The Best Sites for Booking Hotels – Detailed Reviews

1. Booking.com – The best site for finding hotels

Booking.com Phone Number: 1 (888) 850-3958
Booking.com Email: customer.service@booking.com
Booking.com Website: Booking.com
Booking.com App: Download
Booking.com Review: The most reliable hotel booking site. Easy to use and convenient for trip planning.

Reviews of Booking.com

These opinions are a mix of my personal experiences and what I hear from readers and online customer reviews.

• The best prices of any online booking site.
• Good customer service when something goes wrong.
• Be aware that there are different types of reservations: most can be canceled with no charge, but some have cancellation fees or charge the full amount upon booking with no ability to change or cancel.
• Booking.com’s “Verified Reviews” (only confirmed guests can leave a review) are more reliable than what you’ll find on Tripadvisor but fake reviews are still possible. Be sure to read as many reviews as possible.
• The maps on Booking.com are better than other sites but they can still be incorrect. If precise location is important then double check on Google Maps.

Why and How to Use Booking.com to Book Hotels

• Booking.com has a super handy calendar view for all the hotels you’ve booked. Now you don’t have to search through your emails to find out where you’re staying on your last night in Paris – it’s all right there in your “Bookings” tab. (This sounds like a minor deal, but it really makes a big difference.)
  
• Reviews on Booking.com are from verified guests (people that actually booked a room through the website at that hotel). Every hotel is graded on friendliness, comfort, location, facilities, staff, value for money, and wifi-quality. I have found a score of 8.8 and above means the hotel will be excellent (pretty much 5 star or exceptional value for money). 8.0 and above is basically a 4 star. 7.0 and above is a good quality 3 star hotel. I never book anything below a score of 7.
  
• Booking.com has the clearest descriptions of the idfferent rooms. Though it’s still far from perfect so additional research is often required to be sure you’re getting the exact room you want.
  
• Booking.com has nice large pictures so you can see what the hotel is like. Also has lots of photos of individual suites and room types (but you need to enter potential dates to see these room pictures).
  

2. HotelsCombined.com – Good site for last minute hotels

Hotelscombined Phone Number: 1 800 001 041 (toll free only for Australia)
Hotelscombined Email: customerservice@hotelscombined.com (this usually gets the fastest response)
Hotelscombined Website: HotelsCombined.com
Hotelscombined Review: Good for last minute hotels and often great for family reservations as it has a larger selection of rooms than Booking.com (and displays those options in a clearer manner).

3. Agoda.com

Agoda Phone Number: +44 20 3027 7900
Agoda Email: cs@agoda.com
Agoda Website: Agoda.com
Agoda Review: Specializes in Asia where it can find some great discount hotel deals.

4. Hotels.com

Hotels.com Phone Number: 1 (877) 903-0071
Hotels.com Email: customerservice@hotels.com
Hotels.com Website: Hotels.com
Hotels.com Review: Hotels.com is good for finding cheap hotels but it’s the site I get the most complaints from readers about canceled bookings or overbooked hotels.