Hotel Bookings

23/10/08

Posted by Karen

Travelling the length and breadth of the country to talk to the British public means you stay in lot of hotels in this job. I’m also partial to the odd weekend break. It’s recently struck me how complicated the process of choosing a hotel has become, due to the wealth of customer review and price comparison sites. It used to be a relatively straightforward process, which for me usually involved booking the best bargain. But the explosion of Trip Advisor and the like has changed that. Now, as my finger hovers over the ‘book’ icon on my chosen hotel’s website, a seed of doubt is sown in my mind - better just check what Trip Advisor says to be on the safe side. Big mistake! This typically unearths such horror stories about said hotel, I’m amazed it hasn’t gone out of business. But wait – at least half the reviewers said it was the hotel of their dreams. Hmmm, how can this be? Now I’m feeling extremely confused (dot com). Throw a couple of price comparison websites into the mix – irresistible to a bargain hunter and researcher like myself – and more time is spent chasing my tail trying to find the lowest rate. More often than not, this turns out to be by booking directly with the hotel... User generated web content holds the promise of empowerment, of providing consumers with informed choice, which no doubt it often delivers. But in the case of hotel booking it’s turning what should be a relatively simple transaction into a prolonged and paralysing experience. So for now I’ve decided to circumvent all of this and have reverted to the more traditional (and far more enjoyable) method of relying on personal recommendations from my trusted friends and colleagues.