Making hotel reservations on line vs. in person

C

CarolfromTX

Senior Member
Location
Central Texas
DH and I are planning a short trip to Baton Rouge and Lake Charles after visiting friends in Houston. Planning to eat my weight in Cajun food and do some sightseeing. So I went on-line to make a reservation. Click here, click there, website wouldn't recognize my rewards number, more clicks, still no results.

So I did it the old fashioned way. I called the hotel directly. It was a bit of a trick to find the actual hotel number and not a reservation line, but I did. Talked to a lovely woman named Bianca, who found my rewards membership right away and I booked our room. I have done this before, and find it ever so much easier and more pleasant than booking on line.

Seriously, I need to remember to do this more often. With cell phones, there's no such thing as long distance charges. I think we have gotten so programmed to do everything on line that we have lost the human touch.
 

I prefer to make reservations directly with the hotel. When you go through one of the websites such as Hotels.com and something goes wrong with your reservation, often there is a lot of tossing the blame back and forth between the service and the hotel.

I always check a couple of websites first to check the prices. Then if the hotel quotes me a higher price, I'll say "Well, Hotels.com shows it as $129 a night." Usually, they'll match it. It's worth asking.

You can always ask, too, if they have any "special rates" going on. Once I was making a reservation and asked f they had any special rates and the lady asked if I was a member of XYZ Baptist Church. I replied no....and she said, "Well, you are now!" They had blocked off a number of rooms for an event and had just released several of them. She gave me their rate, which was $20 under the "best" rate. Win-win. I got saved AND the room.
 
If it's a major chain within the US, I make reservations through that chain's website. I only use sites like hotels.com to research my options - never to make reservations. For small hotels and B&Bs as well as locations outside of the US, I phone them directly.

As an aside, I have a separate credit card with a fairly low fixed limit that I use on-line. I then switch the charge to my regular credit card at check-in. And I NEVER, EVER allow the desk clerk to photocopy or scan my credit card or driver's license or remove either from my direct line of sight.

In the early 2000s I had reservations at a motel near the Edinburgh, Scotland airport. It was a major chain (Quality Inn, I believe). The desk clerk insisted that I leave my passport with them while registered at the motel. Needless to say, that didn't happen!
 

Tommy said:
If it's a major chain within the US, I make reservations through that chain's website. I only use sites like hotels.com to research my options - never to make reservations. For small hotels and B&Bs as well as locations outside of the US, I phone them directly.

As an aside, I have a separate credit card with a fairly low fixed limit that I use on-line. I then switch the charge to my regular credit card at check-in. And I NEVER, EVER allow the desk clerk to photocopy or scan my credit card or driver's license or remove either from my direct line of sight.

In the early 2000s I had reservations at a motel near the Edinburgh, Scotland airport. It was a major chain (Quality Inn, I believe). The desk clerk insisted that I leave my passport with them while registered at the motel. Needless to say, that didn't happen!
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Not sure about that particular Hotel name .. but I agree with you, the only place we were asked to leave our passports was a large hotel in Glasgow Scotland..and annoyingly after a long flight from Greece... we fell into bed exhausted only to be woken by the phone ringing at 4am asking for us to bring our passports down to reception. I was furious, but I refused to take them despite reception calling 2 more times and disturbing our much need sleep.. . I dunno if it was a ploy to catch us when all brain cells weren't fully functioning where we'd meekly hand it over
 
Holly, that reminded me of a horrible night I spent at an airport hotel in London. There was something wrong with their fire alarm system, and it kept ringing all night. Everybody had to walk down to the lobby and wait outside for the fire dept. to give us the OK to go back up. (My room was on the 5th floor.) After the third exodus, around 4 AM, I just checked out of the hotel and went straight to the airport to wait several hours for my flight.
 
I read that sometimes it's definitely better to book directly with the hotel. Sometimes not though. I recently spent a few days at our timeshare then went to D.C. to meet up with a friend and some of her family. I went through Trivago which connected me with Booking.com. I got a very discounted rate with the option to cancel fee free up to three days before. Since I booked 5 weeks in advance and one never knows what might come up...I felt that was the best option for me. Booking directly with Marriott would have been cheaper (and I have their member card) but there was a no cancellation policy with that rate.
 
I always book online. I don't have any favorite hotels, and I want to look at the ratings, the amenities, and pictures of the rooms. I also want to look at a map. I'm 60 years old, but I think I missed the internet before it was even invented.
 
Following up, when we arrived in Baton Rouge, Bianca was the front desk clerk, so it was nice to meet her. Definitely going to do it that way more often.
 
Sunny said:
Holly, that reminded me of a horrible night I spent at an airport hotel in London. There was something wrong with their fire alarm system, and it kept ringing all night. Everybody had to walk down to the lobby and wait outside for the fire dept. to give us the OK to go back up. (My room was on the 5th floor.) After the third exodus, around 4 AM, I just checked out of the hotel and went straight to the airport to wait several hours for my flight.
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Again Glasgow Scotland..we had an almost Identical situation with a fire alrm in a hotel. twice it went off during the night.. we were on the 3rd floor, and the alrm went off around 2am.. we all trooped down into the street in nightwear, and stood for around 40 minutes..then at 4.30am it went off again. This time I stayed in bed, but of course sleep was ruined due to all the commotion outside. I've rarely stayed in a Hotel since, preferring to rent a villa or apartment
 

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