I%26#39;ll be in Paris at the end of September and have short-listed some two-star hotels that look suitable.
Does anyone have an opinion as to whether it%26#39;s more secure to book a room through a booking site (such as Hotels.com, which charges you upfront) or to book direct with the hotel? Since I%26#39;ll be arriving around 8pm, I worry that my reservation might fall through.
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I%26#39;d contact the hotel and see what you get for price etc. We use Best Western all the time but using the local 800 number (U.S.). Don%26#39;t know if Sydney has such a number. I was told by a receptionist there one day, that if we faxed them, or called them instead of using the 800 number, it would not include the tax and breakfast. Several angles to look at.
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Hi -
I haven%26#39;t used Hotels.com - but I have used www.venere.com - a lot of folks here say to book directly with the hotel, but I prefer to book with venere simply because if I have to cancel for some reason, I%26#39;m covered with the venere cancellation clause. Hotels set their own cancellation fees, but there are complaints every week about hotels that haven%26#39;t refunded deposits, despite the fact that they advertise a refund and its conditions..
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Gid%26#39;day,
Good question. We are travelling independantly in western Europe for 10 weeks commencing this September, finishing up in Paris, so my opinion/s have not been tested, however, I have booked a series of hotels, Greece, Rome (mainly because these places in this timeframe will be reasonably busy and we wanted to book hotels with best TA reviews)
Have contacted some hotels direct and so far have had great communication and response. They normally only want credit card details to reserve a room. A few want cash only for accomodation on arrival - check -out.
I have also had good response using www.booking.com, www. hotelclub.com.au.(Venere appear to be a bit $- although a very userfriendly site) The economic downturn is apparently affecting some European countries and (Duuh!)and some of these booking sites are starting to offer discounts for well reviewed hotels, whereas, the individual hotel internet sites appear unchanged.
Advantage at the moment IMO is the apparent strength of the $AUD against the EURO..... Consequently booking and paying now appears to have a certain advantage at this stage.
Hope this helps!
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Booking directly with the hotel is always more reliable (if that%26#39;s what you mean by %26quot;secure%26quot;).
When using a third party, you add a huge contingency.
If there%26#39;s little or no difference in the rate, there%26#39;s no point in prepaying an entire reservation, and that you%26#39;ve prepaid does not make the reservation more secure.
Once you%26#39;ve narrowed down your hotel possibilities, it%26#39;s best to shop rates on every available resource.
If you do use a third party, it%26#39;s also best to get written confirmation from the hotel to ensure that all is in order.
I would never, ever, use a third party booking agent for a hotel in Paris if I were not arriving until 8PM. I%26#39;ve learned through the travel forums over the years that the laws/regulations in Paris are different - that they can resell your room (for the first night and your entire stay) if you haven%26#39;t checked in by a certain time (to my recollection 6 or 7PM), even if the first night or the entire stay is prepaid.
So, if I were planning to check in that late, I%26#39;d want written assurance from the hotel that they are aware of that and agree to hold the room.
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I have booked my last 7 or 8 hotel stays in Paris directly with hotel. And I have had to cancel or change dates etc on occaison. I find most hotels have very fair cancellation policies( read them), most have a 5 or 6 booking fee that you forfeit if you cancel more then 2 o r 3 days out,, if you cancel 24-48 hrs ahead( depends on each hotel) you forfeit first night. This is pretty well the same as here in Canada ,, and in my experience same as Hawaii and LA. I don%26#39;t know of any hotels that allow you to cancel the day before and not be penelized.
Renting an apartment,, now they do have scary cancellation polcies.. I would be very nervous of them.
I think your bigger issue is checking whether the two hotels you want still have rooms, its busy at that time of year.
I have never arrived at a hotel and they didn%26#39;t have my reservation, I think that is MORE likely to happen if you use a third party,, not less likely.
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Much depends upon the type of hotel you%26#39;re looking for. You may do well using a third party when booking at corporate hotel chains such as Accor, Marriott, or Kyriad.
If you are interested in a smaller and less formal network such as Logis de France, Citotel, Relais du Silence, or Tables %26amp; Auberges de France, I recommend you contact the hotel directly. If you are interested in special offers or discounts, take a look at the hotels website.
When paying, do not send credit card information through an email and even if you use a hotel%26#39;s web site to book, I always call to confirm my reservations.
September is high season for hotels in Paris so I should not wait very long to book, nor expect any special discounts.
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Thank you all so much for your advice. I realised I needed to lock something in quickly because some of my choices were already full, so I have ended up booking a Kyriad hotel that was well-reviewed by tripadvisor. I did so through hotels.com in Australia who had a 30% discount offer that Kyriad did not have on its own website, so I am happy with that, although I realise the hotel will lack the individuality of the privately run hotels.
Then, closer to my travel date, I intend to email the hotel directly to confirm my booking AND ask them to hold my room till my late arrival. Hopefully this will cover all the bases and I can get on with anticipating a wonderful time.
Again, sincere thanks to all.
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Sarasto,
%26lt;When paying, do not send credit card information through an email and even if you use a hotel%26#39;s web site to book, I always call to confirm my reservations%26gt;
Could you please clarify your statement. I have used credit card numbers to book and am reasonably confident. Have you had a bad experience? I don%26#39;t really see the difference between an e-mail credit card disclosure and one over the phone (apart from the cost of the phone call?)
Alan
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Without a drawn out technical discussion about email security and compromising schemes, there is a very good reason Mark Shuttleworth made millions and millions of dollars when he sold his secure internet transmission techniques to Verisign (it%26#39;s the https: you see in the URL when you use your credit card on line).
Emails are easily compromised which is done during their transmissions between your keyboard and the receiving computer. This has nothing to do with how the information is handled by the intended email recipient.
Intercepting phone conversations or faxes is much more difficult to achieve and effectively requires what is known as a phone tap.
You may send many emails which are not compromised but just as you might be fined for excessive speed the next time you travel 150kms on the autoroute, saying that I haven%26#39;t had a problem yet is no guarantee that the next email you send will be the one causing you harm.
Internet security is big business and the reason is you are vulnerable to fraud. Simple precautions can save you a great deal of trouble. No one likes to have his credit card canceled for fraudulent use, particularly when is he out of the country on vacation.
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I read different opinions on how and where to book. None of them looks at who/what is behind the screen.
In terms of fair trade, I go for the hotel direct, assuming that the hotel has similar cancellation/amendment conditions than the ones on Booking/Venere/Expedia... If I book direct with the hotel, I can get better relationship and some hoteliers give more to customers who booked direct: free upgrade, bottle of water, riverboat ticket...
2nd point: several websites offer to pay locally: Booking, Venere. Several offer to pay a deposit online: Ratestogo, Hostelsbookers... Finally several require full payment in advance: Expedia, Hotels, Otels. If using intermediaries, I always go for the ones with no payment or small deposit.
3rd point: the intermediaries that cost more to hotels don%26#39;t get the best rates. When talking to hoteliers, most of them give their best rate to Booking.
4th point: it is sometime important to remember who is who: Expedia, Hotels, Venere and TripAdvisor have same owner (IAC). I use Tripadvisor for guest reviews and forums. I never use TA for searching the best rate. There is an ethical issue there.
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