How to book a hotel. How to book a hotel room

To book a hotel on Booking, first register on the site, then set up filters and select a hotel. You will need a bank card and internet access.

Nowadays, when looking for a hotel, few people look for ads in newspapers or refer to the official websites of hotels.

All information was combined by large online booking systems:

Booking.com, Roomguru.ru(these sites work differently) allow you to book a hotel room
airbnb.com, makes it possible to find reliable housing from private individuals
Tripadvisor, helps to plan a trip in many ways: accommodation, restaurants, attractions

I will tell you how to use Booking correctly and in three steps with little effort to make a reliable choice of hotel, saving money.

Let me explain with an example of a service. Booking.com. But all the tips that appear in the article are applicable to any other similar portal.

So, open the page and let's go.

View offers on Booking possible with or without registration.

Even if you are planning a one-time order, I highly recommend registering.

For example, because without registration you will not be able to book without a credit card.

This is the header (top) of Booking.com.
The Register button is circled in red.

Then you will see this registration form. Insert your e-mail or use your Facebook or Google account. Then you will need to come up with a password.

Registered go to settings.

There you can set additional criteria that will be applied by default in the search, namely:

Designate the star rating of the desired hotels
Check the list of required amenities (for example, wi-fi)
Indicate the composition of the arrivals (for example, that you are traveling with children)
Book a smoking room or vice versa

You can also link there. credit card so as not to fill in the data many times manually. This is convenient if you have to book often.

This is the settings menu.

We'll talk about it below.

Do not be lazy to fill out your profile in good faith, the quality of the offers that the site will give you will depend on this. It also saves time when searching. At the same time, you should not indicate data in your profile that you may change. It is more convenient to do this on the main search page.

Indicate in your profile only what you always need. For example, I have marks there that I need wi-fi and a non-smoking room, and I put the rest when I look for a specific offer.

How to change currency

It may happen that after registration, prices in rubles will change to the currency of the accommodation facility. The profile has a currency selection function, but it does not affect ads. If you want to see initially ruble prices in offers, you need to change the currency on the main page, at the top.

Step 2: Looking for the best hotel

We, of course, need the best and cheaper. It's possible, you just need to follow two steps.

First: fill in the search parameters

“Best” means “what we need”, so we mark only what is really needed. It is very important.

First, fill in these fields. Be sure to fill in the dates, otherwise he will not show you the prices.
Click Check Prices. Next, you need to install the necessary filters. They are on the left under the map. There are a lot of them, but in reality only three or four are needed.

Let's look at examples

Good example: The hotel has a 24-hour front desk. If you know you are arriving at night, this can really be important.

We are looking for the line 24-hour front desk in the filters and put a tick. Filters are applied immediately as noted, you do not need to click Confirm (there is no such button).

Bad example:“Oh, the library! It's cool if there is a library in the hotel, suddenly you want to read? Let it be."

Five minutes ago, you did not remember any reading, and in general, you are going to wallow on the beach to take a break from work. Do you think there are many hotels with libraries in resort towns and how narrow will your search be if you enable this option?

Hotels sometimes purposely provide some inexpensive crap to be out of competition in the search parameter "me with nonsense" and use this bait to catch their stable prey. Don't be the prey.

What is the conclusion? The search should not be too narrow, but it should not be left too wide, it should be directed.

90% right choice depends on how you define your search criteria.

I usually put filters like this:

24-hour front desk (this is especially important if the plane arrives late in the evening),
The distance from the city center is less than 3 km (it depends on the purpose of the trip),
Type of accommodation - hotels (so that Booking does not show hostels, villas, apartments, etc.),
Free cancellation.

You can add another star rating of 3 or 4 stars, but I usually don’t focus on stars. To understand if a hotel is good, I read reviews.

If you are traveling by car, you can check the Parking box.

And, perhaps, everything.

We put the appropriate filter in the Placement type group. Now the site shows us only hostels.

Push the consumer in you, which rushes into the traps set by marketers. Don't indulge needs that don't really exist.

The hand of the market will constantly reach for your wallet, and the sweet voice of advertising will persuade: “Look, fitness equipment is in the basement, a museum of local rubbish is within walking distance, mother-of-pearl coasters are in the room, order quickly, now everything will be sorted out.”

We clearly articulate our true desires before we begin our search. Let's write them down the way we write down a list of products before going to the supermarket, and then we are guaranteed to get exactly what we need, and, most likely, for a lower price.

Second: read reviews

I couldn't do this before. And he chose according to the principle “did you write well or cheated?”

To open all reviews, click on this line in the hotel description window. This window will appear. Here I usually change the Show Reviews by Rating option to Good 7-9. Because those who put Excellent usually just praise and say little about the shortcomings.

Officially Internet booking systems are struggling with inaccurate reviews, but they do it in a race with those who order them.

What is the difference between an honest review and a paid review? That's right, honest ones usually indicate shortcomings, even if in general everything is fine.

About honest and not honest reviews

So pay attention to the shortcomings, but try them on to your requirements.

Not the fact that they are bad for you.

And yet, conscientious reviews are written very specifically.

Therefore, when reading other people's opinions, we choose information and apply it to our own situation, and do not focus on an emotional message.

Now for examples

Here's a bad review:

It is not clear what place the author means by a convenient location - what is so terrible seething next to the "island of comfort"? What products are included in a hearty and varied breakfast? Zero specifics, and for persuasiveness, bad photos of city views, completely non-binding.

And this good review(about the same hotel):

Here it is already clear where the hotel is located, and negative details that may or may not matter. If you are not by car, parking problems will not bother you, but it can be convenient to live in the center, closer to the shops.

I usually do not look at scores in the spirit of “ten for service, three for accessibility”. They are completely uninformative, unless the hotel is a complete hole, in which case it will be clear from the detailed reviews.

Step 3: Book the selected hotel

With the choice decided, we book.

When booking, you may be asked to pay in advance for the entire stay in the room or only for part of this time (usually a day), in both cases when booking you will need a card.

There are hotels that agree to confirm the reservation without her.

All this can be found by correctly setting the search settings on the main page:

It is clear from the numbers that most hotels do not require full prepayment(in our example, there are 126 of them), however, there are almost no those who are ready to provide a reservation without any guarantees (only 4). Therefore, it is better to use a map.

About, How to book a hotel on Booking without a credit card,

This table can be found on the hotel page. You have to scroll down a bit. Here we select a hotel room. The description of the room is read in the first column. In the Quantity column, select one room and click I'm booking.

Then you get into a chain of windows and forms in which you need to enter your data.
At the end, you will come to the Complete Booking button.
By clicking on it, you will confirm the reservation and your data will be sent to the hotel, and a booking confirmation will be sent to the mail. This is what the booking confirmation message looks like. Print it out and show it to the hotel upon check-in.

Be careful: the amount that is blocked on the card when booking is usually not used to pay for your stay.

This practice is not very pleasant, but what to do.

You have to be prepared for what you can see this money in a month after arrival, and plan your finances based on this probability.

This is another reason why you should not choose hotels that block the full cost of the stay for booking. In fact, you will have to have double the amount, which may be too expensive. Fortunately, there is almost always a choice among less greedy hotels that are ready to offer the guest more comfortable conditions.

Cancellation

When we plan something, the main thing to know is how our plans can be canceled without loss.

Let you now be sure that on the twentieth of March you will certainly enter booked hotel on the azure coast Thirtieth Kingdom, but life is unpredictable and everything can change dramatically. If you haven't seen it for yourself yet, just trust me.

How to cancel a booking

The booking is canceled by the hotel, not the site.

Therefore, you need in advance, when booking, find out if it is possible to do this and under what conditions. All this is described in the offer and the order form. For example, here:

Some hotels remove the penalty in any case, but most agree to cancel the reservation free of charge if you make the cancellation in a timely manner.

In my example, this can be done until July 28 inclusive when checking in on July 31. It is better, of course, to choose those who do not require money. To do this, on the main search page set the option "free cancellation of the reservation", it is in the same column as shown in the previous screenshot.

There is also something like refundable and non-refundable rates.

This is when the hotel offers you a cheaper room, if you agree to lose your deposit in case of cancellation.

Practical tip: Use the non-refundable fare only if your trip takes place within the next week. The difference in price is usually much less than the money you lose if you cancel.

What if you get sick?

There is nothing more disgusting than a vacation with a flu-positive relative who has to be dragged in the hope of an amendment only because it is “paid” and the toad is strangling to reschedule the trip.

You can cancel your booking on the website, in the "Bookings" section:

Cancellation is a must check the cancellation letter, which should arrive in your mailbox.

Cancellation on time and in accordance with the terms of the hotel, this will help you prove your case to the bank in case of possible problems.

Who will outsmart whom

The most unpleasant thing is when our expectations are not justified and relations with the hotel turn from mutually beneficial into conflict.

Read the terms and conditions you subscribe to carefully.

Usually users read only the main part, but there are all sorts of footnotes and additional items in small print, they are not just there.

For example, some hotels rent b about Larger amounts in case of booking for a visa - not for one day, but for three. So they are reinsured from our compatriots who like to throw them after receiving the coveted sticker in the passport.

There are other nuances.

Look, the first arrow in the screenshot points to the city tax, which is not included in the price. This happens often. The hotel notifies, but the user is not accustomed to reading something written in letters other than a yard high, therefore, although the amount is small, this tax becomes an unpleasant surprise.

Important

The second arrow points to important information. important. Well, what could be there? And there are additional living conditions that satisfied your search criteria, but may turn out to be completely unacceptable in fact.

Here, for example, what opens in my order:

Here's what was hidden under the Important Information tab.

Imagine that initially you are planning a trip without children, you have already booked a hotel, but then the plans change and you take the children with you, additionally ordering a separate room for them.

That you will not be allowed into the hotel, you run the risk of finding out only at the doorstep. Therefore, we read all the conditions.

All terms and conditions of booking on Booking.com in Russian

Everyone who goes to independent travel or even a short trip to another country or another city, is faced with the problem of finding a hotel to stay or overnight. And if book a hotel on your own ten years ago it was quite difficult, but today, thanks to the widespread availability of the Internet and the general development of high technologies, this procedure is not particularly difficult. And the methods described below, repeatedly tested on personal experience, not only answer the question "How to book a hotel on your own", but also allow you to save a considerable amount of money.

THE CONTENT OF THE ARTICLE (click on the link for a quick jump)

Why is it better to book a hotel on your own?

Today contact any travel company in order to book a hotel in the city you need does not make sense. Why pay for the services of an intermediary when you can easily and simply do everything yourself? Moreover, intermediaries can charge both a fixed amount for finding and booking a hotel for you, and a certain percentage of the cost of living in a selected hotel. In the latter case, travel agencies are interested in you choosing a more expensive hotel, because their income directly depends on this.

Therefore, it is better to immediately exclude this option and book a hotel on your own. And for this today there are three options, which I will discuss in detail: booking a room on the hotel website; booking using a hotel reservation system and searching for a hotel at the best price using a special service - metasearch. Each of these options has some distinctive features, advantages and disadvantages, but first things first.

Self-booking a room on the hotel website

The easiest way if you know exactly which hotel you want to stay in during your trip. For example, you have already lived in this hotel before, or someone you know lived there and recommended this hotel to you. Booking a hotel on your own, provided that you know the address of its official website (and finding the latter on the Internet is not a problem), is not difficult. True, it is still desirable to have basic knowledge of English, but there, in principle, everything is logically clear. You can use the Google Chrome browser, which translates pages into Russian automatically or upon request.

Above is an example of the Jasmine hotel booking form Hotel Pattaya, where he lived part of the time (5 nights) during his last visit to Thailand. On the Booking form page of the website (often this form is located on the main page of hotel websites), select the dates you need (arrival and check-out), select the type of room, number of rooms, date of arrival and departure from the calendar. In order to see the cost, it was necessary to click on the "Calculate" button. If everything suits you, you can click "Book this Room". It remains to enter your data in the required fields, agree to the rules (tick the appropriate box) and confirm the booking.

These columns may differ slightly on different sites: for example, they can immediately be located on one page, but the booking principle itself is just as simple. However, there are some nuances. And if in the hotel described here, prepayment is not needed at all (to confirm the reservation, it is enough to send an e-mail 24 hours before arrival, in which to write in words that you will definitely arrive), then many hotels immediately require a deposit, which requires entering bank details card on which the required amount will be blocked.

Also, the disadvantages of this method include the fact that the cost directly on the hotel website is often higher than when booking the same room through a special service, for which the hotel often provides special discount. However, the price can be lower, so you should check all the options if you really want to save money. In principle, you can book a hotel yourself using this method, but it takes a lot of time. Especially in a situation where you do not know exactly which hotel to prefer and choose from a variety of options, repeatedly filling out forms on each site separately and studying the prices of rooms and the list additional services which are included in the price of the selected room.

Hotel search through booking systems

In most cases, travelers do not know exactly where they will be staying and do not know the hotel website addresses. However, they have a clear idea of how much they are willing to pay for an overnight stay in a hotel and what specific amenities they need. Therefore, it makes sense to use a more progressive method that allows book your own hotel. We are talking about using popular booking systems that allow you to quickly find a hotel for the right dates in almost any city on our planet. First of all, these are Booking, Agoda, City.Travel, EasyToBook, etc.

This method has many advantages: a huge database of similar services and multiple filters allow satisfying the needs of almost all users. In addition to the city and date, you can choose the type of accommodation and room type, the number of stars, the distance from the city center or the airport, the price range, the availability of Internet, TV and air conditioning in the room, the presence of a swimming pool, laundry, parking or fitness center in the hotel, the availability of rooms for guests with pets and for smokers, and other criteria. It is possible to sort the search results both by cost (in descending and ascending order), by popularity, by star rating, by guest reviews, etc.

Booking is carried out in the system after registration or simply by entering some of your data. As a rule, the final stage of the booking is the entry of data about your bank card. The booking systems themselves do not charge a commission, and in most cases you have to pay for the hotel in cash upon check-in. However, during the booking process, the money for the room is blocked on the card by the hotel itself until you check in. If for some reason you did not come to the hotel, the entire amount or part of it goes to the hotel as compensation.

After completing the self-booking of the hotel, the system gives you a reservation code, which can be written down on a piece of paper or printed out. The specified number remains to be presented at the hotel reception at the time of arrival and pay for the selected room at the price that was indicated in the system at the time of booking. This is important, because with a normal check-in "from the street" the cost of living in a hotel is often higher than when booking through special services or on the website of the hotel itself.

Personally, I had to book a hotel more than once on the Internet, sitting on a sofa in the lobby of the same hotel, because it turned out to be much cheaper than just going to the reception and asking for a room. In general, there are only two obvious drawbacks to this method of booking a hotel on your own. Firstly, you cannot be sure that it is in the selected hotel search engine that you are offered the best price for a particular type of room. Secondly, until now, many hotels, especially in Southeast Asian countries, are not represented in popular search engines, i.e. remote online booking only possible on the website of the hotel itself.

How to book a hotel through metasearch

It would seem that the method described above, which makes it easy to book a hotel on your own, has almost only pluses. However, the third method, which I will now discuss, is even more interesting. The essence of this method is to search for hotels not directly through the hotel search engines that I talked about above, but using a special metasearch that allows you to book your favorite hotel not only according to the selected criteria, but also at the best price (or under the best conditions). The selection of hotels through metasearch at the initial stage does not differ in any way from popular search engines, which you can see for yourself by using the hotel search form below at the best price.

You just need to fill in the column "Name of the city or hotel", select the day of check-in, day of check-out, room type and click on the big "Find" button. In a few seconds you will be taken to the results page, where hundreds of hotels of various classes and prices will be offered to you. Similarly, in the left column of the page, you can narrow the search range using all sorts of filters by a variety of criteria (price, star rating, hotel type, services, etc.). It is also very convenient to be able to sort search results by price, reviews or discounts, which sometimes exceed 60%.

However, the most important feature of the service is that it cannot be used to book a hotel, because its main task is to provide an opportunity to compare prices for the same hotel and a certain class of rooms in the selected hotel in various search engines. Currently, the service compares the offers of 32 popular booking systems at once. You just have to choose the one in which the room you like is offered at the best price or with the best conditions. As you can see in the picture below, the cost of the same room sometimes differs quite significantly even when it is booked for just one night. If you plan to stay at the hotel for a week, you can save a lot when booking in the “right place”.

I draw your attention to the fact that initially the service shows in the results several types of rooms and the price, which is the lowest for this type of room in one of the booking systems. In order to consider all the options, you need to click on the name of the hotel, and on the page that opens, click on the big "Plus" next to one of the types of rooms in the hotel. After that, all options will be revealed, among which you can choose not only by price, but also by some additional conditions.

For example, in the screenshot below, the cost of living in a superior bungalow is between $34 and $35 using various booking services. On the one hand, $1 is not such a big amount, so you can simply choose a service that is more convenient for you, for example, Booking. However, a careful study of the description of the conditions gives an idea that in some cases breakfast is included in the price of accommodation, and in some cases breakfast is paid separately (for this class of hotels this is usually about $5).

On the same screenshot, you can see that for a similar price you can book a standard room without breakfast. For me personally, the choice is between a superior bungalow at a lower price with breakfast and standard number no more breakfast high price obvious. I suspect that many of the readers in this moment came up with the idea: you just need to choose a booking system in which the most low prices and the best conditions and look for hotels only in it. I also once thought so, but practice has shown that the idea is unsuccessful. Those. One hotel is best booked on Booking, while another hotel or room class is much cheaper to book through Agoda. And when you choose another hotel, it turns out that these mentioned booking systems cannot compete with EasyToBook, which provides a 40% discount on accommodation at this hotel exactly on the date you need.

This is the significant advantage of metasearch: you can always quickly compare where exactly is better. book a hotel on your own. At the same time, metasearch is completely free for you, i.e. the cost of a room with a direct search on a specific service will be similar. Another advantage of metasearch is the ability to study hotel reviews in several booking systems at once. You can do this at the bottom of the page that opens after you click on the name of the hotel you like. Having chosen a hotel room for yourself at the best price and with the best conditions, just click next to it on the "Book" button. After that, you can proceed to the booking procedure itself on the service page that opens, which differs little from booking a hotel on its official website.

The best way to book hotels today

Using all three of the methods described above for searching for hotels, I was convinced that it was the third of them that was the most convenient and practical. All my friends and acquaintances, who at one time learned about the service from me or from other sources, were convinced of this. It is this service that allows you to book a hotel on your own via the Internet and guarantees that the option you choose will be the most affordable or offers the best conditions for living at the same price. In order to finally understand the possibilities and advantages of the service, I recommend that you practice using it in advance (of course, without paying for rooms if you are not going to rest yet). Then at the moment when you really want to book a room at the best price using the described metasearch, you will not have any difficulties.

The article, which I highly recommend reading, talks about a number of important nuances that will allow you to quickly find the most successful accommodation options at the lowest price per hotel room during your vacation or business trips. I hope the information from this voluminous article was useful for you and now you know exactly how to book a hotel on your own and, most importantly, know how to do it in practice. And if you still have questions - write in the comments, I will try to answer promptly.

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You can book a hotel on Booking without registering, but it’s better to register anyway, it won’t take much time and will give you the opportunity to manage your booking in the future.

Go to the official website booking.com and click on the "Register" button in the upper right corner of the page. Then, in the menu that opens, go to the "Registration" tab.

In the window that opens, you will need to enter your email address, create a password and click on "Login". Then you will be taken to your personal account, where you will need to enter your first and last name, after which you will be asked to take a short survey, the results of which will help the system learn about your preferences and show you the most suitable options. It is not necessary to complete the survey, to cancel it, you can click on "Skip".

Next, you need to confirm the email address specified during registration. A letter with the subject "Confirm with one click" should have been sent to the specified mail. Open this letter, in it you need to click on the "I confirm" button.

The nuances of registering on Booking.com

1. If you have an account on Facebook or Google+, then you can log in through them. To do this, when registering, click on the corresponding service icon.

2. In the account settings, it is recommended to fill in the address, phone number, and also link your bank card so that you can make an advance payment. Otherwise, you will only be able to book a room in hotels that do not require credit card authorization. However, you will also be asked to enter this information during the booking process, where it will be stored.

Step 2. Search for options

The next stage is the most interesting, here we are already proceeding directly to the search for a suitable hotel. This will help the search blocks on the main and internal pages of the Booking.com website. It is necessary to drive in the destination (this can be a country, city, island, hotel, etc.), as well as indicate the dates of the trip and click on the "Get prices" button, or " New search". Even if you have not yet fully decided on the dates, we recommend that you specify approximate ones, so you can roughly navigate the prices and availability of rooms.

Next, you will see a page with a list of hotels and various filters that will help you find suitable options. In the left filter, you can choose the number of stars, price range, hotel rating, amenities, location, etc. Using the top bar, you can sort the options by recommendations, cost, star rating, distance from the city center, and guest rating. Please note that the price per room is shown not for one day, but for the entire stay at the hotel.

In order to find out detailed information about the hotel, or to book it, you need to click on its name, image, or the "Select room" button on the page with options.

You will be taken to a page with detailed information about the hotel, photos, conditions, room types and prices.

Things to consider when looking for and booking a hotel on Booking.com

Before booking a hotel, it is important to read the booking policy, which may vary depending on the type of room and cost. To do this, move the cursor over the icon. Most hotels offer the same room, but at a different price: the one that is cheaper - a non-refundable rate (even if you cancel the trip, you will not be able to return the money for the room back), at a higher price - a refundable rate (you can always cancel your reservation without losses). Sometimes the difference in cost can be very impressive, however, before purchasing a room at a non-refundable rate - carefully weigh all the pros and cons, you must be sure of your plans.

In addition, you should pay attention to possible taxes, payment terms and availability of prepayment, room amenities, bed type, etc.

If the hotel rooms are different and you want to see photos as well full list amenities of a particular room, then you need to click on the name of the room in the "Accommodation type" column.

Step 3. Booking a hotel

So, you have chosen a certain hotel and room type. To make a reservation, you must select the number of rooms and click on the "I'm booking" button.

After that, you will be taken to the data entry page, where you need to fill in the first name, last name, number of guests, select the necessary options (for example, breakfast), write special requests if you have any, and indicate the time of arrival (if you know). After filling in the fields, click on the "Continue" button.

On the next page you will be asked to enter your phone number, preferred method of communication and bank card details (if you have already linked the card to your account, the data will be filled in automatically). After filling in the required fields, click on "Book".

Congratulations, you have booked your hotel on Booking.com. A booking confirmation page will open in front of you, where you can check all the data again, as well as print the confirmation. If you need confirmation in another language to obtain a visa, you can select the desired language in the top menu of the site (icon with a flag). We hope that our guide has helped you. Happy travels!

The nuances of booking hotels on Booking.com

1. You can manage your booking in your Booking account on the "Bookings" tab. Unless otherwise provided by the hotel's terms and conditions, you will be able to reschedule dates, cancel reservations, change guest information, select a different room type, add meals, request parking, contact the hotel, etc.

2. Completely free cancellation of the reservation is possible if you sent a request at least a day before check-in, and in some hotels - two days before. A letter confirming the cancellation of the reservation will be sent to the email address provided during registration.

3. In some cases, the hotel may block a certain amount on your bank card before your check-in (it can be equal to the cost of one day of stay or the entire period). If you cancel your booking in accordance with the cancellation policy of a specific hotel - no penalty is implied, the amount will be released. In case of insufficient funds on the card, the hotel may cancel your reservation, and you will be notified by email.

4. To book a foreign hotel, you must have a non-entry level bank card (for example, Visa Electron is not suitable for such transactions, but Visa Classic is another matter). The required card must be replenished not only in rubles, but, for example, in dollars or euros.

Publication date: 2013-07-05

The information in the article is periodically updated, now it is relevant as of August 2016

Greetings tourists and travelers! In this article, we will dwell on the question of how to book a hotel on your own. There is nothing difficult in this. First, it is important to decide what type of number you want to receive. Next, you need to learn the difference between booking systems and hotel search engines.

content:

Hotel booking systems- Huge catalogs containing hundreds of thousands of hotels. There are at least a few dozen such systems. The largest brands in the Russian-speaking market are such brands as booking.com, ostrovok.ru and agoda.com, and the leader of the international market is the same booking.com (expedia.com, hotels.com and venere.com are close to it). As you can see, we have already counted six systems, although there are others that are not so popular, but this does not mean that they do not have interesting proposals. Therefore, in order not to visit every reservation system (in the hope of finding best value), special hotel search engines appeared.

Hotel finders- aggregators that search for hotels using booking systems, compare and select the best offers so that the tourist can make the final choice faster. That is, search engines are not engaged in the provision of booking services - their job is to search and compare hotels. The booking procedure itself takes place on the corresponding website of the booking system. There are only two similar Russian-language hotel search engines - roomguru.ru and hotellook.ru. Naturally, their use allows not only to significantly save time, but also to book hotels cheaper.

Room rate

When looking for a hotel room, pay attention to any information, especially the text in small print. Be careful, some online hotel booking systems indicate the cost of rooms without taxes and fees. Such tricky rates are very common with agoda.com and hotels.com. To find out the real cost of the room, you need to start the booking procedure, but stop at the stage of entering bank card details (if you need personal data, you can enter obviously incorrect ones).

Cancellation of hotel reservation

Booking a hotel online does not exclude the possibility of refusing a room. If canceled in advance, the service is free of charge. However, if there is little time left before check-in (usually 5-10 days before check-in), then the tourist must pay a cancellation fee. There are options when the date is set on the penultimate day of arrival. It is these booking conditions that are most in demand among experienced tourists. The amount of the fine, as a rule, is equal to the cost of one night's stay at the hotel.

Booking special offers for a discount or promotion

Such offers are always attractive in terms of cost, but they include two serious drawbacks - the need for full payment at the time of booking and the inability to refuse the booked room. What is the risk? You may be denied a visa, you may cancel your vacation, or other circumstances will arise that are beyond your control, which means that the reservation will turn into money down the drain. By agreeing to special offer, you must be 100% sure that the trip will take place.

Separately, we draw the attention of novice tourists, who, as a rule, do not distinguish a special offer from a regular one. You can regularly come across topics on travel forums where one or another booking system is condemned for refusing to cancel a booking. We explain. Even if you read NNNNN.com does not charge any change or cancellation fees", this does not mean that the rules of the reservation system do not state the following " the cost of the reservation is refundable if you cancel it no later than X days before the date of arrival, provided that your reservation is not marked PREPAID / NOT REFUNDABLE (Prepaid / Non-Refundable)". The term "PREPAID / NOT REFUNDABLE" is the nuance.

Hotel booking payment

When paying for the booked room, two options are possible: prepayment (that is, payment at the time of booking) and payment upon accommodation (on the day of arrival or on the day of departure). At the same time, for a booking that is paid upon the fact of accommodation, such a forced measure is applied as blocking a certain amount of money on a bank card (in order to verify the intentions of the tourist, as well as guarantee payment for a possible cancellation of the booking). Once again, we remind you that prepayment and blocking are two different things. Prepayment is the debiting of funds from the tourist card, and blocking is the “freezing” of funds, which will later be “unfrozen” and returned to the account within 5-30 days (depending on the bank). The conditions and amount of the blocking amount are determined by each hotel individually (as a rule, the amount is equal to the cost of one night's stay). Blocking times also vary - sometimes it falls on the day of booking, and sometimes it happens 5-10 days before arrival. In some cases, the hotel may block a symbolic amount (for example, 1 euro), just to check if the bank card of the future guest is valid.

booking.com - booking system, payment in which takes place upon accommodation;
agoda.com and hotels.com - booking systems that require prepayment;
ostrovok.ru is a booking system in which the client can independently choose one of two options (the difference in price is 3-15%).

Of course, experienced tourists prefer to pay for hotel services on the fact of accommodation. This gives much more freedom, and most importantly, the opportunity to leave the hotel or get a discount if the living conditions and service do not meet the declared level. What awaits a tourist who has already paid for accommodation? Maximum - cordial and sincere apologies for the inconvenience. There is no question of any compensation or the possibility of returning your money in order to settle in another place. The hotel staff is well aware that a tourist flying away in 7-10 days simply will not sue. Having made an advance payment, you will have to be content with what you have chosen. Although, there is a remedy for this - do not take the time to study the reviews and comments about the hotel on the Internet. Look at the search results for photos of the hotel and its rooms. Some tourists even use the service street view from Google Maps to "wander" around the hotel. .

Important! Prepayment does not affect the right of the tourist to use the cancellation of the room reservation. The conclusion from the conditions of prepayment, payment and blocking of funds on a bank card is as follows - carefully read the conditions for booking a hotel online (if you do not know a foreign language well, use only Russian-language services).

How is payment on the fact of residence

You can pay for hotel services in cash or by credit card. However, there is a nuance regarding the part of the funds that were blocked (frozen) as a guarantee. Sometimes this is a relatively small amount, and sometimes it is a very solid one. The inconvenience lies in the fact that you need to pay for accommodation services in full immediately, and the blocked amount will be returned only after a few weeks. For a tourist who often has a shortage of funds at the end of his vacation, this can become a serious problem.

An excellent way out of this situation is to write off the blocked amount in favor of the hotel with an additional payment of the remaining part. However, be aware that hotel employees are absolutely not obliged to do this. You can only ask for it in the hope that they will come into your position. In rare cases, such situations can go to extremes. For example, when the full amount for accommodation has been blocked and is waiting to be unlocked (according to the rules of your booking), and you must pay for the room separately. Of course, the blocked amount will be returned sooner or later, but how inconvenient it is to feel “no money with money”.

Russian-speaking support service

For novice travelers, we strongly advise you to book hotels only on Russian-language sites. This way you can significantly reduce the chance of missing important details. Even more significant is the presence of a round-the-clock Russian-speaking support service, which you can call not only while at home, but also Abroad. As a rule, if a tourist has real difficulties, then this happens at the time of arrival / departure. That is why we recommend booking.com , ostrovok.ru and agoda.com . With them, you can always tell about what happened in your native language and not worry about solving the problem that has arisen.

A good support service is also the main argument in the age-old dilemma (but only for novice tourists) of how best to book hotels - using the booking system or on the hotel's official website. At the same time, keep in mind that the second option can only occasionally cost you less, since almost all hotels sign agreements with booking systems, according to which they are required to adhere to a common pricing policy.

Regionality of different hotel booking systems

Some online hotel booking systems differ in that they focus on one of the geographic regions. It is from them that you can find the largest database of hotels in a particular country. For example, venere.com specializes in Italy, hrs.com in the Benelux countries, agoda.com in Asia, sawadee.ru.com in Thailand, expedia.com and hotels.com in the United States.

Hotel Booking Confirmation for Visa

Confirmation of the booked hotel room is necessary, first of all, for issuing a visa (if the country has a visa regime). It may also come in handy to explain the purpose of your visit when crossing the border.

For an embassy (consulate or visa center), it is best to receive booking confirmation by fax, since not all such representations trust to accept emails. It is recommended to first enter the names of all persons requiring a visa on the hotel voucher, and then ask the hotel to send a fax on company letterhead. In rare cases, the embassy may request confirmation of the prepaid hotel room.

Booking confirmation for hotel check-in

After booking a hotel room, the tourist receives a special hotel voucher(hotel voucher). It is available in personal account on the website of the booking system, as well as sent by e-mail. Be sure to check every item on your hotel voucher. If you find any inaccuracies, please contact support. Some experienced tourists advise to write a letter to the hotel 7-10 days before the trip to clarify whether everything is in order with your booking.

When checking into a hotel, only the booking code is important. It is not necessary to print a hotel voucher, but it is necessary to have access to it electronically. If the room is not paid for, and you plan to check in late, notify the hotel manager about this (otherwise your absence may be mistaken for a no-show, and the room can be given to another client). To do this, write a letter, or even better - make a change to your booking (there is a corresponding field). The length of time during which the tourist is obliged to check into the hotel is indicated in the hotel voucher (for example, "Check-in YYYY-MM-DD from 14:00 - 00:00").

Best Price Guarantee

The realities of the modern struggle for a client are such that almost all hotel booking systems provide a guarantee service the best price. Of course, it has a lot of conditions and different “ifs”, but they are quite feasible. The standard sentence goes like this: if you have booked a hotel room through our website and then show us that you could book the same room, for the same dates, but at a lower rate that is available to view and book on another website, then we. ..

...we will provide the same price» writes booking.com;
...we will offer you the same price or lower» lures agoda.com ;
...we will pay you triple the difference in the cost of the room or provide this room at the lowest price» ostrovok.ru promises.

Bank card security when booking

Passing your bank card number and CVV code from the online booking system to the hotel makes your card vulnerable. It is a fact. As an example, here is an excerpt from the booking.com rules. What does it threaten? - in hotels, especially mid-level ones, information can easily leak. Therefore, we advise you to open a separate card for bookings, and transfer funds to it only as needed.

excerpt from booking.com rules

Another important nuance. In those rare cases when a client has indicated an erroneous card number or CVV code, the hotel, not worrying much about the safety of the tourist, informs about the incident in a regular letter and asks to indicate the correct card number and code in a response letter. You shouldn't do this. Reply that you would like to be sent a special secure link for entering data and transferring them over the secure HTTPS protocol.

Credit card requirements when booking a hotel

the card must be a higher level than VISA Electron or Maestro;
A prepaid or blocked card may be asked to be shown at the hotel. This rule has long been outdated and rarely used, but theoretically it is still in force, so be sure to take the card with you (even if you expect to pay for your hotel stay in cash);
it is allowed to use a third party bank card (for example, when booking several rooms at once is paid for with one card), but read how to do it correctly (otherwise you may violate the previous paragraph). Previously, in such a situation, it was necessary to present an “authorization letter” (a simple formality);
you must use a card that expires after your stay (even if the terms and conditions clearly state that there will be no prepayment or hold). An expired (not valid) card may be the reason for the cancellation of the reservation.

Financial responsibility of the tourist after booking a hotel

On travel forums, you can regularly come across interesting questions about the dangers of providing an “empty” bank card in cases where a hotel has to write off money. Without going into the ethical side of the issue, we will answer that, at the request of the hotel, the bank can write off the payment even from a debit card with a zero balance. After the card goes negative, the bank will make a claim personally to the client. In practice, such a development of events occurs extremely rarely, only in cases of penalty payments (for example, for not showing up at the hotel). As a rule, if the booking system was unable to write off or block funds, this turns into a nuisance for the tourist - the reservation for a hotel room can be canceled.

How to book a hotel yourself

So, finally, we come to the most important thing - independent online hotel booking. You have long decided on the type of hotel room and know what to look for when choosing a hotel and booking conditions. Now open both hotel search engines at once - roomguru.ru and hotellook.ru to compare the current offers of all major booking systems. Then proceed as follows:

Fill in the hotel search form (indicate the city, number of guests, dates of arrival and departure).
Refine the search result by adding sorting by different categories (price, star rating, area, type).
Carefully examine the search results after entering different categories. For convenience of perception, they can be sorted. The hotels that you liked the most, check the reviews on the Internet. Be sure to pay attention to whether the number is subject to cancellation and under what conditions.
Choose a room and start the booking process. Fill in on English language personal data (name, email address, telephone), and also indicate the bank card number and CVV code (sometimes not required).
Check for confirmation by e-mail. Also, a hotel voucher becomes available in the personal account of the booking system. Check in detail the accuracy of filling out the voucher.

Useful resources for tourists

roomguru.ru and hotellook.ru - hotel search engines, search through different booking systems and compare results, helping to find the best deal

aviasales.ru and skyscanner.ru - air ticket search engines, free from the need to view the site of each airline separately

booking.com is a world leader in hotel booking, distinguished by high quality of services, transparent prices and prompt support service

To put the correct stress in the word “book” or “book” will help the general rules for placing stress in verbs. Let's figure it out.

Correct stress

Depending on the value, the second and last syllable can be stressed - to book and book.

What is the rule and how to remember

In Russian, verbs ending in -ovat have two pronunciations. The stress can fall either on the last letter "a" or on the middle of the word.

We also have homograph words in our language, that is, words that are spelled the same, but are pronounced differently and mean different things.

“Book” with the second stressed syllable is used in the meaning of “reserve something”, and “book” with the last stressed syllable means “cover with armor”.

A poem to remember

I need to seriously motivate,
So that I can start booking tickets.

To form a defense
You need to book a car.

Sentence examples

Tickets must be booked in advance.
I decided that the car needs to be booked.

Wrong emphasis

In the meaning of “to secure something for oneself”, it is wrong to put the stress on the last syllable - to book.
In the meaning of "to cover with armor" it is wrong to put the stress on the second syllable - to armor.