Hotel booking, do you use Agoda, Website or book direct?.

[Butch]

I personally always book direct these days, having been hammered and let down in the past by Agoda, I swore never again.

Also, booking direct allows you a paper trail should anything go awry, it's easy to pull your phone out and show the emails, plus I find I can specify which room, breakfast or not and for those worried, they can ascertain whether the place is guest friendly or not.

One thing I'm unsure of is that whether it's the best way to secure a discount. Agoda do have some good deals on occasionally.

[Freee!!]

Haven't booked for a while now, but for me it depends on how I get the best price. A couple of years ago I already had a room in a hotel (somewhere in Germany) and needed to extend for one more night. I walked up to the desk and was quoted about double what I paid, having booked through Agoda. I told the clerk I would think about it, returned to my room, started up my computer and booked through Agoda again for the same price as the original booking. I returned to the desk about ten minutes later and told I had booked through the booking site as that was a lot cheaper. They appreciated me letting them know I had booked. 

[Derek Dangleberries]

3 hours ago, Butch said:

I personally always book direct these days, having been hammered and let down in the past by Agoda, I swore never again.

Also, booking direct allows you a paper trail should anything go awry, it's easy to pull your phone out and show the emails, plus I find I can specify which room, breakfast or not and for those worried, they can ascertain whether the place is guest friendly or not.

One thing I'm unsure of is that whether it's the best way to secure a discount. Agoda do have some good deals on occasionally.

Yep, this is the way forward I think because everybody in between takes a chunk. But whenever my sons visit I also do a walk through of the places to check options out.

When they decide on their preference I check out the Wifi with my PC...

My services are free of charge if you buy me a 3 litre box of Mont Clair ..

[Stillearly]

I use Booking.com the price advertised is the price you pay , no taxes added at checkout ... but regular hotels I will also check their prices direct , although sometimes its cheaper via Booking ..

learnt my lesson last year and will no longer be using the cheapest, non refundable options...

[roomark]

Whoever is cheapest ..

Easy enough now screenshot proof as well as e mail, boom sorted. 

[Krapow]

Try to book direct as much as possible, and very happy i did when Covid hit.

From airlines to hotels, was much easier dealing with them direct, especially EVA. 

That said, i had no problems getting a refund from hotels.com last year. 

[Painter]

There's a couple of hotels in pattaya I've stayed in a lot, and have email addresses for. One I know some of the reception team quite well....and for those I tend to book on booking.com, but then email them with any special requests. Never been let down yet.

If it's an unknown then I tend to book direct with the hotel, at least for the first few days, then extend with an online agent if I like it.

[Pumpuynarak]

Wifey and i always stay at the LK Metropole and i find Agoda consistently offer the cheapest rate. One problem by booking with the likes of Agoda is you always get a "city view" room which in effect means a brick wall not far away lol but as we don't stay many days or spend a lot of time in the room it don't matter. If you're prepared to book direct with the hotel and pay their very expensive price compared to Agoda you will get a room with some sort of view.

Currently the LK Metropole direct rate is virtually the same as Agoda, the very first time in many years that has been the case.

[Victornoir]

Always with Agoda or Booking for the first night.

If I have to stay, I try a friendly haggling with the boss.

In case of obtuse refusal, I look for another place.

[KWA]

21 hours ago, Stillearly said:

I use Booking.com the price advertised is the price you pay , no taxes added at checkout ...

That used to annoy me with Agoda but they now have a setting to show the taxes up front.

When I was travelling a lot last year within Thailand I found Agoda consistently the best price although prior to that I'd mostly been using hotels.com.  Accessing Agoda through Trivago often resulted in better prices than going direct to their website or app.

[Sangsom]

Whichever is cheaper, is everything is equal booking.com to get avios points.

[Stillearly]

4 minutes ago, Sangsom said:

Whichever is cheaper, is everything is equal booking.com to get avios points.

I didn't know you could do that 

[Sangsom]

48 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

I didn't know you could do that 

Go to BA executive club app and book through their link, they offer between 4 and 12 points per £1 spent depending on whatever their latest offer is. I’ve got about £2k worth of hotels booked through them if my US holiday goes ahead in Oct……24,000 avios. I always make sure they are at least on a par price wise with a direct booking, sometimes they are sometimes not.

Loads of other shops on BA you can do the same with as well.

[boydeste]

I usually deal directly with the hotel, but do compare costs with both agorda and booking.com. 

On one occasion I had booked 2 nights in a hotel in Ross on Wye to fish on the river for barbel. After the 1st day I was so knackered that I knew that I didn't want the 3 hour drive home after the 2nd day. So I asked reception if I could stay an extra night. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and all the rooms were booked out for a wedding.  Whilst on the river bank I went on booking.com to find an alternative hotel and was surprised to be able to book a room in the same hotel for the same price. 

Checking back in the reception admitted that a certain amount of rooms have to be kept back for agencies to book.

Always good to know!

[Stillearly]

8 minutes ago, boydeste said:

I usually deal directly with the hotel, but do compare costs with both agorda and booking.com. 

On one occasion I had booked 2 nights in a hotel in Ross on Wye to fish on the river for barbel. After the 1st day I was so knackered that I knew that I didn't want the 3 hour drive home after the 2nd day. So I asked reception if I could stay an extra night. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and all the rooms were booked out for a wedding.  Whilst on the river bank I went on booking.com to find an alternative hotel and was surprised to be able to book a room in the same hotel for the same price. 

Checking back in the reception admitted that a certain amount of rooms have to be kept back for agencies to book.

Always good to know!

I had similar in Patts , I was standing at reception with my iPad , showing them there was availability but they couldn't let me book direct .... so booked via the app and whilst I was still talking to them they received an email confirming my reservation 555 they did allow me to stay in the same room 🙂  

[Stillearly]

Was looking at a hotel in Europe yesterday, was £1575 on booking.com and same price direct for a week ... then used Trivago ... got it for £595 via TUI ... non refundable, but I thought it was worth the risk given the price difference.... 🤞

[hugh cow]

I try to book direct where possible. i usually tell the hotel if its cheaper on a booking site and so far they have matched or bettered the price, as they have to pay a percentage to the booking site anyway. To me they are just another parasitic dot com that takes your money for no real gain.

[Stewskin]

When i came i had booked 1 night through booking.com but after that looked around , and asked people and went directly with the hotel , which i found was better value and even got to see room first.

[Phantom51red]

On 7/10/2021 at 2:40 AM, hugh cow said:

I try to book direct where possible. i usually tell the hotel if its cheaper on a booking site and so far they have matched or bettered the price, as they have to pay a percentage to the booking site anyway. To me they are just another parasitic dot com that takes your money for no real gain.

Ive always used agoda in thailand or booking.com,last year i stayed in vent austria for 1 week booked through booking.com,,anyhow i mentioned i might stay another 5 days they gave me the room for almost half the price quoted on agoda and booking,if staying extra days in thailand sometimes bargained with hotel for cheaper rate and sometimes agoda is the cheaper rate,ive been in reception with laptop booking same room before as they told me to do that,thai logic i suppose.

Edited April 16, 2022 by Phantom51red

[KWA]

7 minutes ago, Phantom51red said:

Ive always used agoda in thailand or booking.com,last year i stayed in vent austria for 1 week booked through booking.com,,anyhow i mentioned i might stay another 5 days they gave me the room for almost half the price quoted on agoda and booking,if staying extra days in thailand sometimes bargained with hotel for cheaper rate and sometimes agoda is the cheaper rate,ive been in reception with laptop booking same room before as they told me to do that,thai logic i suppose.

Often find in Europe the front desk staff are entrusted to have some flexibility but in Thailand not, so they stick by the book and Agoda wins.

[Pumpuynarak]

Booked a room at the LK Metropole for wifey and i for our August trip down to Pattaya, i rarely use anyone other than Agoda but the bastards increased the room rate by 300bht WHILST i was in the process of booking can you believe ? now i wonder if it was the taxes/service charges that caused the increase ?

I ended up booking with Booking.com as their rate with a special member discount was 800bht cheaper than Agoda, i know they are the same company so HTF can that happen ? there must be a tie up between the two.

I always book with free cancellation as ya never know if you in fact can make it to the hotel (health reasons). I also looked at booking direct with the hotel but there rate was ridiculously high, something like a couple of grand more 🤨 I would also say i can't believe the excessive hotel rates they are now charging for out of season bookings 🤨

''The games these bastards play''

Edited July 30, 2023 by Pumpuynarak

[Zeb]

On 7/10/2021 at 10:40 AM, hugh cow said:

I try to book direct where possible.

Yes thats what I do as well.

In addition I also try to do the following -

- Check out hotels that sound interesting to me me while I'm in Pattaya so that I have some knowledge of them if I decide to stay there in future. As much as possible I try to avoid making a booking at a hotel sight unseen.

- I avoid peak times such as Christmas, Songkran etc. Am not a fan of overly busy Pattaya.

- Just make a booking for the first few days of a trip for low season trips - then when in Pattaya find what I want for the longer part of my stay. Making that booking can get you the 'domestic' rate or maybe a special on offer. I don't over do this but its surprising at what you can save.

- Comparing Agoda prices with direct pricing can be B200 - B300 per night which over a 3 week stay adds up. This not always the case of course. It depends.

The main thing is to have an enjoyable trip, but nothing wrong with keeping an eye out to save some coin 😋

[Pumpuynarak]

4 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

Booked a room at the LK Metropole for wifey and i for our August trip down to Pattaya, i rarely use anyone other than Agoda but the bastards increased the room rate by 300bht WHILST i was in the process of booking can you believe ? now i wonder if it was the taxes/service charges that caused the increase ?

I ended up booking with Booking.com as their rate with a special member discount was 800bht cheaper than Agoda, i know they are the same company so HTF can that happen ? there must be a tie up between the two.

I always book with free cancellation as ya never know if you in fact can make it to the hotel (health reasons). I also looked at booking direct with the hotel but there rate was ridiculously high, something like a couple of grand more 🤨 I would also say i can't believe the excessive hotel rates they are now charging for out of season bookings 🤨

''The games these bastards play''

With hindsight i can confirm that it was'nt, i believe it was cos they realised that i had cleared all my cache and cookies to achieve a lower price and they changed the price back to what it was prior to me clearing cache and cookies. 

[Lemondropkid]

6 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

Booked a room at the LK Metropole for wifey and i for our August trip down to Pattaya, i rarely use anyone other than Agoda but the bastards increased the room rate by 300bht WHILST i was in the process of booking can you believe ? now i wonder if it was the taxes/service charges that caused the increase ?

I ended up booking with Booking.com as their rate with a special member discount was 800bht cheaper than Agoda, i know they are the same company so HTF can that happen ? there must be a tie up between the two.

I always book with free cancellation as ya never know if you in fact can make it to the hotel (health reasons). I also looked at booking direct with the hotel but there rate was ridiculously high, something like a couple of grand more 🤨 I would also say i can't believe the excessive hotel rates they are now charging for out of season bookings 🤨

''The games these bastards play''

Have had the same experience with Agoda, where the cost of the room has increased during a single browser session.

I've have though got some great deals off them booking in Thailand. Obviously not your experience.

I wanted to book the Dream hotel in BKK for early October, hardly high season. Asking price booking from the UK was running at 50% a night higher than BMs have mentioned on here!!! Switched back to a direct booking with the Dynasty Grande, and it was 1400 BAHT a night cheaper than the Dream, or whatever it's now called.

Happy to pay for quality but not for rip off pricing!

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Lemondropkid

[boydeste]

The past few years I have got the best rates using Booking.Com, but even with them the duration of the trip and timing can make a significant difference in price.