So far, so good! I just booked a room for my daughter and I down in Wildwood, NJ next month. Right away I got a confirmation. If you read reach individual hotel policies, you will see that booking is only following hotel rules/regulations. They do not charge your card, the hotel does. Some hotels require a 1 night deposit, whereas others will charge your full stay. Again, it's on the site, you just have to read everything. If you don't like reading fine print, I would call the hotel directly to reserve. Booking.com, however, does make it very easy to navigate what each hotel requires to reserve.