When you book a hotel do you tend to do it directly with the hotel or use one of those third party sites?
When you book a hotel do you tend to do it directly with the hotel or use one of those third party sites?
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
I usually book through Expedia just because that's what I'm used to doing. Plus I usually am not booking a specific hotel, so I want to see my options.
nectarine / 2243 posts
Via the hotel. We tend to stay at Marriot exclusively due to husbands work travel & points/rewards. I've found better deals via the website anyway and more flexibility regarding special offers and such.
persimmon / 1427 posts
Directly with the hotel - I have corporate discount codes for multiple chains, but I tend to book with Marriott or Hyatt (because I have status at both). I do check other hotel chains and will book elsewhere if its a really good deal.
Recently I saved a bunch of money on a multi night hotel stay by checking the hotel rates a few days before the trip. Prices had gone down, so I was able to book the same room type and save a bunch of money!
grapefruit / 4988 posts
I only book directly with the hotel these days (post-kids), as it is much easier to cancel or change reservations that way.
Pre-kids, we booked via discount sites 100% of the time and it was great. We saved a ton of money that way, especially using the priceline "name your price" feature. I wouldn't do it now though because they are generally not nearly as flexible (or else require you to pre-pay) and my kids have a tendency to get sick right before vacations and force us to change plans quickly.
honeydew / 7622 posts
With the hotel we almost exclusively stay at the Hilton- I just do it on my app.
pomegranate / 3272 posts
I tend to check trivago and then go to the hotel website to compare if they have a better rate
pomegranate / 3658 posts
This thread has made me realize how rarely I book hotels for personal travel - most of my hotel stays are for work (and thus booked via our travel portal). DH and I stay in a lot of VRBOs. Yeah I would say if I wanted to stay in a hotel my first inclination would be to use Priceline to try to get a deal.
nectarine / 2180 posts
We have hyatt points through Chase, so if we are staying at a hyatt we book directly through them. If there isn't a hyatt nearby we do a combo of booking through the hotel directly and a 3rd party site depending on discounts and other deals.
persimmon / 1436 posts
We book directly through hotels as we are generally looking for very specific amenities. I typically look for a kitchenette/suite with a separate bedroom space. Then the baby sleeps in the living room and DH, LO1 and I share a king bed. We use a kitchenette because of DH's celiac disease and I prepare our food. That way we know it's completely gluten free and safe.
pineapple / 12566 posts
I research first and then book directly through the hotel. I've found I usually get a slightly better deal or a voucher for free drinks or something like that compared to booking through and aggregator site.
pear / 1788 posts
With the hotel. We've been burned by third party sites in the past, and now we are Starwood gold members, so we stay exclusively with them or Marriott if we can.
apricot / 360 posts
I prefer to book directly with the hotel. We usually end up staying at a Marriott due to my husband's travel points.
Next month we are going away to someplace kind of in the middle of nowhere and I used travelocity to find hotels in the area and when I found the one I wanted I still went directly to the hotel website to book.
persimmon / 1479 posts
@catlady: Good point about possibly needing to change dates due to illness. It's amazing how often kids pick illnesses up
clementine / 911 posts
I usually check Kayak to see who has the best price and go from there.
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