Where to next?
Discover inspiring destinations, recommended by our in-house travel experts. Know the best places to go, who to book with and how to pay less.
Join Which? TravelWhy you'll pay less for your hotel if you pick up the phone
A little-known rule - already banned in the EU - could be costing you hundreds of pounds
Jo is an award-winning travel journalist and hiking holiday enthusiast. Her specialisms include sustainable travel and overseas destinations.
You are almost certainly paying too much for your UK hotel room if you routinely book online.
Calling reception or even emailing the hotel can get you a better price, as proven by recent Which? research. When we contacted hotels directly, we secured a cheaper price than advertised on their own websites - and on Booking.com - four out of five times.
We were quoted almost £80 less for a two-night Bath stay using this trick - if we signed up for the hotel’s free-to-join loyalty scheme.
For more expertly researched destination ideas and unbiased travel advice and recommendations, subscribe to Which? Travel
Booking.com’s ‘anti-competitive’ price practices
The reason for this is something called 'rate-parity clauses'. Booking.com wants the best deals for itself, so it bans many hotels from advertising lower rates on their own websites.
This small print is written into their contracts - a practice which has since been banned in the EU.
In fact, more than 10,000 hotels across Europe are taking legal action against Booking.com over the pricing practice - which they call ‘anti-competitive’.
The collective is seeking compensation after the booking platform allegedly restricted their ability to set room rates.
Pick up the phone and save
However, this clause is still standard practice in the UK. That’s why we always recommend contacting the hotel directly before booking; staff are often still able to offer a better deal over the phone or via email.
Even if they won’t lower the price, they may throw in a perk, such as a free breakfast or room upgrade.
A hotel has to pay Booking.com a commission for every booking made through its platform, so cutting out the middleman can be cheaper for both parties.
What we saved on a two-night stay by booking direct
| Booking.com rate | Direct with hotel | Direct saving | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fortescue Inn, Salcombe | £360 | £360 | £0 |
| The Resident, Edinburgh | £509 | £458.10* | £50.90 |
| Broad Street Townhouse, Bath | £394 | £315.20* | £79 |
| Hotel Una, Brighton | £437 | £390 | £47 |
| Mollies, Manchester | £356 | £302.60** | £53.40 |
*With free loyalty scheme. **With hotel app. Direct with the hotel is the price we were quoted when we contacted them directly. Cheapest room available for a two-night weekend stay in November 2026
The best UK hotel chains for 2026
What Booking.com says
Booking.com has rejected allegations that its use of parity clauses harms hotels, saying that it will vigorously defend the proceedings.
In a statement on its website, it claims that the practice saved consumers having to ‘spend significant time and effort checking multiple websites to make sure they received value for money’.
Booking.com is also being investigated by the European Commission on whether it is doing enough to fight scams, and no findings have yet been made.
The news comes after Which? Travel listed 10 Downing Street as a holiday apartment on the site - exposing the fact that there were no checks on the owner's identity.
We also recently found evidence of listings where hundreds of people may have been scammed, before Booking.com blocked the fraudsters from the site.