Hotel only booking

lfc84

I am considering booking hotel only with an online agency that is part of Broadway Travel Group and has an ABTA number on their site.

For a four night reservation the agent in question quotes £179 plus credit card fee.
By comparison, booking.com is £297; sunshine.co.uk is £236; travelrepublic.co.uk is £251.

I've searched this forum for the company name and the most recent threads are a few years ago. Nothing recent.

Apart from checking Abta, what else can i do to verify their reputation.

I dont want to arrive at the hotel and find out there is no booking.....

I will pay by credit card....

Thanks

glentoran99

how much is booking the hotel directly?

If you have doubts I would book with the agent and email the hotel for confirmation that your booking has been recieved

lfc84

glentoran99 wrote: »

how much is booking the hotel directly?

If you have doubts I would book with the agent and email the hotel for confirmation that your booking has been recieved

Booking with the hotel directly is 374 euro - roughly £297


If I book with the agent, I believe it is unlikely that the hotel will have my specific confirmation until a day or two before arrival

InsideInsurance

Are you sure the price is inclusive of all taxes/ fees levied by the hotel? I've seen some in the past that just quote the net price and you have a number of taxes/ fees to pay when you check in.

lfc84

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Are you sure the price is inclusive of all taxes/ fees levied by the hotel? I've seen some in the past that just quote the net price and you have a number of taxes/ fees to pay when you check in.

As far as I can tell, it is the case. It's for a hotel in Spain. ie. not a somewhere that imposes resort fees or city taxes

lea2012

Is the room type the same as the other agents?

Does the hotel have more than one building, or is their an annexe part? It could be that it's cheaper because it's a 'promo room' which basically means you will be given whatever room is left when you arrive or because it's in a lower standard building.

For example the Palma Bay Club Resort in Arenal, Majorca consists of 7 buildings. 4 are in the main hotel and are rated 3*, then three other buildings are classed as the annexe which is 1*. But overall the complex is rated 3* so a company could technically sell a 'Promo' or 'Annexe' room at the PBCR as 3* if they wished as it's on a 3* complex. If that makes any sense?

What I'm saying is, double check the room type and the hotel before going for the lower price.

HoofeHearted

Mixed reviews here.
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews164229.html

lfc84

lea2012 wrote: »

Is the room type the same as the other agents?

Does the hotel have more than one building, or is their an annexe part? It could be that it's cheaper because it's a 'promo room' which basically means you will be given whatever room is left when you arrive or because it's in a lower standard building.

For example the Palma Bay Club Resort in Arenal, Majorca consists of 7 buildings. 4 are in the main hotel and are rated 3*, then three other buildings are classed as the annexe which is 1*. But overall the complex is rated 3* so a company could technically sell a 'Promo' or 'Annexe' room at the PBCR as 3* if they wished as it's on a 3* complex. If that makes any sense?

What I'm saying is, double check the room type and the hotel before going for the lower price.

Hotel and room type do appear to match.

I'm considering booking with one of the more 'well known' sites and then doing a price guarantee claim

lea2012

To be honest I don't know enough about the price match deals to know if it's worth it or not. Most of the online agents such as Broadway, Travel Republic, On the Beach, Alpha rooms etc use the same suppliers anyway. Some just add a minimal amount of commission (which then makes you wonder how they manage to survive as a business) and some put a higher amount on so it's possible that it's the same room etc just different prices.

PDC

A relative booked holidays with them a dozen or so times. All went well until the last time when they arrived at the hotel to find no booking had been made. As this was in a foreign country it wasn't simple to sort out, took the best part of a day - following on from a 10 hour flight - and, due to no space in the hotel they had paid for, were put in a lesser hotel in a location they didn't really want.

Much letter writing and complaint on return but Broadway Travel maintained the hotel was of a similar standard and so I don't believe they ever received anything in the way of compensation despite loosing a day of the holiday.

After that they always booked with the hotel direct.

As someone has already posted if you do book with them then there is no harm to confirm with the hotel direct, I certainly would.

lfc84

A quick update in order to close this off.

I contacted the hotel and they agreed to match the lowest price that I found. So I have a booking directly with the hotel at the lowest rate.

Obviously that is much more re-assuring.