Nothing to add other than a 6 month old and pregnant with another?!? Congratulations and I hope you guys are able to get some sleep!
Booked Hotel Room with Hotels.com - Got there, No Room.
- Thread starter john_pifer
- Start date
Yeap, more than once too. Key is, they have to have a lot of empty rooms, i.e. not busy. If they're busy or almost full, they don't need to fill rooms by accepting lower rates. Was I dealing with a higher-up employee vs just a new, front-desk clerk ? Maybe, honestly no idea.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Recently (past five years or so) I’ve always received email confirmations of my booking from the hotel itself, IIRC. Not getting a confirmation and then not calling the hotel the day before would strike me as odd and I’ll-advised.
To be fair, I have Hotels.com cover my back and stand up for me against iffy hotel management more than Hotels.com screw up. I also use their reward system and got some savings out of it, and mainly I am able to book them knowing the rating and review ahead of time.
One thing though, I never book the worst hotel, I don't need luxury but I do need the management to take care of the cleanliness as well as a room that is not noisy. I review thoroughly before I book and always pay more for cancellation, as well as avoid hotels that have "shady guests behaviors". My wife's sanity is worth $50-100 more per night.
So far most problems are solved with just a phone call and reimbursement later on. Typically only because of the "breakfast is not included or limited to 2 guests" kind of things.
I typically cannot find the same chain that has all locations being ideal, so individual review and choice, as well as a reward system that works on most hotels, work better for me.
No advice on booking through hotels.com. Perhaps call the hotel after booking to confirm?
Eat at Noa Noa or Spikes if you guys like seafood. Man Cave in Syracuse is another one of our favorites. That one would be about a 20 min drive or so.
Eat at Noa Noa or Spikes if you guys like seafood. Man Cave in Syracuse is another one of our favorites. That one would be about a 20 min drive or so.
sorry to hear that.
we were burned many years ago by hotel.com
took like six weeks and countless contacts to get a refund.
we were burned many years ago by hotel.com
took like six weeks and countless contacts to get a refund.
It has happened to us once, but I called Hotels.com customer service. They call separately on the hotel's line and sorted it out. Took about 15 minutes.
I was told it happened because the hotel's mail ID in hotel.com was incorrect so the automated email that gets sent to the hotel didn't work.
I prefer hotel.com because sometimes I get a refundable reservation at the same price as the hotel's own website.
I was told it happened because the hotel's mail ID in hotel.com was incorrect so the automated email that gets sent to the hotel didn't work.
I prefer hotel.com because sometimes I get a refundable reservation at the same price as the hotel's own website.
JHZR2
Staff member
I generally stay at Hilton hotels (diamond status), and use the app, or book through the work travel system, which is a professional agent, I guess, and gives a confirmation number on the spot.
While I use travel sites to shop airlines, and have once or twice used Expedia for booking hotels, I prefer the app.
While I use travel sites to shop airlines, and have once or twice used Expedia for booking hotels, I prefer the app.
I too always book directly through the hotel-generally online-and have not had this happen. My wife and I both travel a moderate amount-probably one weekend a month on average, give or take. We probably pay more, but do at least get the loyalty points and when traveling to an unknown area will generally stick with brands we know.
Week before last, we were in a big mid-west touristy town, and stayed at our usual hotel there. We're usually there a couple of times a year(although this was our first trip there in 2021) and got a bit of sticker shock that our normal $90/night single king room was suddenly $170, and with all the local taxes kicked in we were a few bucks short of $1K for our 5 day stay. I'd have liked a nicer hotel for that(although it wasn't bad by any means) but shopped around and the less-nice ones where we've stayed were running $10/night or so less, and the only sub-$100 rooms were ones where I'd be afraid of what the rooms looked like. Our $1K did get us a free night.
All of that said, cost wise, I've been amazed at how expensive hotels have been this summer. For most of our traveling, we often target ~$100/night give or take, and usually end up at Holiday Inn, Mariott, or the like for that price. The one I mentioned above is a Radisson. We've noticed hotels are ludicrous everywhere-I'm guessing that pent-up demand for travel is starting it, and I'm wondering if hotels can even keep the cleaning staff and such on hand to be able to reliably book to capacity given the broader labor shortage.
Week before last, we were in a big mid-west touristy town, and stayed at our usual hotel there. We're usually there a couple of times a year(although this was our first trip there in 2021) and got a bit of sticker shock that our normal $90/night single king room was suddenly $170, and with all the local taxes kicked in we were a few bucks short of $1K for our 5 day stay. I'd have liked a nicer hotel for that(although it wasn't bad by any means) but shopped around and the less-nice ones where we've stayed were running $10/night or so less, and the only sub-$100 rooms were ones where I'd be afraid of what the rooms looked like. Our $1K did get us a free night.
All of that said, cost wise, I've been amazed at how expensive hotels have been this summer. For most of our traveling, we often target ~$100/night give or take, and usually end up at Holiday Inn, Mariott, or the like for that price. The one I mentioned above is a Radisson. We've noticed hotels are ludicrous everywhere-I'm guessing that pent-up demand for travel is starting it, and I'm wondering if hotels can even keep the cleaning staff and such on hand to be able to reliably book to capacity given the broader labor shortage.
I have had good luck with booking dot com for short international stays, but directly on the hotel website for domestic stays.
it seems the hotels have gotten more sophisticated and can adjust prices based on competitor inventory, similar to how the airlines update prices in near real-time, so the advantage of using the 3rd party booking sites is less.
it seems the hotels have gotten more sophisticated and can adjust prices based on competitor inventory, similar to how the airlines update prices in near real-time, so the advantage of using the 3rd party booking sites is less.
Only used hotels.com once. I plan on calling the hotel directly to make sure that they have my reservation before I depart.
That's a good idea, along with letting them know if you'll be checking in late.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Love the diversity here. Some are perfectly happy with $100 rooms, some are willing to pay $100 more to keep wife happy.
Depends on the market/area. A room at a Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, etc goes for around $100-120 but in Chicago that exact same room could be 2x that price.
Happened to us once ... sort of...
We went to the hotel from a large national chain booked trought expedia - "Nop, no reservation here", rechecking, etc.
Turns out the chain has two hotels less than 2miles(!) apart on the same road in the same relatively small urban area with maybe 5 hotels total.
I put the wrong one in the GPS...
We went to the hotel from a large national chain booked trought expedia - "Nop, no reservation here", rechecking, etc.
Turns out the chain has two hotels less than 2miles(!) apart on the same road in the same relatively small urban area with maybe 5 hotels total.
I put the wrong one in the GPS...
My wife recently got burned like this, except it was with Hawaiian Airlines.
She booked tickets and hotel through a link from the Hawaiian airlines site that went to a third party booking system. Several weeks later when she went to print her e-ticket information, there was no record of her tickets. The airline had sent an email a few hours after her original purchase rescheduling her flight to one a few hours after the one she originally booked. No biggie. Three days later, they sent another email saying that second flight was canceled and she needed to call and re-book the flight. This email was crafted to look like an advertisement so it she didn't read the whole thing and didn't understand it was a cancellation notice. Fast forward a month and she had no tickets and had to purchase from Alaskan to get where she needed to go. Meanwhile, Hawaiian refuses to refund the tickets at all and we're out thousands. They said that since it was a third party booking they couldn't help us. The people at the other number said we had to deal with the airline and all gave us the runaround (if you can call being on hold for 4 hours a "run" around).
Talking with people at work, a couple of people had the same scam pulled on them. Apparently, during the big Covid crunch, some airlines would book lots of flights that they had no intention of ever flying and were relying on the cash from a large percentage of people not responding to a second cancellation notice, so as to avoid giving refunds on those seats.
She booked tickets and hotel through a link from the Hawaiian airlines site that went to a third party booking system. Several weeks later when she went to print her e-ticket information, there was no record of her tickets. The airline had sent an email a few hours after her original purchase rescheduling her flight to one a few hours after the one she originally booked. No biggie. Three days later, they sent another email saying that second flight was canceled and she needed to call and re-book the flight. This email was crafted to look like an advertisement so it she didn't read the whole thing and didn't understand it was a cancellation notice. Fast forward a month and she had no tickets and had to purchase from Alaskan to get where she needed to go. Meanwhile, Hawaiian refuses to refund the tickets at all and we're out thousands. They said that since it was a third party booking they couldn't help us. The people at the other number said we had to deal with the airline and all gave us the runaround (if you can call being on hold for 4 hours a "run" around).
Talking with people at work, a couple of people had the same scam pulled on them. Apparently, during the big Covid crunch, some airlines would book lots of flights that they had no intention of ever flying and were relying on the cash from a large percentage of people not responding to a second cancellation notice, so as to avoid giving refunds on those seats.
I’m lucky - Britta has never been high maintenance.
I'm OK with basic, clean and inexpensive. However, what I often find is that the locations I travel to have nothing of the sort.
I've had to pay $380+ for a run-down room in NY more than once. It's not a matter of keeping mama happy, it's a matter of staying somewhere acceptable.
The real problem is that a week of $300-$400 rooms empties my wallet faster than I can earn money. Again, the locations I travel to are the nicer areas of big cities, often in peak season. Such cities always have high lodging tax rates. The charges add up so fast, my head spins. $3500 for a bed for a week is, quite simply, insane.
By way of comparison, my PA 4br house costs me $519 per week for all expenses except repairs.
I am likely the edge case who had great luck with third party booking. Expedia and 5 delta tickets to Paris last April 2020 in height of pandemic. Also a cancelled Delta ticket from Delta.com to SLC.
Delta.com only offered a $300 credit likely expiring.
Expedia refunded the entire $2100 we paid for 5 tickets in September 2020.
That all being said direct booking earn you rewards points if you travel often.
Delta.com only offered a $300 credit likely expiring.
Expedia refunded the entire $2100 we paid for 5 tickets in September 2020.
That all being said direct booking earn you rewards points if you travel often.
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Dispute the credit card charge.
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