What is the best Asia's hotel reservation network?

I often used Asiatravel.com about 10 years ago and found it very
reliable. Is it still good or are there better ones now? This time I
am going to visit Taiwan and would like to make a hotel booking
through the net.

"Hiroshi" wrote in message
...
I often used Asiatravel.com about 10 years ago and found it very
reliable. Is it still good or are there better ones now? This time I
am going to visit Taiwan and would like to make a hotel booking
through the net.

http://www.asiarooms.com/ is another alternative.

Both sites are good.

Gerry

On 9¤ë13¤é, ¤È«á2:26, "Gerald Oliver Swift" wrote:
"Hiroshi" wrote in message

...

I often used Asiatravel.com about 10 years ago and found it very
reliable. Is it still good or are there better ones now? This time I
am going to visit Taiwan and would like to make a hotel booking
through the net.

http://www.asiarooms.com/is another alternative.

Both sites are good.

Gerry

Thank you, Gerry.

I¡@have checked the asiarooms site. It seems alright.

Hiroshi

On Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:58:39 -0700 (PDT), Hiroshi
wrote:

On 9??13??, ????2:26, "Gerald Oliver Swift" wrote:
"Hiroshi" wrote in message

...

I often used Asiatravel.com about 10 years ago and found it very
reliable. Is it still good or are there better ones now? This time I
am going to visit Taiwan and would like to make a hotel booking
through the net.

http://www.asiarooms.com/is another alternative.

Both sites are good.

Gerry

Thank you, Gerry.

I?@have checked the asiarooms site. It seems alright.


You might also want to look at http://www.agoda.com/

I use Agoda often and find they usually come out slightly cheaper than
others when I compare prices. They also have a bonus point scheme
which allows you to accumulate points and use them for discounts on
future bookings.

The only thing I don't like about them is they insist on charging your
credit card in your home currency at a worse rate of exchange than you
would have got from your credit card company.

Chris

On 9¤ë14¤é, ¤È«e10:15, Chris Blunt wrote:
On Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:58:39 -0700 (PDT), Hiroshi







wrote:
On 9??13??, ????2:26, "Gerald Oliver Swift" wrote:
"Hiroshi" wrote in message

....

I often used Asiatravel.com about 10 years ago and found it very
reliable. Is it still good or are there better ones now? This time I
am going to visit Taiwan and would like to make a hotel booking
through the net.

http://www.asiarooms.com/isanother alternative.

Both sites are good.

Gerry

Thank you, Gerry.

I?@have checked the asiarooms site. It seems alright.

You might also want to look athttp://www.agoda.com/

I use Agoda often and find they usually come out slightly cheaper than
others when I compare prices. They also have a bonus point scheme
which allows you to accumulate points and use them for discounts on
future bookings.

The only thing I don't like about them is they insist on charging your
credit card in your home currency at a worse rate of exchange than you
would have got from your credit card company.

Chris

Thank you, Chris.

I'll check your site.

Cheers!


Hiroshi

Hiroshi wrote;

I often used Asiatravel.com about 10 years ago and found it very
reliable. Is it still good or are there better ones now? This time I
am going to visit Taiwan and would like to make a hotel booking
through the net.

While many of these travel sites offer competitive rates, don't you
generally pay for the entire stay upfront? If your plans change, then you
face the task of modifying or recovering the charges against your credit
card, which was charged the full amount earlier. Expedia even has a deal
where you can pay extra for cancelling for any reason but then if you read
the fine print, you still have cancellation fees and fees on top of that.
Watch the fine print.

I find that many hotels will take your credit card information but will not
charge unless you fail to show or fail to observe their cancellation policy.
Cancellation policies are generally reasonable in my experience. Some
hotels don't even require advance credit card information, especially if you
press them, as was the case when I recently booked excellent accommodation
for a stay in Hanoi.

One other tip to negotiate a better rate at a higher rated hotel is to see
what promotions they may have running during the period you plan to visit.
They will often extend these promotion prices if you stay a for longer than
a couple days.

More and more, I am finding that hotels will match the best deal you can
find on the net or come close to it. Alternatively, their specials and
promotions will nearly get you the same rate. Happy travels.


rg

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:42:21 GMT, "Sharkbait"
wrote:

While many of these travel sites offer competitive rates, don't you
generally pay for the entire stay upfront? If your plans change, then you
face the task of modifying or recovering the charges against your credit
card, which was charged the full amount earlier. Expedia even has a deal
where you can pay extra for cancelling for any reason but then if you read
the fine print, you still have cancellation fees and fees on top of that.
Watch the fine print.

It varies. Some just make the booking for you and you pay at the hotel
when you check out, others make you pay in full when the room is
confirmed. The cheaper deals usually require you to pay in advance. I
guess that's reasonable. If you need more flexibility, then expect to
pay more.

I find that many hotels will take your credit card information but will not
charge unless you fail to show or fail to observe their cancellation policy.
Cancellation policies are generally reasonable in my experience. Some
hotels don't even require advance credit card information, especially if you
press them, as was the case when I recently booked excellent accommodation
for a stay in Hanoi.

One other tip to negotiate a better rate at a higher rated hotel is to see
what promotions they may have running during the period you plan to visit.
They will often extend these promotion prices if you stay a for longer than
a couple days.

More and more, I am finding that hotels will match the best deal you can
find on the net or come close to it. Alternatively, their specials and
promotions will nearly get you the same rate. Happy travels.

It seems to be the same trend as has happened with air fares. Several
years ago you could only buy the cheapest airline tickets through a
travel agent. Now you can normally get the same fares online by
booking on the airlines web site.

Chris

Hiroshi wrote:
I often used Asiatravel.com about 10 years ago and found it very
reliable. Is it still good or are there better ones now? This time I
am going to visit Taiwan and would like to make a hotel booking
through the net.

A lot of the smaller hotels in Taiwan don't accept bookings through
those web sites.

Also, some of the major hotels often have special deals available only
through their own site, i.e. when I stayed at the Formosa Regent in
Taipei, they had a better deal on the Regent web site than on the other
travel web sites--cheaper and it included breakfast.

In March I reserved late for the Taipei Bike Show, and I ended up at the
YMCA hotel in Taipei. I thought it was perfect. It's a real hotel, not a
hostel. Clean, inexpensive, right near the subway, train, and bus
stations and a gazillion restaurants, and it had a self-serve laundry. I
took the air bus from CKS airport to the main railway station, and
walked one block to the hotel. Plus you only had to walk across the
street to buy stinky tofu! Internet access was about $3 per day, but
actually they only charged for the first day. I met the CEO of a U.S.
bicycle company (Breezer) who was staying a block away at the "One Star
Hotel." He said it was fine.
"http://www.taipeionestarhotel.com.tw/english/intro.html" You gotta
wonder about a hotel that would name itself "One Star Hotel."