Hostel/budget hotel booking websites?
Replies: 12 - Last Post: Nov 17, 2012 3:36 AM Last Post By: gerrmamium
Oct 30, 2012 4:54 PM
Hostel/budget hotel booking websites?What are the best hostel/budget hotel booking websites, with good reviews?.
I am told that some of them charge a higher booking fee from the owners' than the others, Thus the rate payable for the same hotel may be different from different websites.
I also had an occasion recently when the booking website noted that the particular hotel was fully booked, but when I contacted them directly they were able to give a room. So, how reliable are they when they state that the 'hotel is full'?
Of course they specialise for different regions globally.
For Asia and SEA I find the foll useful.
Any comments/ words of wisdom on the above pls? Any additions pls?
As an aside, any other advise re booking , for long stayers, not under the tyranny of time?
Oct 30, 2012 6:08 PM
1I dont know about Asia but I had really good places to stay thru www.Airbnb.com
You can filter for a private room, prices were really good and dealing with the owners was painless.
Oct 30, 2012 6:13 PM
Oct 30, 2012 7:17 PM
3Hihostels.com cheaper on their site I think than if through another service. I have heard that many hostels reserve some beds for those who show up at the door. .....sometimes though this is at a higher price. I used to use Hostelworld a lot....cheap hotels as well as hostels......but now I like using hostelbookers.com because there is no cost to me and therefor I do not need to worry about a credit card bill showing up at home while I am away or need to do internet banking on strange computers.
Oct 31, 2012 5:31 AM
Oct 31, 2012 10:43 AM
5I find agoda.com fantastic for Asia, and their prices beat the others hands down. They are also very helpful with after-booking information should you need any.
Oct 31, 2012 7:58 PM
Nov 1, 2012 9:56 AM
7NG @ #6: As Agoda books hotel rooms only they do not offer other services such as arranging for airport pickup, contacting hotels to let them know of late arrivals, all that sort of stuff. I booked a room at a hotel in Narita, Japan, through Agoda (super price deal) but then discovered I was landing so late I wasn't sure my pre-paid room would still be available. I contacted Agoda and they sent me a link to the hotel (that for some reason I couldn't find via Google), I was able to e-mail the hotel to advise them that I might be booking in late. I also asked the hotel about transportation to the hotel but got no reply. So I e-mailed Agoda again and they sent me a detailed list of the free shuttle bus services from Narita airport, both terminals, including bus times. It was more useful than the one I found through Google (don't remember the differences now, though). What surprised me most was their quick responses and they also followed up with e-mails to make sure I got all the information I needed.
So, I was impressed. Having said that I've only used one other hotel booking site before, don't remember which one, and was not overly impressed. This was for an overnight stop in Houston.
Nov 1, 2012 2:02 PM
Nov 2, 2012 6:51 AM
Those listed in OP aren't agencies. They're booking sites.
I've used a few of those when going for NYE, when I know places get fully booked. Those booking sites are also good if you want to book an apartment.
Recently I used agoda.com in Japan. We were going to a place where there was only one youth hostel. Since we knew how Japan was expensive we didn't want to miss that opportunity. We stayed there a couple of days.
But, then we moved to little guest house that wasn't listed anywhere. The price was the same as at the youth hostel, but we could negotiate and got a good discount. You don't get discounts neither you can negotiate with booking sites. So, that's a disadvantage when using booking sites.
Nov 3, 2012 12:11 AM
Nov 10, 2012 7:16 AM
Nov 17, 2012 3:36 AM
12I used agoda.com last year for Malaysia- Malacca, KL, Kuantan. Since then, I have been receiving their weekly newsletters. In general, it seems to me they deal more with the smaller/cheaper hotels and hostels rather than the four and five star, although the KL one was definitely five star. Maybe it is just because I booked hotels in Asia, but the hotels in their newsletters seem to have a weighting towards Asia. The three hotels I stayed in were all OK- nothing flash, but a clean room, which was all I wanted. All the booking arrangements worked OK. I would use them again.
(0 star Hotel)
From US$44.03 per night
Kochi (Cochin)Book now
(0 star Hotel)
From US$4.89 per night
(4 star Hotel)
From US$130.37 per night