It’s about more than just the prices

Travelers looking to book a hotel online will find a dizzying selection of Web sites. There are the powerhouses, such as Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity, and the discount sites -- Hotels.com, Hotelsdiscount.com and Lodging .com. And of course there are Web pages for major chains and even for individual hotels. Joining the crowded field, Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and InterContinental last month banded together and introduced a site called Travelweb.

As a result, “hotels are in danger of ‘airline-izing’ themselves” by confounding consumers with a hodgepodge of rates for the same product, says Henry Harteveldt, a senior analyst for Forrester Research, a San Francisco-based travel research firm.

For those who want to book online, here are some tips and insights that can help you untangle the critical mass on the Web:

* Shopping around is imperative because prices vary significantly from site to site. Even though some Web sites claim to have “guaranteed low prices,” you may find big differences in the price of the same hotel room. That’s an especially important fact for the 18% of us whom Forrester Research calls “mercenary travelers” -- those who buy based on price with little regard for brand.

As a test, I looked at seven sites to see which would give me the best deal on the Warwick Hotel in New York. I also called the hotel’s toll-free number directly and was quoted a rate that equaled or beat every Web price I found, except for one (see chart).

* Take what you see on the Web page with some skepticism. For instance, the first properties you see on a Web page aren’t necessarily the best deals. Those hotels at the top of the queue have staked out some valuable Web real estate that may not be as random as you might think. Indeed, good placement on some sites may be the result of paid consideration or other complex marketing agreements.

“Sites are allowed to bias through paid placement,” Harteveldt says. “There are no regulations or laws against it.”

Placement on Travelweb is driven by a complex algorithm that takes into account the “best value” (which Travelweb defines as the biggest discount off brochure rate), among other criteria, says Scott Hyden, general manager of Travelweb.

Paid ads are allowed on Travelweb. Hyden says it does not accept payment for placement in searches, and properties of the chains that own the site do not get preferential treatment.

Neither Orbitz nor Expedia allows explicit paid placement in searches. Orbitz, however, displays its Orbitz Saver rates more prominently than other rates. Orbitz Saver properties offer good rates but also have the best profit margins for Orbitz, says Kurt Weinsheimer, vice president of hotels for Orbitz.

Also beware the “star” rating system that sites use. The rankings can vary from site to site for the same hotel. I’ve stayed in hotels that some sites rate three-star that should get one or two stars.

* Carry your documentation with you as well as the Web site’s telephone number (make sure it’s available 24 hours), in case of problems. Many discount Web sites fax your reservation to the hotel, which can lead to problems. Further, your confirmation number is not in the hotel’s reservation system. Discount Web sites are allocated blocks of rooms from hotels and make their money by marking up the price and reselling them. Because those rooms are no longer in the hotel’s inventory, you are actually buying the room from the Web site, not from the hotel.

Harteveldt says hotels report a 1-in-10 error rate with faxed reservations, which can be overlooked, faxed to the wrong property or not faxed at all.

But Jenne Pierce, director of planning for hotels and packages for Expedia, says lost reservations are a minor problem. She says Expedia has a system of checks in place to make certain the hotels receive the faxed confirmation. It also is building a direct-connect system that will link with the hotels, Pierce says.

Travelweb is the first discount distribution site to have direct access to each hotel’s central reservation system, says Travelweb’s Hyden. The confirmation number a customer receives when he or she books on Travelweb is from the hotel.

“It’s almost like booking with the hotel,” Hyden says.

Orbitz uses its own direct connection system as well as Travelweb’s for most of the properties on Orbitz, Weinsheimer says.

If your reservation is lost, call the Web site directly; make sure you have the information from your booking at hand.

* Remember that deposits are generally the full cost of your stay (including taxes) and are paid at booking. Cancellation policies have become increasingly restrictive; in fact, many of those policies emulate airline practices. Gone are the days when you could cancel at 6 p.m. the day of arrival and suffer no consequence.

Many sites post their cancellation policies clearly and require you to acknowledge that you have read them before you can complete booking. It’s a good idea to do so.

If you must cancel your reservation, you’re probably looking at a cancellation fee of $25 at a minimum. Depending on when you cancel, you may lose the cost of the first night’s stay plus any fees; if you fail to cancel, you could lose your entire deposit plus fees, which could amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

So what’s the bottom line for travelers who want to book hotels online?

“If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is,” Harteveldt says. “If you’re finding a New York hotel at a really cheap rate, it is best to investigate it.” He suggests you check out a site such as TripAdvisor.com or Fodors.com or even the Los Angeles Times’ or New York Times’ travel Web sites for information on hotels and neighborhoods, especially in a city you don’t know.

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Finding the best hotel deal

Warwick Hotel, New York, five nights (July 1-6), one week advance purchase

*--* Web site Average per night* Total cost Expedia.com $175 $873 The Warwick 800# $181 $903 Orbitz.com $181 $903 Lodging.com** $181 $903 Travelocity.com $198 $992 Hotelsdiscount.com $198 $992 Hotels.com198 $992 Travelweb.com $226 $1,136

*--*

* Rounded, including taxes and fees

** Through SideStep

On the Web

Among hotel booking sites used to research this column:

www.expedia.com

www.hotels.com

www.hotelsdiscount.com

www.lodging.com

www.orbitz.com

www.sidestep.com

www.travelocity.com

www.travelweb.com

For hotel advice, see:

www.fodors.com

www.latimes.com/travel

www.nytimes.com/travel

www.tripadvisor.com

James Gilden writes the Internet Traveler twice monthly. He can be reached at jim@theinternettraveler.com.