Booking.com (Good service? any complaints?)

[EmoJohnson]

Has everyone had a good experience with booking.com? Any negative feedback or a better service I should consider (like hostelworld.com)? They also just sent me this promo if for $25 off for me and a "friend" if one of you would like me to send your email the link:

"We hope you have a great time! To make it even better, you're on your way to receiving a US$25 reward when you check out.

Now that you booked, why not earn a little extra spending money for your trip? Refer your friends and you'll get another US$25 every time one of them books and stays, up to US$250! They'll get US$25, too."

 

[Paddington Bear]

They are great. Never had a problem. Make sure you read the fine print and know the booking conditions.

I usually check the website of the hotel just to check prices.

 

[trecile]

I used Booking.com for Santiago, Finisterre and Muxia. You can probably get a better rate by contacting the properties directly, but Booking.com makes it so easy.
I also booked an albergue in Melide, that had no cancellation fees, even up to the day of arrival, but when I got there I didn't like the location, so cancelled the booking and found a better place. I was starting to believe the rumors about not being able to find a bed as I got close to Santiago, but they were unfounded.

 

[edandjoan]

love booking dot com

 

[SabsP]

I also try to contact the hotel directly...sharper prices most of the times.

 

[mspath]

I also try to contact the hotel directly...sharper prices most of the times.

Sabine is right on! It is always worth checking directly with an accommodation listed by any booking service! Both availabilities and/or prices may differ. Such accommodation pays a fee to that service and thus their stated price on that service link reflects that fee. Furthermore all rooms are not always listed with any service. Thus for the lowest price and/or unlisted room find the accommodation website or telephone and ask directly.

 

[SabsP]

Sabine is right on! It is always worth checking directly with an accommodation listed by any booking service! Both availabilities and/or prices may differ. Such accommodation pays a fee to that service and thus their stated price on that service link reflects that fee. Furthermore all rooms are not always listed with any service. Thus for the lowest price and/or unlisted room find the accommodation website or telephone and ask directly.

For our regular holidays in September in Sevilla I actually saved us 130 € by directly negotiating with the hotel. Even with full option breakfast buffet ( not included in the bookingsite ) , that we are not obliged to take every day of course.

 

[C clearly]

I find both hotels.com and booking.com to be very reliable and convenient.

P.S. They both offer similar incentives.

 

[dgallen]

I like booking dot com for the convenience and reviews. Just beware that you may pay a premium over at the desk rates, since the website charges the proprieter the extra fees that get passed on to you.

What I do like is that many new hostels are listed that have not yet reached the albergues list, apps or books. Like the amazing new hostel in Estella (world class!) and the equally amazing new hostel/albergue in Muxia. You'll se the listed on the website.

 

[notion900]

I have a feeling that hostel world is part of booking.com

 

[intrepidtraveler]

I like the convenience of bookingbooking.com. Granted it's probably cheaper to deal with the lodging directly but that will depend on your fluency in Spanish or if the person at the desk speaks your language.

 

[CaptBuddy]

Great! Been using booking.com for years and never disappointed.
Good advice here about checking hotel web site and/or contacting hotel directly. Hotels normally release a portion of their rooms to online bookers, and keep some in reserve. You might see where booking.com says they just booked the last room, well, that would be the last of the allotment.
But I use like it for planning ahead for a trip, and because it will remember your information and preferences.
It is convenient when you're on the go and need to change booking while on your trip.

 

[GettingThere]

Yes, I've always found booking.com to be very convenient and reliable. I tend to look at a hotel's own website too, if they have one, just to gather as much information as possible. It's sometimes possible to get a cheaper rate by contacting the hotel (I believe they are not allowed to actually list cheaper rates than they have on booking.com), but I have never personally found a great enough difference to cancel out the convenience of booking.com. But as others have said, if booking.com tells you a place is full, don't believe them - always contact the hotel directly if it's a place you particularly want/need to stay.

One other point: booking.com also makes it very easy to cancel if you need to - which is a negative reason for using them, but is a consideration on the Camino - nothing worse than not cancelling if you can't make it to where you have booked. When planning my first Camino I had booked several nights at the start (because that's me - not getting into that debate here!) and then had a health emergency come up 10 days prior to departure, meaning I had to cancel the whole lot, long-haul flights and all. Just having one place to go for cancelling accommodation reduced the hassle at what was an extremely stressful and upsetting time. And then as my prior bookings remained there in my "history", I could find the same places when it came time to (yay!) rebook a few months later.

 

[SabsP]

I like the convenience of bookingbooking.com. Granted it's probably cheaper to deal with the lodging directly but that will depend on your fluency in Spanish or if the person at the desk speaks your language.

True knowing Spanish is a bonus! Very happy with the evening classes I did.

 

[Annie Little]

I have been using booking.com for many years in every country . Very convenient , very easy , never had a problem .

Read the fine print and check when the cancel booking date is .... some are a month out from stay date and that is too long in my opinion. Go for cancel date in the week you are staying to avoid fees in case you cancel.

I have the app on my phone and it saves all my bookings for me

 

[zimmecp]

I have always had good experiences...but a recent experience has really given them a top notch rating from me! I booked a b&b and had to cancel. I had already been charged...but it was a refundable reservation. Booking.com spoke with the B&B when they failed to refund my money...and got it all sorted. Quickly and without problems!

They were also able to negotiate with a few b&b's to refund my money on a few non-refundable- when I had to change my reservations (3 months in advance).

A FANTASTIC service...I highly recommend them!

 

[C clearly]

One Thursday evening in Spain I booked the next Thursday night. Oops! I just booked tonight! I called customer service (honestly can't remember if it was hotels.com or booking.com) and they sorted it out immediately and politely. The hotel was not available for the correct day, so my reservation was cancelled with no charge.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I also try to contact the hotel directly...sharper prices most of the times.

I normally use the bookings et al. to find places and then call them directly, but last month when I called the hotel in Sevilla they said they were booked whereas Booking showed a room. So I booked it online...

 

[Carlos Santiago]

I had a bad experience with Booking.com in Korea last December.
I was happy to have booked a room for my wife, son, and myself in Busan thru Booking.com at a nice bargain price for payment on arrival the following day. About halfway, on the Train to Busan*, I received an email from the hostel saying that they were overbooked and that I have to choose another room. The message also included other room offers at the much higher prices.

This situation (overbooking) appears normal based on users' feedback . However, the night before, I had been monitoring the price's at the hostel's website (out of habit - my job); including those of other rooms; but I did not contact them separately. The prices were much higher than the one I got from Booking.com which was discounted. So I emailed Booking.com telling them that I believe, it was some kind of fraudulent modus.
Meanwhile we got on an open-air double-decker loop bus and enjoyed the tour at zero Celsius or thereabouts, and took the train back to Seoul that evening. On the train (again) I got an email from Booking with apologies, and that they have made another room available at a much lower price; blah, blah.

Since then I stay clear of Booking.com. I use Agoda ... but wait, there's more*. I learned just recently that both Agoda and Booking.com are owned by the same holding company - The Priceline Group**. So perhaps the retailers are either bucking Booking.com or those who do not make down-payments, or both, or the setup is not that manageable. Example: On an outing last March in Northern Philippines, I booked thru Agoda with down payment, while a companion booked thru Booking without down payment - she had a similar problem I had in Korea when we got to the accommodation.

I hope this helps.


*I cant resist the pun.
**The Priceline Group is composed of four primary brands - Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and Rentalcars.com - and several ancillary brands.

 

[peregrina2000]

The receptionist at a hotel in Sicily explained to me that the charges that are imposed when you go past the cancellation date are actually charged by the hotel itself and not booking. When we arrived at this place, we had planned to stay four nights, but decided to change to three. I asked her if she would change the reservation to three nights, and she told me to just cancel the one on booking and she would do the new reservation. When I asked about the cancellation penalty, she told me that they were the ones that charge it and she wouldn't charge it. And she gave me a rate of about 15 € cheaper per night. This was confirmed to me by a B&B in Madeira when our flight was cancelled because of high winds. I wrote and explained, and they wrote back and said no problem, they wouldn't charge the penalty.

One thing to keep in mind about booking is that they only have access to a very small number of the property's rooms, so when booking.com shows that a place is full, they are only referring to the three or four rooms that they can book.

 

[notion900]

www.gronze.com has a partnership with booking.com - there are link buttons on gronze.
Handy and means gronze must think they are OK.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I usually go to trivago.com first. That gives me a listing using all the other booking sites and from them I think I always have ended up using their booking.com listing. I haven't had any problems.

 

[Ian Afloat]

Death to it say I.

 

[Deleted member 36903]

Hi @EmoJohnson, always had good experience with the company staying throughout the UK, in France, Spain and Portugal. But bear in mind what others on this thread have noted about the difference in cost. In 2016 booked a twin room at the Hotel Real Colegiata San Isidoro as a treat in Leon, specifically chosen because the Booking.com listing referred to rooms with the baths and showers. On arrival discovered the hotel does not have rooms with baths, so quickly logged on to the site again to check if there was availability at the Parador. There was, so was able to reserve a room there, the Hotel Real reservation was cancelled without penalty and off we trekked to the Parador. There the friendly receptionist told us that we should have phoned the hotel direct as we could have stayed at a lower price using the pilgrim rate. Choosing bookings that can be cancelled at short notice proved very helpful when travelling to and back from the Camino and having to rejig public transport arrangements. In some cases the booking.com price ended up being cheaper than that offered by the hotel through direct contact.

 

[StepheninDC]

I'm a big fan of that site and I use it a lot, BUT: I wanted to treat myself to a night at the Parador in Leon, and Booking.com does not offer the "Especial Peregrino" that can be had by booking directly, hence I decided to book directly through the hotel's website. Saved about 17 Euros that way, enough for a good dinner, I expect.

 

[Mark Temple]

I don't like to use booking.com.

A number of people who run hotels etc in different countries have asked me to book direct with them (if they have their own site, or even email), because the margins in the industry are already small. I much prefer to do my best to make sure all my money goes into their pockets rather than some shady tax-avoiding start-up which is no doubt making millions for its (probably dubious) founder in Silicon Valley.

 

[Deleted member 36903]

Hi @Mark Temple, booking.com was established in the Netherlands, but I take your point and have tried to book direct whenever I can.

 

[Mark Temple]

OK, sorry, my mistake. Of course it's useful that these sites exist. But, like Amazon, if everyone buys everything from them then all the money is going into the pockets of very few.

 

[Jersey]

I like the convenience of bookingbooking.com. Granted it's probably cheaper to deal with the lodging directly but that will depend on your fluency in Spanish or if the person at the desk speaks your language.

You make a great point about being able to speak Spanish.
My plan when I don't book ahead is when I find a hotel I like I will have one of my Spanish friends call the hotel for me.

 

[Mark Temple]

Most people these days who work in tourism can manage a bit of English. And even Google Translate should be able to handle a simple email like this

 

[Tamsin Grainger]

Has everyone had a good experience with booking.com? Any negative feedback or a better service I should consider (like hostelworld.com)? They also just sent me this promo if for $25 off for me and a "friend" if one of you would like me to send your email the link:

"We hope you have a great time! To make it even better, you're on your way to receiving a US$25 reward when you check out.

Now that you booked, why not earn a little extra spending money for your trip? Refer your friends and you'll get another US$25 every time one of them books and stays, up to US$250! They'll get US$25, too."

We had a very bad experience with booking.com in Finnisterre so I don't use them. The place was possibly the worst I have ever stayed at with no heating (December in rain), fabulously dirty. However it did have a bath with hot water.

 

[C clearly]

We had a very bad experience with booking.com in Finnisterre so I don't use them. The place was possibly the worst I have ever stayed at with no heating (December in rain), fabulously dirty. However it did have a bath with hot water.

The online booking agencies don't inspect and rate the accommodations. They just administer the booking process and post whatever information is provided by the hotel and by people who have stayed there and provided reviews.

 

[Patrice Reed]

In Spain, you are better off calling or emailing the hotel directly. I booked the Hospiterio San Martin in Santiago through Booking.com and found out once we got there that we were paying an additional $60 per night by booking through Booking.com's internet rates. Bummer!

 

[Trude]

Has everyone had a good experience with booking.com? Any negative feedback or a better service I should consider (like hostelworld.com)? They also just sent me this promo if for $25 off for me and a "friend" if one of you would like me to send your email the link:

"We hope you have a great time! To make it even better, you're on your way to receiving a US$25 reward when you check out.

Now that you booked, why not earn a little extra spending money for your trip? Refer your friends and you'll get another US$25 every time one of them books and stays, up to US$250! They'll get US$25, too."

I always use them for my holiday travel but never needed to book on any Camino. I just would not like that feeling of having to be somewhere at a certain time. It's not what the Camino is about. Also you get a pilgrims discount at most places, that you will not get through Bookings.com. They are a good company though.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I'm a big fan of that site and I use it a lot, BUT: I wanted to treat myself to a night at the Parador in Leon, and Booking.com does not offer the "Especial Peregrino" that can be had by booking directly, hence I decided to book directly through the hotel's website. Saved about 17 Euros that way, enough for a good dinner, I expect.

September last year Booking was cheaper than going to the parador direct! It varies on the time of year.

 

[Marcus-UK]

Generally I have had a good experience with Booking.Com. However at the end of my Camino in 2016 I found that the three night booking at the PR Badalada had not been received by them and the hotel was full.

Badalada blamed Booking.Com and visa versa. In the end I booked another hotel direct but at a higher price. I would advise that if you book via Booking.Com you should also send a confirmation request to your Hotel/Hostal/Albergue to ensure they have received the booking. This is what I am doing for the next camino I am doing this year.

The booking.com website is easy to use does allow you to chop and change and generally allows free cancellations before a certain date. The cheaper deals may be require payment in advance with no refund in case of cancellation. Also check the individual booking conditions since some Guest Houses require a partial payment in advance.

 

[greg126]

Booking.com is convenient do doubt about it. Very seldom do I find an online offering from the hotel at a lower price and I usually check if the hotel has online booking to see if there is a difference enough to compensate for the loss of convenience. Generally when used I'm making a string of reservvations so there is a lot to be said for centralization. For a one-off trip I'll almost always go with the hotel direct on the theory that even at equal price the locals will make more. Calling and direct emailing I find are far more productive in getting lower prices.

 

[greg126]

Booking.com is convenient no doubt about it. Very seldom do I find an online offering from the hotel at a lower price and I usually check if the hotel has online booking to see if there is a difference enough to compensate for the loss of convenience. Generally when used I'm making a string of reservvations so there is a lot to be said for centralization. For a one-off trip I'll almost always go with the hotel direct on the theory that even at equal price the locals will make more. Calling and direct emailing I find are far more productive in getting lower prices.

 

[JimLinda97]

They are great. Never had a problem. Make sure you read the fine print and know the booking conditions.

I usually check the website of the hotel just to check prices.

Ditto

 

[EmoJohnson]

I'm a big fan of that site and I use it a lot, BUT: I wanted to treat myself to a night at the Parador in Leon, and Booking.com does not offer the "Especial Peregrino" that can be had by booking directly, hence I decided to book directly through the hotel's website. Saved about 17 Euros that way, enough for a good dinner, I expect.

Do most places offer discount via "especial peregrino"?

 

[EmoJohnson]

In Spain, you are better off calling or emailing the hotel directly. I booked the Hospiterio San Martin in Santiago through Booking.com and found out once we got there that we were paying an additional $60 per night by booking through Booking.com's internet rates. Bummer!

!!

 

[EmoJohnson]

I always use them for my holiday travel but never needed to book on any Camino. I just would not like that feeling of having to be somewhere at a certain time. It's not what the Camino is about. Also you get a pilgrims discount at most places, that you will not get through Bookings.com. They are a good company though.

THANK YOU for this. I have anxiety over finding a bed each night (right now on Camino) but the Camino "provides" so...

 

[bunnymac]

Has everyone had a good experience with booking.com? Any negative feedback or a better service I should consider (like hostelworld.com)? They also just sent me this promo if for $25 off for me and a "friend" if one of you would like me to send your email the link:

"We hope you have a great time! To make it even better, you're on your way to receiving a US$25 reward when you check out.

Now that you booked, why not earn a little extra spending money for your trip? Refer your friends and you'll get another US$25 every time one of them books and stays, up to US$250! They'll get US$25, too."

Be REALLY careful to check the t&cs. Cancellation can range from 24 hours to one week. I got stung twice last year on cancelled bookings as I (stupidly) assumed the same terms applied to each booking. That said, it's a really good service and I would highly recommend it. They also have a great helpline with real people who speak to you promptly.

 

[notion900]

Someone posted a tip on another thread, which said that if you are booking for 2 or more nights, do the search individually on each of the nights, as the whole booking can come up as non refundable because only one of your selected nights is non refundable (usually Saturday). They said that you can then book the nights as separate transactions to avoid being stung for too much if you cancel at the last minute. I have not tried this myself but thought it was an interesting point - if anyone has made this work, please post here.

 

[JimLinda97]

Do most places offer discount via "especial peregrino"?

Some do, not all. Can ask when making trservation or contact place before or at articsl.