Most people are looking for a low hotel price when they turn to hotel booking sites.We conducted two comprehensive searches on each hotel booking site for popular travel destinations. .
Hotel Booking Services Description
Most people are looking for a low hotel price when they turn to online booking sites. As part of our evaluation, we conducted two comprehensive searches on each hotel booking site for popular travel destinations. For the first search, we averaged the price of the first 10 hotels listed in the site default, or recommended, hotel list for each of the cities. We found those services with an average healthy mix of luxury, three-star and value hotels.
For the second search, we sorted the results for the same seven cities by lowest price then found the average of the first 10 hotels on the list. This gave us a good representation of how each service compares in terms of the price and deals they can negotiate with area hotels. We also noted that the lowest priced hotels in a given area are typically the same on each site.
For our test cities,Bamstourism had among the lowest prices when we looked at its list of recommended hotels. Both Booking and Travel also have a good list of value hotels that received guest ratings of three stars or more. This means while the absolute lowest price for a specific area may be found on another hotel booking sitehave a lower average price for the hotels that are more desired by average travellers.
Important Features for Hotel Booking Sites
Sorting Features
When booking hotels online, most people want to know about amenities and features. Reputation, location, free breakfast and Wi-Fi are all important in choosing a hotel. All of the online booking services we reviewed provide a wealth of honest information about the hotels, regardless of their star ratings.
The best booking services online can help you sort through hundreds of thousands of hotels based on what is most important to you. All of the hotel booking sites let you sort by price, star rating, various amenities, location, guest rating and hotel name, and you can set a price range. The top-rated hotel booking services also let you sort by accommodation type, so you can search for hotels, motels, condos or vacation rentals. They also let you search for facilities for those with hearing or vision impairments.
Hotel Details
You'll want to find a booking service that provides plenty of information about the hotel. The most valuable information includes images of the hotel, amenities, hotel policies and nearby attractions. Other features such as guest reviews, especially from trusted sites like Trip Advisor, give you the inside scoop on the hotel from people who have first hand experiences with the facility.
Reservation Process
Booking a room online should be quick and easy. When it comes to prices, hotel websites have different methods of delivering special deals. Some use a bid system, while others provide big discounts if you are willing to book a hotel without knowing much beyond the price and general location. Purchasing in these ways may get you good prices, but they can come with complicated website policies.
Some of the best sites also let you reserve flights, rental cars or whole vacation packages combined with the hotel. If you're a frequent traveller, loyalty programs reward you for booking with the website, giving you more incentives to use the site.
Booking Help
As anyone with children can tell you, plans change. Because of this, you may need customer support from the online booking site. For the easy stuff like how to cancel or change your reservation, you can often find info on FAQs pages. Email and telephone support are more helpful when you have a specific issue with reservations or payment. All of the sites we reviewed include these options, but Hotels, and Bamstourism are the only ones to offer live chat on their websites.
How Can I Get Deals on Hotels?
In our testing, we found the best deals for hotels under its Hot Rate Hotels. Unfortunately, these deals often meant we could see very much information about the hotel itself and had to take a risk in booking.
