Booking accommodation abroad with Booking.com

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@54321

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I have not had a holiday outside Ireland since 2019. Going to Portugal for a week in October. I am looking at the various accommodations available on the booking.com website. I want one that offers free cancellation until a few days prior to departure and there are plenty available with that option. I like to read reviews on the various places on the booking.com website and tripadvisor but that is very time consuming. What I am noticing since Wednesday night when I first started looking that the prices are changing. I had seen one I liked yesterday morning but did not have the time to read the reviews before going to work and when I looked at it last night it had gone up €190.00 for the same week. I suggested last night that I book a place with free cancellation while I look up reviews and prices on other places but my daughter said that is not some thing I should do as booking.com would know I was booking another place for the same week and might block my account. I am just wondering if anyone does this as in book somewhere but then change their mind and book another place for the same period. She also said the prices might come down. Thank you
 
I have used this site a good bit and have secured a free cancellation place, found a better one and changed my mind with no repercussions that I know about. They don’t warn against doing this on the site.
 
If you have found a place you like, Google it separately and check their own website for offers. Be careful ,though, and make sure its the hotels official website.
I use hotels.com, booking.com , agoda, priceline....and hotels official websites to book. Comparing is not as easy as it once was, as pricing is dynamic, so, often changing rapidly. Check that the room offer is the same. Some include breakfast etc. Free cancellation does not always mean up to departure day. Check the small print. In my experience , some better rates are available after weekends as that's when a lot of people do their searches.
 
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In my experience, the reviews can be very wide of the mark. Only thing I look out for is people describing the place as tired or dated and you can usually see that from the pictures. Apart from that I have often booked one place on Booking and found something else at a later date and was no problem either booking the second place nor cancelling the first. My only gripe with your strategy is, what if everyone does it ? then prices will rise artificially.
 
Scores on Booking, Airbnb and the like are usually quite accurate once it's more than around 100. Reviews. Disregard exceptionally good reviews (often arranged by the hotel) or exceptionally bad ones (often arranged by its competitor) and go by the average score. Some categories such as "location" are subjective, but "cleanliness" (the one I pay most attention to) tends to be accurate. Booking.com doesn't care if you cancel and then rebook.
 
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The sentence that jumps out above “Booking.com doesn’t care if you cancel . . .” And there’s the complaint that prices can jump at any time without notice. To me the process sounds like Booking,com roulette where somebody can cancel without penalty or somebody can be fleeced bare-back while booking.

There’s got to be a happy medium in booking a holiday. Try booking privately through word of mouth information or through a website or through a real estate agent. Look up my posts regarding questions to ask on this forum and I pointed out some of the pitfalls too. Likely, you’ll save a few bob, but don’t expect not to lose your deposit if you cancel.
 
I use Booking.com regularly. I have often booked another property for the same dates. Occasionally the site say "..you already have a property booked for these dates.."but it doesn't stop me booking. I haven't noticed the prices changing between views. I would try going onto Incognito browsing and see if the price reverts. Or, as Leper said, try contacting the property direct.
 
Look it booking.com and Internet booking is great, think of what things were like before it existed, sub standard and bad accommodation could continue to operate for years before word finally spread how bad they were. Also if they got a good review in a guidebook like lonely planet they could ride on the coat tails of that for years before getting found out. Now accommodation owners can no longer do that and the standard of accommodation has risen greatly. If you see accommodation at a great price and it looks good you just got to book it ,you can't procrastinate forever. Why are you only going on first holidays abroad since 2019, too much procrastination methinks?
 
I was due to go on holidays last year but my husband had to have major surgery and was in hospital for 8 weeks so could not go, we only had to cancel flights as we were staying with relations but thankfully Aer Lingus refunded our flights via a voucher. I only booked flights on Thursday and due to working full time and a daughter who has just had surgery on her knee and ankle that has left her very immobile so has to be attended to for everything my time was limited for looking up the various places but I am hoping that I will have a chance tomorrow. She was told 12 weeks recovery so that is up at the end of September so I booked for the first week of October so I will be counting down the days !
 
Leper said:
booking privately
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That's the best option since it means that Booking.com's 20% commission instead goes to the hotel and hopefully to the people who clean & cook & do all the work. Many hotels are starting to offer easy booking options on their own websites but many still don't.
 
We use Booking.com a lot and find it a very good site. We have had more than one hotel booked at any one time with free cancellation, of course. When we do , all, of our research we cancel the ones we don't want at that particular time..
 
Used Booking.com several number of times over the years and never had any problems. It is easy comparison of hotels in a given area, easy to book and also easy to cancel or amend bookings.

One thing I am getting into the habit of doing is choosing the hotel on Booking.com and then comparing to price on hotel website and often there are better deals booking directly.

Another thing to consider is that Booking.com take 15% commission so the hotel only gets 85% of what you pay, so with that in mind, if booking directly is the same price, I will book direct but if there is a significant saving on Booking.com, my morals go out the window.
 
I use Booking.com for all my research but seldom book with them.

They have great photos of properties, good location maps, reviews are written by people who have stayed via them. Lots of other information.
I always check Tripadvisor reviews also.

I always then Google the property to try and find a direct website to book through. Easy with hotels not so easy with apartments. Booking direct usually will save you a lot of money.
 
The problem with booking direct with a property is trying to get a response when you have a few questions.

I am presently researching a few trips and holidays (Ireland included) and trying to get a response from them is proving more than difficult. I contacted a Wexford hotel on Saturday morning through their Facebook page with a simple question.....nil response. Tried it again.....nil response.

Sent them an email.....nil response. This is a hotel chain with managers, assistant managers, senior staff etc. Nobody seems to be interested in checking their emails?

I find that Booking.com usually has better photos of the hotel than the hotel itself. Many hotels have arty photos of a pillow, an ornament, a side locker but no photos of their bathrooms. I have no idea if they have a walk-in shower, shower over bath, a bath.....rain shower or hand held shower. Many just say en-suite bathroom in their description.........and they want to charge me close to €200 a night to stay with them........and then they complain about the V.A.T. rates.
 
I check hotels out on Booking.com, then on the hotel's website, then I ring the hotel - usually get the best rate like that, and am able to request a quiet room, parking info etc. Don't bother emailing, just ring them.
 
@54321 said:
Not at all, I appreciate all the feedback as the fact I am out of touch with these websites I have forgotten various things I used to know.
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We use booking.com a lot. Always with the free cancellation option. Yes it’s more expensive but well worth it. I read the reviews to judge a place, ignoring ones that are too good to be true or ones where someone has a gripe. Personal photos also help.

As regards booking direct, I prefer the peace of mind of having the power of booking.com behind me. For things like overbooked hotels, or the shack in Thailand with sea view and being put in a different one. One of my children in Cambodia arrived to a shocking place, but got the money back immediately.

For chain hotels it doesn’t really matter to need the power of booking.com. I don’t mind them getting their commission, their website is marvellous, really easy to use, and they should be paid, like others when planning a trip I’ll juggle places with flights, then cancel the ones I don’t want when I’ve the flights booked.

I leave reviews too. I like factual ones, cleanliness and location, things like that. For you things like lifts, ground floor, no internal stairs, walk on showers would be important info as you have two people with varying conditions.
 
@54321 said:
Not at all, I appreciate all the feedback as the fact I am out of touch with these websites I have forgotten various things I used to know.
Click to expand...
We use booking.com a lot. Always with the free cancellation option. Yes it’s more expensive but well worth it. I read the reviews to judge a place, ignoring ones that are too good to be true or ones where someone has a gripe. Personal photos also help.

As regards booking direct, I prefer the peace of mind of having the power of booking.com behind me. For things like overbooked hotels, or the shack in Thailand with sea view and being put in a different one. One of my children in Cambodia arrived to a shocking place, but got the money back immediately.

For chain hotels it doesn’t really matter to need the power of booking.com. I don’t mind them getting their commission, their website is marvellous, really easy to use, and they should be paid, like others when planning a trip I’ll juggle places with flights, then cancel the ones I don’t want when I’ve the flights booked.

I leave reviews too. I like factual ones, cleanliness and location, things like that. For you things like lifts, ground floor, no internal stairs, walk on showers would be important info as you have two people with varying conditions.
 
So good you did it twice
 
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