Stop using third party to book your rooms.

[superhotelworker]

Hotels.com, Priceline.com, Orbitz.com etc. STOP. USING. THEM.

Or, if you're going to use them, book your room then CALL the hotel directly, to make sure it's come across how you wanted. I have checked in plenty of rooms that aren't the right amount of beds, not the right floor.. and ya know, I'm not taking the blame for it. You book flights online, then call to confirm those don't you? DO the same for your hotel. Do NOT snap the hotel clerk, or she may tell you (Rather happily) to go to hell.

Yes, they do help you get a room. But that's ALL they are promising you. A room. They bungle dates, rates.. types.. Call the hotel directly. You're only paying 6 or 7 bucks more that way. AND, most hotels, will work with you on a rate.

But for the love of god, stop with the third parties. And if you're going to post on PFB about the hotel, make sure it's the HOTEL, not Orbitz/Priceline/Hotels.com

We are NOT them and we give you what comes across on the screen. I've fought for 2 days to try and get this ladies reservation changed, and now my co-worker is. She, was a dedede and booked through Hotels.com. When we told her the room she wanted wasn't what she booked, she went nuts and screamed at us, saying it was OUR fault.

No no. No. Grr. you booked a single, the computer didn't know you wanted a double and we gave you what we had. I'm getting to the point I dread going into work to deal with these types of reservations and folks.

[r2cagle]

See, I've booked hotels both with a third party and directly with the hotel. I've never had any problems. But then, I know how to read, and how to double check my reservation information. And if I had to make changes, I'd call the hotel directly, with my reservation from the online service in hand. But, that's common sense... which is sorely lacking from a majority of customers.

[superhotelworker]

Well thank you for using your head. <3 I say that as a hotel worker who's come to tears from being yelled at by both Third Party & Guest at the same time.

It's annoying. And sometimes, we can't change the reservation, but we will help you find a way to change what needs done

[BarbieGirl]

I've only booked once with a 3rd party. Hotels.com, and I will never do it again. Went to portland and booked a room in the Neptune I think it was, (some planet name, should have been uranus cause that's what it smelled like) Hotel was a joke, the office had computer paper in the window and they printed one letter on each sheet to say office. The doors only had the room numbers written on them in chalk, the rooms were TINY and straight from ikea's as is section. We said no thanks ate the cost of the canceling fee and went to the Crowne plaza. did write a letter to hotels.com to let them know what was advertised on their site wasn't the reality, got a 10 cert to use at a later date....

[smileyeagle1021]

did write a letter to hotels.com to let them know what was advertised on their site wasn't the reality, got a 10 cert to use at a later date....

most likely that wasn't even the hotel's fault... the franchise I work for also has a hotel in Draper, 25 miles from the airport... the owner has 5 times now called to inform hotels.com that the website is wrong about him having a hotel shuttle, but that they are fucking idiots for even thinking a hotel that far away would provide it when not even the hotels a mere 10 miles away are providing it.

Oh, and my big thing with the online reservations, the third parties do not tell us what rate they are charging the guest and they do not want us to disclose to the guest how much we are selling it to the third party for... so tell me, how the hell do I answer the question "what was the rate on that, can I extend that for another day at the same rate"

[Geek King]

Another one here who hasn't had issues with booking through a 3rd party site. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the hotel told me they were sold out for my dates, but the third party site still showed rooms open. I reserved through them, and confirmed with the hotel itself. I had no problems checking in or during my stay.

[Evil Queen]

Half the time the guest is paying the same exact rate at my location and the other half they're paying MORE than our RACK rate! It's just not worth it! Why bother using a third party reservation line if they're going to charge you more PLUS the fees they make you pay on top of that!

[infinitemonkies]

Advice for all:

Find the lowest rate you can from a third party site, print it off. Call the hotel, ask the the rate. If the 3rd party rate is lower, ask the hotel if they'll match it.
Odds are overwhelming that they will. Book over the phone, deal with the hotel directly.





That said, in my personal experience, every messed up 3rd party reservation I've dealt with has been the result of user error. Just recently had a guy wanted 2 rooms for 3 nights during the holiday weekend, what he actually booked was 6 rooms for 1 night. Didn't notice it when he entered it, didn't notice the error when they sent him a confirmation, which he had printed out and brought with him.

I know last summer I had a lot of people who booked a room for july, but showed up in june, and vice-versa, and I expect the same this year.

[Moirae]

Oh god, don't tell people that. I work in reservations and worked front desk for nearly 6 years.

PLEASE use third party to book your rooms, just call the hotel the next day and check to make sure they got it right. It makes it so much less work for the reservations department and the front desk doesn't have time to take your reservations.

I even created a blog to tell people about hotels and whats so aggravating about stupid guests and stupid calls. I'd post it on here but I don't think the owners would like it.

Btw, rates on third party websites and through the hotel are going to be exactly the same. If you're on the website, do us both a favor and book through the website. Looking it up and then calling us means we have to confirm the rate you see on the web site and prolong the call exponentially.

[AccountingDrone]

Oh god, don't tell people that. I work in reservations and worked front desk for nearly 6 years.

PLEASE use third party to book your rooms, just call the hotel the next day and check to make sure they got it right. It makes it so much less work for the reservations department and the front desk doesn't have time to take your reservations.

I even created a blog to tell people about hotels and whats so aggravating about stupid guests and stupid calls. I'd post it on here but I don't think the owners would like it.

Btw, rates on third party websites and through the hotel are going to be exactly the same. If you're on the website, do us both a favor and book through the website. Looking it up and then calling us means we have to confirm the rate you see on the web site and prolong the call exponentially.

Can't I just keep making my reservations on the Choice website? It never messes up my reservations, I am OK with the price ... and I am saving points.

[smileyeagle1021]

Btw, rates on third party websites and through the hotel are going to be exactly the same. If you're on the website, do us both a favor and book through the website. Looking it up and then calling us means we have to confirm the rate you see on the web site and prolong the call exponentially.

That depends entirely on the hotel.
As far as the extra work, if someone finds a lower rate on a third party website, most hotels will be more than happy to go to the effort to match the rate, hell, we can even give you an extra 10% off and still probably make more off the reservation than if you book it through the third party.
As an example, if our rate is $69, we sell it to orbitz for $51.75, they sell it to you for $59, you think you're getting a great deal. You call us and ask for a price match and I am more than happy to do it... hell, I may offer you 10% off of the rate the orbitz rate and give you the amazing deal of $53.10 and we end up with an extra $1.35 profit. The hotel I work at receives on average 15 reservations from 3rd parties per night, that means (using the above example) we would earn an extra $20.25 per night, $141.75 per week, $7391.25 per year. To put that in context, that would be the equivalent of two to three days additional revenue without two to three days extra cost. No hotel manager in their right mind is going to turn that type of revenue down... change the discount to only 5% off, and now you have even more extra profit, hell, offer the exact same rate without any discounts but allow the person the flexibility to cancel (which for most people will seal the deal to book with the hotel and not the third party) and you get even more extra profit.

[Damien]

I am going to take that advice in my travels - seems like a win-win

[mircea12345]

Third party bookings are a wonderful way to do business, depending on the way your hotel recieves business. Some places are "by the highway" hotels that depend more on frequent transient business at a cheap rate to survive. That is fine, but to be honest, third parties allow a more even playing field against a competitive set, allowing more of a higher average rate.

It is true you are taking a loss of 25-30% off the published rate when accepting these bookings, but some hotels do not see much business from their company website (Branded GDS). Honestly to some hotels it is found money, as they do not have the money to advertise and it creates a revenue stream that they would have never had without the third parties.

Expedia/Hotels.com (same company) spends like 500 million every year on advertising, and just being seen on their site can boost sales in ways that are unbelivable. The mistake some hotels make is not paying attention to rate parity with thier own published rates through simple consumer models like corporate websites or voice quotes.

I dont propose selling the hotel at a junk rate, but using the blend of quotes from phone calles and the influx of revenue from third party sources to create an over all higher RevPAR and occupancy for the hotel.

By selling at a good rate and filling the hotel, it does not become a battle of heads in beds versus ADR, but more of a balance of where the business comes from and how you can maximize your values in each arena.

[smileyeagle1021]

By selling at a good rate and filling the hotel, it does not become a battle of heads in beds versus ADR, but more of a balance of where the business comes from and how you can maximize your values in each arena.

the problem comes, and being from New Orleans, I am sure you are aware of this, when there are more heads than there are beds. there is nothing more irritating than do have a sold-out weekend and find out that the room you could have sold for well over $100 to a walk-in just got sold on Orbitz for $40.

[Evil Queen]

Can't I just keep making my reservations on the Choice website? It never messes up my reservations, I am OK with the price ... and I am saving points.

That's still making reservations with the company directly. It's no different than calling the 1-800 number and making your reservation with a CSR in the call center.