when booking hotels online
On the Spot by Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm
[To read more On The Spot columns, click here.]
Question: I am planning a trip to Madrid this summer and want to use an online travel agency to book my hotel room. Not having used a service like this before, I want to see what pitfalls I could encounter. For instance, I don’t want to end up in a basement room or over the garbage dump, so how do I avoid surprises?
–Marvin Forman, Rolling Hills
Answer: I’ve booked scores of hotel rooms using online travel agencies, or OTAs, and I’ve not yet ended up in a dump or over one.
But Forman can help avoid that check-in shock by doing some extra homework, our experts say.
“Call the hotel — not the reservations number but the local number — and ask to speak with the manager or whoever is in charge. Just say, ” ‘listen, I’m about to book . . . and it’s for this price and I want to be sure it’s not one of your worst rooms,’ ” says John DiScala, founder of JohnnyJet.com, a compendium of travel information.
Tim Winship, editor at large of SmarterTravel.com, also advocates the preemptive call. But, he notes, if you don’t do that, and you find that you’re in a closet next to the ice machine, you can ask to be moved. You’ll probably be accommodated — one positive aspect of a down economy.
“I can’t think of any place in the country right now where hotels are running full, unless you happen to be there around the time of a convention or something like that,” Winship says. “But barring that, I think you’re pretty safe in assuming that there are going to be other rooms available if you’re not happy.”
And, as with all things in life, timing is everything. Although hotels don’t guarantee bed type, “if you get there around the earliest time you can check in . . . that definitely could help ensure you get exactly the option you booked,” says Dan Toporek, vice president of corporate communications for Travelocity.com.
Whether it’s online or regular bricks and mortar, the agency that has customer satisfaction guarantees and customer service numbers also can be your new best friend.
But, Toporek says, the time to call is when you’re there, not when you return. So keep that cellphone handy and program in the agency’s customer service number just in case.
You’ll sleep better for it.
Have a travel dilemma? Write to travel@latimes.com.
[Graphic: Diane Bigda / For The Times]
6 Comments on “Avoiding surprises when booking hotels online”
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February 12th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Considering that not everyone will be willing (or linguistically able) to call a hotel overseas to check on the type of room they’ll be getting, why not check a site like TripAdvisor first and see what other people think of it? That way you could avoid a situation like the one my friend found herself in in Hamburg. She booked a hotel online sight unseen, and when she got there she realized that it was primarily frequented by Ukrainian prostitutes and their “clients.”
February 12th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I often call the hotel itself before booking anyway, just to make sure I’m getting the best price. Sometimes third parties offer the better deal, sometimes not — never hurts to double-check!
February 12th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Generally speaking the general mgr
of a hotel will offer you the very best available rate. Online booking is an option with the hotels on line system or a third party. Booking on line has its advantages and i have had great success with it. Most importantly is your choice of hotel
and for that i rely on numerous sources.
February 12th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
It is true that in the past, some hotels gave the least desirable rooms to Third Party paying consumers. But I agree with the answers above - in this environment however, it is doubtful ANY hotel is sold out - though this IS for summer in Madrid and conditions can change rapidly.
One way you can avoid the ‘prostitute’ hotel problem is see what rates the other hotels in the area ‘usually’ charge. If you are booking a greatly lower fare than most of the other hotels on the site, you are likely getting an inferior hotel to start with. And those are the ones locals and druggies and hookers tend to gravitate to.
If you’re going to spend $10 calling overseas and waiting for the mgr, just TIP the desk clerk a few $ at check in. That tends to take care of it right away.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I’ve used major European booking sites for years without a problem. Generally excellent no-penalty cancellation terms (hotels.de sometimes doesn’t even require a card for guarantee); very easy to use; they provide a wealth of hotel information; and, best of all, some like Venere.com and Bookings.nl have dozens of detailed opinions, since they poll EVERYbody who used their site to book for a rating–so you get a lot of helpful detail (as well as more ratings, less ’selection bias’ about each property than at Tripadvisor).
February 18th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
The guest room selection process can often be a frustrating one. TripKick.com is an ideal resource that provides a “SeatMap” for hotels & resorts across North America, and soon International Destinations. TripKick.com tells travelers what rooms to request, including those rooms that are quiet, corner/oversized, offer preferred views or have other notable features.