Has anyone booked through Hotels.com?

[TimeforMe]

I'm wondering if there are a lot of hidden fees. I booked a room at Universal's RPR at a decent rate but it didn't include hotel taxes. How do I get the total amount that will be due? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[*Flower*]

I've booked with them before and I usually will go to the website of the hotel that I'm interested in to take a look at the 'hidden' fees before I book.

That way I can get a good idea of the 'real' cost of the room. I haven't used them in a while because sometimes the rate that I'm looking for isn't offered on their website.

Just be sure to weigh both rates before you book with them. I did get a really good deal from them once- the room that I booked had to be overflowed to another hotel because the original one had issues. Ended up getting a super deal on the overflow hotel.

HTH!

 

[ceecee]

A lot have nightly fees as well as parking to consider.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hotels is really good about giving you all the fees on the hotel info page. Be sure to scroll down. And I'm confused about the tax thing, as they always show taxes on that last page before you give payment info.

 

[bumbershoot]

Aha. Is it a pay-the-hotel booking? That makes a bit more sense. And I see that, at least the way it appears on my phone, they aren't showing the parking fee (if you have a car). Which is different than usual in my experience.

Since I'm not on my computer I don't have the site bookmarked but if you go to the universal forum here and look at the onsite hotel threads, I post the link to book the hotel directly in LOTS of threads. It should be just about the same cost, really, and you can earn YouFirst credits if you join that program.

 

[TimeforMe]

Yes, bumbershoot....it is a pay the hotel directly thing. If I call the hotel, will they be able to tell me? Is it worth it to even do this? If it's the same amount, I guess not.

 

[bumbershoot]

I've just never seen them listed like that; whenever I've looked they are either not there at all, or they are the sort of reservation where you pay hotels.com up front. And I've seen the onsite resorts listed with ALL the info you need before, too. So I was definitely confused, and was glad I checked really quick using my phone.


The site I love to use is this. It's the official Loews booking site; it's just different than going to universal's site or loews' normal site because it shows all resorts at once.

And you can check, through that site, on each hotel and what they have. From RPR's page: "Self parking fees are $18 per night and valet is $25(per night." There is tax added to that, by the way. But they charge at midnight, so on that last day you won't have an additional parking charge unless your car is still there at midnight AFTER checkout. Assuming you have a car.

I have not encountered additional fees, and I've now stayed at all three onsite resorts. (next year there will be 4 but that's not yet) You get the unlimited Express Pass from the moment you do the checkin process (including going to the kiosk in the lobby and taking a picture for the express pass), you can charge back to the room, have purchases sent directly to your room (unlike Disney's not quite similar service)... They encourage pool-hopping; just bring your keycard. And apart from parking I've never had a fee.

I did notice that hotels.com is charging a little fee, which is pretty weird IMO. Then again, if you book through Loews, you'll pay one night's rate (plus tax) as a deposit. The rest is due during your stay.

I hope that helps.

 

[nunzia]

This sounds odd..I've never had any issues with hotels.com.. SUPER site, I get a free night after booking 10 AND I go thorugh Ebates for cash back. If the price is the same elsewhere I still go through hotels.com for the extras. We have even had them refund us a non refundable pre paid room after I called them to explain what had gone on. I'd call the hotel for the extra fees and then compare.

 

[pigletto]

If you are a AAA member you can go through your local AAA website and price out the Universal hotels as well. I am an AP holder but for our last trip they weren't offering any AP discounts for my dates initially. The next best price for us was the CAA/AAA rate. Looking at my receipt in my email for our most recent stay, the tax is 12.5 percent per night, and there is a 18 dollar fee per night for self parking. That's all that was over and above the room rate.

 

[TheMonkeyLady]

I have used hotels.com and never had any problems with extra fees!! It's fantastic, in my opinion!!!