Booking online Accommodation
Which? Archive
This article, Booking online, was last updated on 11 May 2007 and is now out of date and held in our online archive for reference. Explore our latest Money articles.
Use online agencies to browse availability
The internet is full of hotels and hotel agencies, so it’s not hard to find a room. But it’s not always easy to compare prices for the same hotel or to know which hotel to choose.
A good website should...
- Give accurate prices, including tax, upfront
- Let you sort the results by price or star rating
- Have lots of information and pictures for each hotel
- Show you on a map where the hotels are
- Have reader reviews or a link to sites which do
- Give a speedy confirmation by email
Where to start
Holiday Inn offers hotels around the world
If you already know which hotel you want to stay in, start with its own website, which might feature special offers. If you don’t know the web address, use a search engine.
The local tourist information office usually lists all the hotels in its area, and since smaller hotels and B&Bs may not have their own websites, this might be your only link to them. Chain hotels often have one company website, eg Accor hotels (includes Ibis, Novotel, Sofitel), Best Western, Hilton, Holiday Inn.
Agencies
A more common route to finding a room, even for a hotel you already know, is to search one of the numerous online agencies eg all-hotels.com, book-a-hotel.com, hotels.com or laterooms.com. It’s simple to do – just select your destination and dates and then browse through the results.
Don’t limit your search to a particular price or star rating as you may miss out on special offers, and try more than one website as different agencies feature different hotels, or even the same ones at different prices! Also a hotel sold out on one website may still be available on another, so shop around to find the best deal.
City hotels are easier to search for than ones out in the sticks, and some agencies are better in certain places, eg the USA. Beach resorts don’t figure highly on most sites, but major UK tour operators (see ‘Package deals’) do offer accommodation-only bookings. For bookings in places like Costa Blanca or Crete, try holidayhotels.com or lowcostbeds.com.
When you book through an agency, you should get an email confirmation within 48 hours. Even if you do, it’s always wise to contact the hotel directly a few days later to confirm the reservation.
Recommendations
We like Venere.com for lots of good unbiased reviews
Agencies such as Venere and Priceline feature lots of unbiased reviews from other travellers, though not always in English! Alternatively, Orbitz is more Amerocentric, so doesn’t have that problem.
Tripadvisor is packed with reviews, so is always worth checking out (although you can't book on the site). Fodors and Frommers have included all the hotel reviews from their guidebooks online.
Booking
Most searches will bring up a lot of hotels, especially in popular tourist cities, and you can usually sort these by price or star rating.
Location Better websites have detailed maps showing the exact hotel locations, and let you sort the results by area as well.
Details It’s easier to choose the right hotel if you have lots of information and photos – especially of bedrooms.
Beds If you want twin beds rather than a double, or need an extra bed for your child, not all websites let you book or even request this.
Breakfast Don’t assume breakfast is included, especially in North America or in business-oriented hotels. Check the small print of the quote.
Pre-paying On many websites, eg hotels.com, you have to pay in full in advance, while others, eg Venere, just take a card number for confirmation and then you pay on check out at the hotel.
Cancellation Make sure you know if the cancellation terms are the hotel’s or the agency’s, especially when pre-paying.
Added extras The initial price doesn’t always include taxes and service charges, and it’s sometimes not clear how much will be added. Be sure to get an inclusive quote before booking. Also steer well clear of websites that request a credit-card number or deposit before even giving a quote.
Last-minute checklist
- Is breakfast included?
- Are there photos of typical bedrooms?
- Do you pay in full in advance?
- Can you pick your bed size?
- Is there a map to show the exact location?
- Are all taxes and service charges included?
- What is the cancellation policy?