Hotel Booking sites-Trivago

I pull up various hotel booking sites in new tabs, side by side, and compare.

Almost always they are showing completely different hotels!!! Really!

If you know how much you want to spend and the general area you want to stay that helps you narrow down the selections.

I have also found a few places through VRBO, Vacation Rentals By Owner. Most of them have a minimum stay and are overpriced BUT if you are looking in an area that has a bunch of them you can keep looking and find some that are less than $100 per night with no minimum stay.

Many of the good hotels have a guaranteed best price on the website. I book directly online with the hotel family... usually Hilton or Marriott.

I've not used Trivago but I've used Priceline. I do not like paying in advance before the site tells you what and where the hotel is located. Now a couple of times, for 1 night or so it wasn't a biggie, I didn't get what I expected and pretty much got what I paid for. Safety and location are huge factors for me when booking.

I've used AAA and received good discounts. Last year at spring break I booked a resort we had stayed at before for $2200 for 5 nights. After I signed on to AAA, I checked my rate, got a discount and paid $1600 for the same room 5 nights!

AAA has been worth my yearly fee!!

I still got my points too!!!

I've used Trivago and other sites. Many of them, like Expedia and Trivago and Kayak, are great for finding low prices.

However, I have learned that if there is a problem with the room, dealing with the front desk can be challenging if you booked through a third party site, instead of the hotel's reservation site directly.

My rule is that if we're just needing a bed mid-trip, use Trivago or Expedia. If we're staying for a week and it's to be a relaxing vacation, look up the hotel reviews, look up prices on Trivago, and deal with the hotel directly. Ask for their best price.

For example, when we took our daughter to the Mayo Clinic, we used Trivago for the hotel where we'd just need to sleep one night and close our eyes and then get on the road again. We booked directly with the hotel for the week we'd actually be at the Mayo. That was good because the room had a problem. The front desk was able to change and upgrade us and even give us a discount for the inconvenience. She explained that because we booked directly, she could handle it directly. If you book through a third party, you sometimes have to resolve issues through the third party and it can be inconvenient.

I always deal with the hotel directly.

I have used Trivago, Hotels.com, etc. I have never had an issue. I have never used them to book a "mystery room" like TF describes. I know this is possible, but I use the sites to book at a specific hotel for a particular room.

I have found the customer reviews to be accurate and their prices are typically less than what the hotel sites or AAA offer. Not all rooms are pay in advance and nonrefundable. You just have to pick and choose what is important to you. It is all spelled out in the details.

Also some sites will drop the price if it goes lower.

Oh I did think of one 'problem'. One time I booked a room and didn't realize that the default dates were for the wrong time period. Fortunately I caught my error. I called the hotel directly and they were able to move the date without any issue. So there was no red tape to go through.

I've not actually received a "good" deal through Trivago. I have used Hotwire pretty consistently but usually only get a good deal if I am booking hours prior to my arrival (otherwise between the Hotwire fees and the rate, it is often the same or even higher than "rack rate"). I have also used Expedia, but I watch closely as again, the fees are often the same or almost the same as booking directly with the hotel. However, I do find that Expedia does get better rates if you bundle with car and/or airfares and if I plan to bundle, they are usually the first place I check.

If I am planning a trip in advance, I usually check TripAdvisor first and choose 3 places I would like to stay based on reviews. Then I run the places through Expedia and also go on the hotel website to see what is what. I often find that signing up for the hotel rewards program will usually lead to an initial discount better than what Expedia or others can offer.

A couple of other places you can check for deals if you like are: Kayak.com and HotelTonight (more for last minute and only 2 people traveling - you don't specify how many). Finally check out airbnb.com. I've had great luck with that, too.

Good luck!

Like Terri S., I rely on AirBnB at times, but I also check hotels.com, as I am a member of that site, and Choice Hotels, because again, I am a member of that hotel group. If I book through hotels.com, after a certain amount of bookings, I can get a free stay, and same with my Choice Hotels membership. I still do shop around for the lowest price, though. If AirBnB is significantly cheaper, I will go with that, over either of the other 2. If I don't want to share a small home with others or I don't see any AirBnB sites that really do anything for me (whether they aren't charming, seem to be in an inconvenient area, or the hosts don't say they are kid-friendly), then it will come down to who will give me the better price, Choice Hotels or through a hotel on hotels.com.

Many times, the hotel has offered to match the price that hotels.com has offered, so I get the perks of dealing with the hotel directly, at the low price I had seen on a competitor's site. Either way I collect points, as I mentioned. Like Terri S. and Elena B. both said, sometimes, booking on hotels.com or through a third party can be a mission when trying to cancel a hotel, even when you're within the cancellation period. Sometimes just getting someone on the phone alone to request a cancellation is a hassle. My friend booked through Expedia.com once and we got sick and they gave us hell when trying to cancel the trip. We had to offer to send a doctor's note as proof, and whine and complain until we finally got them to accept changing our travel date without penalty. If you're 100% sure of traveling, that you will want to stay at that particular hotel, and don't want to do the AirBnB thing, then booking through a third party should be fine.

As far as hotels, I still book directly. You may save ten or twenty bucks booking through a discount site but you have to pay in advance and there are often no refunds if you need to make a change. Not worth it in my opinion.
I've started using AIrbnb too, sometimes renting a house or condo is better, especially for a family trip.