Hotel bargains on the Internet are getting hotter by the week. Orbitz.com last week added dozens of independent properties to its inventory, many at rock-bottom prices. (Example: Harrah's in Las Vegas, marked down to $52 from $140.) The official tourist Web site for New York, www.nycvisit.com, was also recently overhauled and is featuring such deals as the trendy Gershwin, in the Flatiron District, for $99 a night instead of the usual $169. Travelweb.com, a new site scheduled to roll out later this spring, is already teasing travelers with the promise of sharply reduced rates at five major American chains.
But the rapid growth in the online hotel booking market has also brought hand-wringing and confusion among consumers. With more than a dozen major portals advertising rooms at rates of up to 70 percent off, where to turn for the best deal?
Not only that. Some online bookers are seduced by tempting rates, only to find that the room they snagged in a five-star hotel turns out to be the equivalent of a broom closet next to the ice machine. And as an increasing number of travelers book rooms online, more complaints are reaching us from those frustrated with the hassles of changing or canceling reservations.
Dissatisfaction among the major chains with third-party agencies booking their rooms has added to the confusion. In the latest manuever, Priceline.com, one of the big players in the online hotel industry, bought a share in Travelweb.com, the new site owned by the five hotel chain giants. Later this spring, Priceline will start using Travelweb.com as its resource for rooms on its own site and on Lowestfare.com, another site that it owns. Although the move probably won't affect room prices at first, it will take away some of the control that third-party agencies have on room rates available on the Internet and give it to the chains. Eventually the best deals at Hiltons, Westins or other chain properties may be on their own Web sites or on Travelweb.com, rather than on third-party sites such as Hotels.com.
"There are better and better hotel deals on the Internet, but it's not always clear where to find them," said Eric Christensen, a consultant for the online agency PlacesToStay.com. "Travelers have got to be aware that most of the online agencies are promoting the rooms that can get them the biggest profit, rather than the one that best suits the traveler's needs. So travelers have to know how to find what they want."
The Sites
Here's a rundown of the most popular hotel booking sites and who they're best for.
• Quikbook.com is the only major hotel search engine that allows customers to pay for the hotel at the end of their stay, rather than requiring payment over the Internet at the time of the reservation. It is also one of the few agencies that does not charge a fee for cancellations. The site, which four years ago offered rooms in only seven major American cities, now features properties in more than 90 destinations, including most major U.S. metropolitan areas and some locales in the Caribbean and Mexico. Although it has begun to feature budget hotels in New York and other cities, it is better known for offering discounts on three- or four-star properties.
Typical deal: The Maxwell, a stylish boutique hotel near San Francisco's Union Square, where doubles are going for $99, marked down from $129.
• PlacesToStay.com caters more to the leisure traveler and features more bed-and-breakfasts, guesthouses and independent properties not available on the other sites. Although the 31,000 properties it offers worldwide include business hotels, it is probably best for finding intimate guesthouses in Vermont, Nantucket or the Cotswolds, including many at discount rates.
Typical deal: A room at the Clarion Suites in Miami has been discounted from $140 to $76 a night.
• Hotels.com is the biggest U.S.-owned discount agent online, offering 7,700 properties in 325 destinations in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. It is thus a good starting point for a search for properties almost anywhere. It's also one of the easiest to navigate.
Typical deal: Rooms at the Sheraton Studio City Hotel in Orlando for $79.95 instead of $169.
• All-Hotels.com features properties worldwide -- 77,000 in all, including Latin America and Asia. The site often indicates whether the hotel is featuring reduced-rate specials.
Typical deal: A room at the Great Wall Sheraton in Beijing for $132, compared with a regular rate of $240.
• AsiaVoyage24.com is a good site to find cheaper rates in China, Japan and other Asian countries. It represents hundreds of properties throughout the region.
Typical deal: A room at the Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai for $165 a night instead of the usual $230.
• Expedia.com, Travelocity.com and Orbitz.com, all of which list hotels worldwide, are worth checking for packages that include airfare and hotels as well as for occasional great lodging-only deals. Expedia and Travelocity feature a far greater choice of properties. But Orbitz's new search matrix makes it easier to compare hotels according to price or level of amenities.
Typical deals: On Expedia, a room at the Copthorne Tara Hotel in London's Kensington for $103.09 instead of the usual $164.38; on Travelocity, a room at Denver's Executive Tower Hotel for $70.07, ordinarily $99; and on Orbitz, a room at Chicago's Tremont Hotel for $99, down from $159.
• Priceline.com and Hotwire.com allow you to bid on rooms. Hotwire provides a general description of the property available, including the level of stars and the price of the room. Only after you hand over your credit card number is the name of the property revealed. On Priceline, you indicate the city, neighborhood and number of stars you're interested in, and the amount you are willing to spend, then provide credit card information; the first hotel willing to match your bid responds.
Priceline customers should first check out www.biddingfortravel.com, which offers advice on making good bids and includes examples of what some recent bids were. Priceline can yield some of the best prices on the Web. The downside is that you have no say over which property you end up in and are locked into the deal after making a bid.
Typical deal: On Priceline, a room at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta went for $45 last week, usually $99.
• Individual hotel sites are frequently sources of bargains. Like the airlines, they also sometimes offer last-minute deals not available elsewhere on the Web. For example, Choice Hotels International requires owners of its properties, including Choice and Clarion, to offer their cheapest rates on the chain's sites (www.choicehotels.com and www.clarionhotel.com), rather than through third-party sites.
Typical deal: On Choicehotels.com, the Quality Inn in Denver is $86.99, down from $99.99.
• Destination-specific sites some- times have bargains not available on sites with broader markets. They include www.nycvisit.com, which lists only rooms in New York City; www.hotrooms.com, listing only hotels in Chicago, with discounts averaging half the rack rate; and www.floridahotels.com, with discounts on budget properties such as Holiday Inn Express, Quality Inn or Comfort Inn.
Typical deals: On nycvisit.com, the Best Western Ambassador Hotel in Midtown is $109.95 instead of $149; on Hotrooms.com, the Allegro Hotel in downtown Chicago was $140 instead of $279; on Floridahotels.com, the Sheraton World Resort in Orlando is $79.95, down from $99.95.
• Travelweb.com will offer regular-price and discounted rooms at the Marriott, Starwood (including Westin, Sheraton and W, among others), Hyatt, Hilton and Six Continents (including Holiday Inn and Intercontinental) chains worldwide when it debuts later this spring. Like Orbitz.com, in which the leading airlines banded together to offer their best rates, the chains have decided that if other Web sites are marketing their rooms at discount rates, they should do likewise. Other third-party sites will continue to feature rooms at the chain properties, but once this site is up and running, it should be a good first stop for those looking for a deal on a room in a brand-name property.
The Fine Print
Some users of online hotel bookings systems complain that they are sometimes socked with unexpected charges, so it's important to review the fine print before signing off on a reservation. For example, Expedia.com, Travelocity.com and Orbitz.com charge a $5 fee for all services booked on those sites.
In almost all cases, online agencies charge penalties for changes. Hotels.com charges $20 for changes or cancellations. Two exceptions are Quikbook.com and PlacesToStay.com, which follow the hotels' own cancellation policies. That is, if a hotel requires cancellation 24 hours in advance, those who cancel within a shorter time frame are charged a night's stay.
Customers of Priceline are charged $5.95 for each room booked. It and other sites also warn that hotels may add up to 12 percent local taxes onto every room charge. In Florida, Hawaii and some other states popular among leisure travelers the tax can be much higher.
A more insidious complaint is that the sites sometimes land customers in the worst room in the hotel. This happens because hotel managers who assign rooms can easily see how much guests have paid and are likely to give guests who have paid full price a better choice than those who have booked at a cut rate.
One reader wrote that he booked a five-star hotel on Priceline.com and was delighted to snag a room at the Hilton Towers in New York. Upon arrival, however, he was given a room that smelled of cigarette smoke with a small bed. Other travelers have landed what seemed to be good deals at deluxe properties, only to find that the hotel is undergoing noisy reconstruction or is located next to a building site.
To avoid such situations, do some research about the hotel and the rooms offered. Calling the property to ask about amenities offered or checking with guests who may have stayed there might help. Or check a Web site such as www.biddingfortravel.com, where patrons of Priceline.com give candid hotel reviews.
Another defense against getting stuck with the worst room in the house is to join the preferred-guest programs provided by most chains. Call the hotel where you are reserved before arrival and make sure that your frequent-guest number is registered as part of the booking. Joining programs such as Hilton Hhonors and Hyatt's Gold Passport are free and usually offer members better rooms, sometimes on a posh concierge floor. Even travelers who book through third-party agents can use their priority membership status for upgrades. Washington Post staff writer Anne McDonough contributed to this story.
Gary Lee will be online to discuss this story Monday at 2 p.m. during the Travel section's regular weekly chat at www.washingtonpost.com.
