The hospitality industry is on the rise as many people have become global travelers. And there are hundreds of options for lodging. So how do you find the best deals and narrow down the choices? Hotel reservation websites provide tools to help you select amenities, read reviews and prices. The best booking sites have easy navigation, offers, and genuine ratings by experienced travelers. Let’s look at the best booking options.
Kayak
Kayak searches for hotel reservations on other websites, filters them, and shows you the best offers. A standout feature of Kayak is the map tool. When you click on it, you will be displayed with various cafes, sightseeing spots, shopping, nightlife spots, and other hotels in the vicinity of the particular place. You can compare the prices or click on the spot for more details about the area. This hotel reservation website also has an option called Kayak Hacker Stays. There are part bookings, meaning one part will be booked through one website and the other part by the second website. Such bookings will save you a lot of stay expenses. However, you may be asked to switch hotel rooms since you have two separate bookings. Kayak’s only drawback is that it does not show the prices of the hotel’s own website, which is typically cheaper than the rest of the competitors.
Agoda
Agoda is one of the simplest websites for navigation. It offers easy access to a wide choice of hotel rooms according to family size, large or small groups. It also provides options to filter room preferences. Agoda also lets you browse a mix of homestays, family-oriented hotels, or hotels for couples. One can narrow down the hotel search by filtering the price, review, or distance from a particular landmark of your destination. There is a Secret Deal tool that shows you the neighborhood and ratings of a hotel but the name until you book the place. Agoda offers travelers the flexibility to either pay at the time of booking or pay later with a free cancellation policy. On the con side, Agoda does not have a loyalty program, nor does it offer any credits or rewards, which many other websites do.
Priceline
Priceline is known for its easy search options, smooth navigation, and low hotel room prices as compared to other websites. They don’t have extensive filters but have the feature to search for reservations by price, amenities, hotel ratings, neighborhood, and hotel brands. Priceline also offers apartment hotels, bed and breakfast properties, and rental apartments for long stays. This website has similar features to Agoda’s Secret Deal and it’s called Express Deal. Here you can book a room for a low price but find the name only after booking. However, Priceline’s Express Deal can be adjusted for more than two people. The problem with Priceline is it shows only 30 hotels on the results page, and sometimes the price of a hotel room jumps a few extra dollars once you have clicked on it.
Booking.com
Most hotel reservation websites have filters so that it helps travelers narrow down their searches, but Booking.com’s filters are next level. Apart from the standard ones like price, ratings, location, and property type, you can filter things like wheelchair accessibility, elevators, roll-in showers, and more. Most of the time, the price includes taxes and fees, but sometimes depending on location, it may be listed separately, so the final price may vary. One can also select a property based on cleanliness and safety measures too. This website has a Genius program that gives you about 10% off on selected properties on level 1. Once you complete five stays in 2 years, you get 10-15% discounts, free breakfast, and free room upgrades. Booking.com has a low-price guarantee. If you find a lower price on another publicly viewable platform, then they will refund the difference within 24 hours before your check-in.
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