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Cameron

500+ Posts
When I arrive in Paris in mid-September, I'll spend a few nights at a hotel since there is a minimum number of days on my fave apartment, which I will stay in for a week after a weeklong excursion to Basque County.

My Booking dot com reservations were so easy to make; great price; easy to manage. It seems almost too good to be true. Anyone have feedback on their experience using this booking site?

Thanks.
 
So far in my experience I found them dependable when having to book hotels. They even have an app now which is nice. I used them in 2014 when booking rooms for my day trips in Portugal and it went smooth and I'm using them again for my September Spain trip.
 
This summer while traveling with my mother, I found that they did not pass the "handicapped room" requirement for her room on to the hotels. This happened with two different hotel chains.

I learned my lesson that I should always talk to the hotel myself if I have special requirements. Other than that, I agree with you about how easy booking.com is to use, and I would use it again.
 
I use them a lot and like the reviews on the site to help me choose. I sometimes book with them and then contact the hotel before arrival to confirm.
 
Okay, I feel better. I've not stayed in a hotel in Paris since the boys were teenagers (2001 or earlier) as I've been in apartments since those years. I'll be at the Hotel Gramont Opera, still in "my" 2nd neighborhood where things are familiar.

Thanks!
 
Booking.com is owned by Priceline. There is apparently a good bit of controversy in Europe about its business practices, as you can read on Wikipedia. I don't know if they offer lower rates than the hotel itself, but I always prefer to book directly with a hotel if possible. I wonder if the hotel would match the Booking price if you contacted them.
 
I've had a variety of experiences when trying to book small properties first located on booking.com. Over some years I have:
  1. A property expressing appreciation when I contacted them directly, saying that's always the better deal.
  2. Trying it with another, waiting a few days with no response, then finding on booking.com that it had sold out.
  3. Most recently, when I contacted a property directly, they directed me to booking.com
 
I really like the search functions of booking.com... you can add all sorts of search criteria to narrow down possible hotels (as well as some vacation rentals). I also like that the reviews are all verified and you can look at reviews only from certain kinds of travelers.

But I know from friends in the hotel industry that the hotels have to pay a really high commission rate to booking.com and they really struggle with this. So nowadays I always try to book directly with the hotel, especially if it's a smaller place where you'll deal with the owners. If you see there's a lower rate on booking.com, you might mention this in an email to the hotel and say that you prefer to deal directly with them.
 
It is my first choice and I have been pleased with them for years. I can tell right off if my credit card will be charged at time of booking (whereas, on a couple of other sites the full payment was put through when I wasn't expecting it to). It is also very easy to do a cancellation online with them.
The properties I've booked with them had my reservations as booked, except for an apartment in Greve, but that was not the fault of booking.com. However, like Pauline, i ALWAYS contact the property directly to reconfirm my reservations the week before I travel and print out the confirmation to take with me. have a great trip.
 
This is all very interesting. Anytime I've checked booking.com against posted price on hotel's website I haven't found a difference in favour of using booking.com. Yet I hear of many people getting bargains. In addition, if I have a hotel in mind, booking. com usually redirects me to another property. I have begun using them to check availability in larger cities but that's all I've used them for.
Glad you have had a good experience, Cameron.
 
Through my booking account, I asked for an early check-in and they sent the request to the hotel. The response was a few hours earlier than usual check-in, so it was a good compromise. My flight lands at 8 am in Paris! I'm accustomed to going to the same apartment without any check-in time concerns.
 
Generally speaking I like booking.com - but just a few days ago I made a reservation with them, then found that the hotel's own website would give me a better deal using a AAA or AARP discount, so I asked booking.com to match. They did not, so I cancelled my booking.com reservation and booked directly thru the hotel's website. It still pays to check different sites.
 
Follow-up:

As I sit in Hotel Gramont Opera in Paris watching BBC World News to take a break.

Staff is super-friendly and they speak fluent English. A few weeks ago, I requested early check-in and got it...and an upgraded room. The "rack room" rate posted on my door is 245 Euro per night, before taxes. My three nights, inclusive of taxes is 475 Euro.

The room is very, very clean and has all conveniences. Reading lights on each side of the bed. Desk with lamp. Overhead light. I wish the bathroom light was brighter for my eyes!

Full mirror and sink mirror in bath. Hairdryer works well and is wall-mounted. Minimal counter space in bath. Okay for me.

A programmable safe that is large enough for multiple notebook computers. Closet with three shelves; six hangers ; luggage rack.

Facing street, it is quiet. There is some hall noise if someone is right outside my room to enter another room. Otherwise, I wasn't disturbed last night by noise.

WiFi is free, but can be slow at times. It hasn't been an issue, so far.

There's a mini-fridge with water, soft drinks, etc. for 3 Euro fee (not as outrageous as some places, when desperate).

I know this neighborhood, 2nd Arrondissement, as the apartment that I rent (and will return to on 29 September) is nearby. Convenient to good restaurants, metro, shopping, Seine, etc.

I can recommend this and will copy this to a review after I've spent all three nights here.
 
I was recently booking a hotel for the same day and used Booking.com. The hotel I wanted in Aosta had only a triple left so I found their website and phoned them. I was able to book a double. BUT I should have booked online with booking.com because the hotel I phoned was in Trieste (the hotel name had Aosta in it and I asked to be sure they were in Aosta and they said yes - obvious mis-communication). If I had booked online I would have known where the hotels was. They were nice enough to not charge me for the night and then I booked something online for that night (Aosta was "full" so we stayed in Courmayeur).
 
I use www.booking.com and other big travel sites to search with a wide net and read the reviews. When I find a hotel I like, I go direct to the hotel web site and often get a better deal. I also like the professional hotel recommendations from www.Frommers.com, and then repeat the same process, going to the hotel's home web site. Sage advice from Artnbarb and Andrew. Booking.com doesn't include the AAA or AARP discounts.
 
This is our first time using Booking.com. We've been gone six weeks and we used them for three of the short-term (1-2 night) stops that broke up long drives. I'm not sold on them...some details between owners site and booking.com’s site dont match up / or are just "not exactly the same". However, it is easy to use. I'll be wiser and better informed if I choose to use again.
 
I've used them many times. Sometimes if I can't make up my mind about a particular hotel or inn, I'll book 2 or 3 with free cancellation for the same dates, then decide just before I leave.
 

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