|
Hotel reservation account
Last summer I made hotel reservations using
HotelsCombined.com.
The price was lower than traditional means. I was able to select among several
hotels in the area. It was easy to confirm that my reservations had been made
properly.
Price
I stayed at Santa Barbara's
Radisson
hotel. If I had called for reservations the price of accommodations would
have been approximately 20% higher. According to the front desk, I got a much
better deal with HotelsCombined.com than by using an AAA discount. I'm not sure
that I could not have gotten a better price from
Expedia
but HotelsCombined.com has some better features.
Selection
I wanted to be near my destination(s). I had already driven hundreds of miles
to get to Santa Barbara in the first place. Since I was on vacation I didn't
want to deal with traffic or getting lost or anything. It was important for
me to know how close the hotel was to my friend's wedding and tourist attractions.
First I tried
Priceline.com. I entered
my parameters but I had no idea where I'd wind up staying. I only knew it would
be in Santa Barbara. Priceline.com has a no refund policy. I didn't want to
pay for an accommodation I may not want because of distance or quality. I felt
as if I were reaching into a grab bag so I hopped over to HotelsCombined.com.
Now, Priceline.com states that it only provides accommodations at quality hotels
& motels. Quality is a subjective term.
Marriott
hotels are a well known "quality" chain. I have had nothing but heartache
out of Marriott hotels. I did not want to risk winding up in a Marriott. When
I have stayed at Marriotts with friends and coworkers they found it enjoyable.
I never have, but I digress.
Sometimes amenities are an issue. When I'm on vacation I like to go to the
gym. When I'm on a business trip I like to know that I can have high speed Internet
access. Since I didn't know where I might be staying before I offered up payment
information at Priceline it was impossible to know. My experience at HotelsCombined.com
was totally different.
At HotelsCombined.com I was able to put in my destination and get a variety
of listings from which to choose. I was able to view available amenities at
each hotel as well as the hotel’s rating. Note: Priceline.com only shows
1 - 3 star hotels and motels whereas HotelsCombined.com also provides information
on 4 star hotels. I was also able to hop over to
Mapquest
to determine how far away I would be from the wedding and tourist attractions
before making my selection.
Confirmation
In addition to receiving a confirmation number and e-mail etcetera, all the
regular stuff I decided to go a small step further. I called the Radisson immediately
verify my reservation. Everything was taken care of according to the clerk.
There were no problems when I arrived either.
HotelsCombined.com provides trip planning tips. These include weather forecasts
for your trip. Sight seeing ideas and nightlife. Driving directions, places
to pick up incidentals and Consulate locations. It is cursory but it points
you in the right direction to get to the good stuff.
|
