The online travel space is quite noisy with so many promises of “Best hotel booking deal”. So far we’ve compared Expedia to Travelocity, as well as Airbnb to VRBO. So what’s the difference between two of the big players in the industry? Between Hotels.com reviews and Booking.com reviews, who is better?
We are all traveling more for both work and play, so how do you choose the best travel booking provider? The argument to book directly with the hotel will be ever-present. Although, some providers are now finding ways to provide a direct booking option to travelers to make them more attractive. Aside from the savings that you can grab by booking online, are there any other benefits to using them? We’re going to show you what Hotels.com and Booking.com have to offer as we compare them head to head. Ultimately, we’ll give you the gist of what both have to offer so you can decide which one is the best choice for you.
Hotels.com Review
This history of Hotels.com began more than twenty years ago in Dallas, Texas. Over the last two decades, the company has grown leaps and bounds, and more recently, acquired by Expedia Group. With perks like earning free nights and an award-winning app, it’s rather tempting to choose them to book your accommodation.
Hotels.com helps you discover the best hotel deals via tons of filtering options that let you narrow down the search. Its initial results display an excellent balance of lower and upper-end hotels, mostly located around city centers. That’s what most of the travelers desire in a hotel search engine. Hotels.com covers lots of non-hotel properties – including condo hotels, guesthouses, and BnBs.
The company has made substantial progress over the last two decades with benefits like earning free nights and an award-winning app. Hotels.com is a real time-saver for those who don’t have enough time to look around for information. Travelers who like to be selective regarding accommodation and want access to the most comprehensive range will find Hotels.com handier than any other site.
Hotels.com has also taken steps to research their millennial travelers’ demands, and they teamed up with food artist Carl Warner to create a new listing of the ultimate ‘foodie’ destinations.
Advantages Of Using Hotels.com
- Adequate hotel details available on the map
- On point navigation and search options
- Good support options
- Pretty easy to use different currencies
Disadvantages Of Using Hotels.com
- Not possible to specify a twin room and double room while
- Can’t search based on user reviews
- Only the last five user review data for each hotel are available
- No details on languages spoken at the hotels
Is Hotels.com Listening To What Travelers Want?
Hotels.com has also taken some time to do some research on what their millennial travelers deem important. Their recent study conducted by their Tasty Travels team found that 76% of millennials rate foodie experiences as an integral part of their travel ‘must-have’ list. In response to this, they teamed up with food artist Carl Warner to create a new listing of the ultimate ‘foodie’ destinations.
Hotels.com Award-Winning App
The main benefits of using Hotels.com include their new app. Their new app was the winner of the 2018 MediaPost Appy Award for creativity and excellence in the design of their app. The app allows travelers to do the following: Compare and book hotel deals for all listed locations that are available for that day up until 5 am. Book ground transportation via Uber Get deals on things to do via Groupon Order take-out through Delivery.com in the U.S.A
They’ve gone to the next level regarding their app capability that includes stellar post-booking service. Travelers that use the Hotels.com app can check-in/out of their room and even use the app’s mobile keyless entry ability to gain access to their room.
Booking.com Review
As we know Booking.com is most arguably the largest booking meta-search engine in the online hotel booking space, for the moment anyway. Booking.com get their inventory directly from their relationships with hotels, unlike Hotels.com. Since Booking.com have relationships directly with hotels, it is almost as reliable as booking directly with the hotel. That seems to be one of the main differences that set Booking.com apart from Hotels.com.
Although, the inventory that Booking.com gets from the hotel, may not suit every traveler. We checked a review on one of the hotels listed on Booking.com and found that Booking.com only had the hotel’s smoking rooms. This information came from a reviewer who inquired about why they were given a smoking room when they wanted a non-smoking room.
Booking.com has undoubtedly set the standard for hotel booking websites and exceptionally outperformed all other services with user-friendly search functions, filters, and compare tools over the years. It returns the most diverse search results by far, with a wholesome mix of hotels, apartments, and hostels.
Booking.com always has something to offer for everyone. Its slick hotel search engine display helps compare cheap hotel rates and instantly determine which hotels fit suitably into your budget. Room details are explicit and straightforward, with relevant information displayed clearly. Booking.com has relationships directly with hotels, and it is as safe as booking directly with the hotel. It seems to be one of the main differences that distinguish Booking.com from Hotels.com.
Booking.com’s signature loyalty program – “Genius” is simple yet very much spontaneous to the users. Put merely, Upon completing two nights within two years; you will receive 10% to 15% off on the bookings afterward. So, no matter what price your room is – i.e., $15 a night at a shabby hostel or $200 a night at Hilton, it’s going to count as a night. After reaching the target, if the hotel serves the Genius scheme, a discount is automatically implemented.
Advantages Of Using Booking.com
- Ease of use
- Searches return a generous number of matches
- Excellent hotel comparison facilities
- Solid price matching scheme
- The only site where you can specifically search for twin rooms instead of doubles
- Outstanding support options
- Easy to use for different languages and currencies
Disadvantages Of Using Booking.com
- Spontaneous price fluctuations
- Fees may keep adding up
- Inadequate location information at some times
Similarities Between Hotels.com And Booking.com
Both of these online booking tools have access to excellent deals due in part to their size. While Hotels.com is smaller than Booking.com, since Expedia Group owns it, they have similar access to these great deals. Both of these companies offer rewards in the way of discounts to travelers who sign up as a member, and both have an extensive offering of properties globally. Specifically, Hotels.com has 90 websites in 41 languages, and Booking.com operates in 229 countries and territories across the globe. Their apps allow travelers to seamlessly book a room and manage their reservations. However, some reviewers are skeptical of Booking.com’s price confirmations. When sifting through reviews of the Booking.com app, we found that even after confirming a reservation, some travelers had their room rates increased. Booking.com’s response to this stated that according to their policies, they could change the price at any time.
Booking.com Price Match Guarantee
With any promise of a price match, there will always be a few hoops you’ve got to leap through. It’s no different with Booking.com. You must know the terms and conditions attached to your booking. If you do find a lower price, you can verify if it meets the price match eligibility criteria. Overall, if you do your research and have your ear to the ground, you can take advantage of the benefit of price matching.
In some cases, having this little perk built into your reservation is great. Hotels.com doesn’t offer a price match guarantee. Hence, you’ll have to take your chances and hope you’ve got the best deal with them. Both Hotels.com and Booking.com offers hotel and transportation bookings. Transportation bookings with Hotels.com are only available on the app with Uber, but it’s there. Booking.com offers more to travelers with the ability to book flights, accommodation, airport taxis, and rental cars. However, the new app from Hotels.com gives users more, as noted above, they’re more about the hotel bookings.
Rating of Hotels.com vs Booking.com
The reviews on hotels.com are mixed at best. In researching and reading Hotels.com reviews on multiple sites, some said they’re a 9/10 other said they’re a 2/10. For example, toptenreviews.com seemed to review Hotels.com quite highly for their rewards. By comparison, sitejabber.com’s Hotels.com reviews were pretty poor for customer service contact.
Although a lot of the negative reviews came from travelers who didn’t understand the terms of their booking. To fully understand the terms and conditions with any booking, you’ve got to read them. While this may seem like an arduous task, it’s essential.
The reviews on Booking.com are also mixed. Both players have their fans and foes. Ultimately, you’ve got to take the good Hotels.com reviews, with as much as the bad. For the chance to snap up a great deal, you’ve got to be paying attention to more than just one provider. This is especially true if you’re trying to price match or get a higher discount. Both Hotels.com and Booking.com offer greater discounts to their members. So if it’s a deal you want, why not sign up to both to get alerted about both providers’ deals.
At last note, we are assuring you that both the hotel booking platform is good enough to fulfill your demand. But if you are a regular traveler then we are suggesting you use hotels.com rather than booking.com. But you can choose any of these because both the platform has almost the same hotels listed on their hotel booking list.
Happy hotel booking!