Booking your hotel online – What you need to know

Booking a hotel online without using a travel agent can save you big bucks compared to high street prices, but what happens if a problem occurs with your hotel? The following steps will make the process of booking a hotel online is as safe and stress free as possible:

First off, spend some time doing some thorough research by taking a look at not just one or two hotel websites but a selection before you book. This way you can compare what each hotel website has to offer and see what you can get for your budget.

Visit the hotel's own website and email or telephone the hotel to ask for their best rate. They may have a special offer running which makes it worth booking direct. Establishing a personal contact this way also makes it easier to request a quiet room, an upgrade, late check-out or other extras.

Here?s a selection of some excellent hotel booking websites:

Luxique
Has access to over 2000 unique luxury hotels & villas from around the world with no booking fees and unbiased advice.

Hotel Connect
A specialist which features properties in cities and resorts, mostly in Europe.

Hotel Club
15,000 hotels in 71 countries and posts customers' reviews online.

Late Rooms
Late hotel deals at more than 50,000 hotels in the UK, Europe, North America, Australasia and India.

Low Cost Beds
Offers hotels in cities and resorts across Europe and the USA, plus ski resorts throughout the Alps and North America.

Med Hotels
Now part of Lastminute.com; a specialist in mainstream summer sun destinations across the Mediterranean.

Octopus Travel
Hotels in more than 100 countries; also promises to match any lower price you can find elsewhere on the internet.

Priceline
45,000 hotels worldwide plus reviews written by customers.


Most websites now offer brochures or newsletters which you can register for online and will be posted to your address so you can get a better idea of what?s available.

Another great tip is to use price comparison websites which will compile a list of hotel prices from a range of websites and hotel chains. However, their prices may not be as up to date as the prices offered by sites that deal direct with the hotels, and which have direct links to the hotels' reservations systems.

The following websites are recommended to use for comparing hotel prices:

Cheap Accommodation
Hotels Comparison
Kelkoo
Travel Jungle
Trip Advisor

Once you have found a hotel that suits your budget and individual needs, it's worth looking for unbiased reviews posted by other people on websites such as www.tripadvisor.co.uk

These reviews are from people who have actually stayed at hotels and are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being a terrible hotel stay and 5 being a perfect stay. However, you should also bear in mind that it is human nature that most people are motivated to post a comment only if they have really loved or really hated a place.

It's also recommended that you check your hotel out by consulting guidebooks.


Resort hotels and apartments

Over the past five years, holiday giants such as Thomson, First Choice and Cosmos, have woken up to fact that many of us now like to put our own holidays together, buying hotel, flight and car hire separately without being tied in to a tour operator's package. So they have all hopped on the bandwagon and started selling hotel rooms and villas without forcing us to buy their flights or other services too.

There are several pluses about booking through a big tour operator. Their buying power in the key summer sun resorts is huge, so you are likely to get good prices, and you will be able to access hotels that other online retailers cannot offer, because the big operators often buy up all the rooms in some of the best resort hotels for an entire season. But you may find that their selections are heavily weighted towards the popular summer and winter sun resorts, rather than cities.

How safe is my booking?

Booking a hotel over the internet can be risky. If you buy a package holiday (including, say, hotel, flight and car hire) you are financially protected, for example by an Abta or Atol bond. But if you buy a single element of a holiday by itself, such as a hotel room, the company selling the accommodation may not necessarily be bonded (though some are - Octopus Travel and Hotel Connect, for example, are both Abta bonded).

Does this matter? In practical terms, if you are unhappy with your hotel and your purchase was not financially protected, it means you will probably have to fight it out with the overseas hotelier, which can be a hassle. And if the company selling the hotel rooms goes bust, you will probably lose out.

To make sure your booking is as safe as possible, follow these tips:

• Take a look on the website for "about us" section and make sure that they clearly have a phone number and address for queries. Give them a call to make sure this is correct.
  
  
• Look at the bottom of the site or in the "about us" section to find out if the company holds a bond. If you are not clear whether your booking is financially protected then you should phone them up and ask.
  
  
• Understand that if the company is based overseas, it will be harder to sort out any problems than if they are based in the UK
  
  
• Read reviews of your hotel, online and in guidebooks
  
  
• Always pay by credit card
  
  
• Carry a print out of any email reference you are sent
  
  
• After you've booked a hotel through an online agency, phone the hotel before you set off to check your booking is in their system
  
  
• If you encounter a problem, raise it with both the hotel and the booking site promptly, and in writing. If you wait until you get home to complain you may find your complaint is dismissed