Best Rate Guarantees for Booking Hotels Direct Rather than througha Travel Site

I just booked a hotel which had a rate of about $150 on the hotel's own
web site. I found the same hotel for $88 on a hotel booking site. The
hotel's web site had a blurb that stated:

"You won't find a lower rate online and available to the general public
for the room of your choice. If you find a rate that is viewable and
bookable on another website for the same room type, dates and length of
stay, please contact us. If the claim can be verified, we will match it!"

So I called up the hotel. Last night they said they wouldn't match other
rates. This morning another person matched it without any argument after
verifying the lower rate on the other web site. Then another family
we're traveling with called and asked for the same rate match and they
gave them a big hassle, asking 'why don't you just book it on the other
site?' Well I thought that you do the hotel a favor when you book direct
since they aren't paying any commission or fees to a third party agency.
If they don't want to match rates then they shouldn't put that notice up
on their web site.

I also booked a La Quinta hotel today, and the rate by calling the hotel
directly, versus using the La Quinta web site, was $3 a night cheaper. I
guess the franchisee doesn't have to pay La Quinta for the reservations
service.

On Sep 27, 4:08*pm, SMS wrote:
I just booked a hotel which had a rate of about $150 on the hotel's own
web site. I found the same hotel for $88 on a hotel booking site. The
hotel's web site had a blurb that stated:

"You won't find a lower rate online and available to the general public
for the room of your choice. If you find a rate that is viewable and
bookable on another website for the same room type, dates and length of
stay, please contact us. If the claim can be verified, we will match it!"

So I called up the hotel. Last night they said they wouldn't match other
rates. This morning another person matched it without any argument after
verifying the lower rate on the other web site. Then another family
we're traveling with called and asked for the same rate match and they
gave them a big hassle, asking 'why don't you just book it on the other
site?' Well I thought that you do the hotel a favor when you book direct
since they aren't paying any commission or fees to a third party agency.
If they don't want to match rates then they shouldn't put that notice up
on their web site.

I also booked a La Quinta hotel today, and the rate by calling the hotel
directly, versus using the La Quinta web site, was $3 a night cheaper. I
guess the franchisee doesn't have to pay La Quinta for the reservations
service.

I have told by a number of people that you often do better calling the
hotel directly. They say though that you should do this in the early
afternoon between check-out and check-in, as they are less busy and
thus have more time to spend with you.

On another note I recently booked a hotel in Las Vegas with a web site
that had a higher rates than some other, as they offered a best rate
guarantee. Instead of matching the rate they give you a credit to your
charge card for 200% of difference not including the taxes or fees. I
thought they would try and weasel their way of the guarantee, but they
did not. In any event I got a credit for over $125 for 4 nights. With
the taxes and fees I ended up paying around $150 for this hotel.

Michael