Hotels.comReviews 1,049

A friend and I were to visit Eastern Europe in June, 2020. We began booking accommodations through hotels.com in January. When the pandemic hit, our flights to Europe were cancelled. The countries I intended to visit closed their borders.

My airline refunded my non-refundable ticket. I tried to contact hotels.com without success. I realize I booked non-refundable rooms. However, other vendors practiced good customer service and gave me back my money but not hotels.com. Not even by writing to the president of the company did I receive the courtesy of a return call/ email. I will never use them again because I feel cheated.

Please note they are owned by Expedia Group, which owns 18 travel companies: VRBO, Hot Wire, Wotif, Orbitz, and Travelocity among others. They could have afforded to do the right thing but did not. Beware, not only of Hotels.com but all Expedia companies.

First off, the website does not actually show you or find you cheaper hotel rates. Only after booking did we find a cheaper hotel by doing a google search. They claim they will price match but its not true. They won't give your money back, they will give you a credit.
Second, when we reached out to "customer service" about our credit our conversation went like this.
Me - "so, just so I understand you correctly, our voucher expired yesterday - a voucher which reflects money we previously gave you. You're telling me Hotels.com is not willing to extend the term date by a single day, when the reason we were not able to use the voucher was due to a global pandemic? Just making sure I understand exactly what you are telling me before I post this conversation on every review website I can think of.
"Customer Service" - Yes, correct. The price match voucher that we sent is valid for 12 months that will automatically fall one, once system detect no activity. We have flexibility for voucher that was affected by pandemic however the dates was not covered

Run away as fast as you can from this money grab of a "service".

I cannot believe this is happening and I haven't even been to the hotel yet. I just happened to call the Hotel and verify my reservation and the Hotel stated I have a different room then I paid for. NOT AN UPGRADE either. I stated that isn't the room that's on my e-mail i am supposed to have a room with a Lake View. She said I have to call Hotel.com and figure that out, she wasn't helpful at all btw. So, I called HOTEL.COM AND after I waited 15 mins I spoke with a person who stated she doesn't see that on my e-mail. I over the phone told her where it stated with a view and she insisted that it not on there. I said LADY I am reading you the e-mail from YOUR COMPANY and it clearly states it not to mention I paid for that room. We went back and forth for quite sometime and I insisted to speak with a Supervisor. Yeah right, No one has called me yet, I'm not going to bother using HOTEL.COM for any reason or at any time. Had a similar experience with BOOKING.COM so decided to try this HORRIBLE COMPANY. Just call the hotel directly and don't bother with these companies and their incompetent employees. She actually Lied to me over the phone about an e-mail that came from their company...

I use travel sites often. This was my first (and obviously last) time using hotels.com
I called the hotel directly to make sure they could accommodate our room needs (adjoining rooms) before booking. The hotel stated they could, but since hotels.com Was offering a room rate at half the cost of the hotel site, I opted to use them. Called the hotel directly after everything was booked and was told we were all set. I called the hotel directly two days before our arrival because we realized we would be getting to town sooner than originally planned and wanted to know if an early check in was possible and if so, what time. The woman I spoke with, who claimed she was the owner, was nasty from the moment she answered. Stated early checkins had a $20 fee. (Obviously I'm not thrilled with this, but I'm not paying extra money to be at a dump longer than needed) I said ok thanks, an early checkin won't be needed for both rooms, one would be fine. She then started telling me they were booked for the weekend. I stated I already had a reservation that was booked through hotels.com, she said she couldn't help me and I should call them. Then hung up on me. I am mediately called hotels.com, Explained the situation and that under no circumstances was I going to give an establishment like this my money. The person I spoke to put me on hold for a minute, reached out to the hotel, They got back on the line and confirmed I could cancel and receive a refund. They got back on the line and confirmed I could cancel and receive a refund. Stated my refund would be back in my account within 24 hours.
That didn't happen. FOUR times since that conversation I've attempted to receive my refund. Once through the online chat process, 3 times via phone. Clearly, the chat person lied to me. The 3 phone conversations, The agent comes back on the line tells me they spoke with the hotel and are going to be able to... then pretend like they can't hear me on the other line, (Keep in mind they've all put me on hold multiple times and had no connection issues prior in the conversation) then they state because I'm not responding they are allowed to hang up. I CAN NOT EXPRESS ENOUGH THAT DEALING WITH THIS SITE IS NOT WORTH ANY ATTEMPTED DOLLAR TO SAVE!

Since March 13,1010, I have reached out to Hotels.com over 20 times via phone and online support in request of a refund but all I get is the run around. To recap, i booked a day stay 1 night in advance of my cruise to ensure my family boarded the ship on time. This is common for the hotel we booked and other hotels in that are due to it being a port city for cruises. However, the unexpected pandemic happened and Carnival canceled our cruise. I reached out to the host of the hotel asking him for a full refund and he advised I would need cancel through hotels.com as he was just the host. Hotels.com was IMPOSSIBLE to reach initially as all of their lines were down due to the pandemic. To avoid being a no show, i canceled my trip online until I can reach someone. I finally reached someone the end of March and since then I have been trying to get this resolved and get a refund. Although my Carnival cruise was non refundable, Carnival refunded my money due to the pandemic in April 2020. Every time I talk to hotels.com about my refund, they say they must talk to the hotel manager to authorize the refund but this perceived manager is NEVER available. While putting in my 4th dispute on Monday Aug17th, I gave Hotels.com the email address to the host that I spoke with in March to try and contact the hotel that way. Today August 20,2020, I received an email advising that my request for refund was declined. At this point I am frustrated bcs I need my money and I am being charged interest on my credit card for this every month. I do not understand why Hotels.com and their affiliates are holding me responsible for a canceled booking due to a global pandemic. Most schools, work, churches and corporations temporarily closed (including Hotel. Coms phone line) due to the pandemic. Additionally, Florida and most US states had a shelter in place order in effect to eliminating travel to prevent the spread of the virus. Given all the facts, Hotels.com and their affiliatez still refuse to refund my money essentially making me responsible for canceling my reservation due to a global pandemic and shelter in place orders

Had to return 3 times over 4 hours to get someone in the office. Second time they told us no room even though it was already paid. Told to go get a refund but it was not refundable. Finally third time they called us and had a room around 11 pm. Booked two queen beds only got one. Room wasnt cleaned at all not, floor not vacuumed, shower was filthy, and toilet was clogged with feces which we had to go get the plunger and fix it ourselves because they never brought it. A partially shredded toilet paper roll, no garbage can so just used a giant black bag, non working leaking refrigerator, no dryer or iron or coffee pot, tv didn't work because they never brought cable box, we had to go pick out our own towels which were hand towel size and stained and folded them ourselves. We paid full price and they didn't want to compensate us the next morning after they said yes go down to the office in the morning. Would have went somewhere else if we weren't so exhausted and couldn't get a refund

Not sure where to start. It is the second time we tried to use a free night and the second time there was some type of excuse on part of Hotels.com. I never had any problems with Hotels.com until I tried to use my free night. Now my upcoming planned trip is ruined thanks to Hotels.com. I will just leave the comment to that, as I am very ANGRY! Seems like whenever we tried to use the free night there was always an excuse. BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE and even possible FRAUD! BEWARE of Hotels.com

How can I give hotels.com NO stars? They are the absolute WORST. I feel like Hotels.com stole money from me. From a struggling family.

During this Pandemic, things have been really hard for my family to make money. Although, I thought that we needed a break. So I booked a hotel for two nights. Although, I had to cancel one night. When I cancelled this one night, I was promised a $97 refund. I saw with my own eyes "-$97" for my refund, not only that but their was second pair of eyes who saw it too. I never received my refund. So of course, I call customer service. I was on the phone for OVER AN HOUR waiting for an answer(when I could used the time to make money doing Uber or Doordash. Things are REALLY tough right now) After I wasted an hour of my time- the agent hung up on me.

I then went on a chat with another agent. Who told me that my money was not refundable. I SAW "-$97" WITH MY OWN EYES!(But they never sent me a confirmation email. Who does that?) I beg and pleaded, that I was promised this refund or else I would NOT of cancelled it. $97 is money that I need for groceries for my family. They do not care about struggling families during this pandemic.

NEVER EVER EVER USE HOTELS. COM

Booked a room for July in London, England, but when COVID hit, all flights were cancelled, and thus I cancelled my room (hearing how other companies were offerring refunds, i mistakingly assumed hotels.com would also refund this prepaid room). I attempted to reach them on thier chat (not avaialble), and called occassionally, but mostly e-mailed so i would have a record on the conversation. After months of chasing (and they kept telling me they could not "reach" the hotel, so I contacted the hotel directly), i was advised that hotels.com had been told that the hotel itself would not refund the room. Yet the same day i rec'd a letter direct from the hotel stating that abolutely this was refundable, however, i needed to further contact hotels.com for the actual refund as that company had my credit card information. So essentially, hotels.com is lying. Upon copying hotels.com on the letetr from the actual London Hotel, they "re-opened" my complaint and once again got the runa round that they were "calling" the hotel but then were told to e-mail the hotel (went throught is before). Meanwhile the London Hotel fruther sent me an additional letter stating that is was up to Hotels.com to authroize the refund and then subsequently contact the hotel to advise them. DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY!

I had reserved a hotel in Peru that was canceled due to Covid-19, not my choice. Finally 3 months later they send me an email with a credit that I can only use at that particular hotel... in Peru... within 12 months. Mind you, I used two of my hard earned free nights for this reservation. Then they refused when I called to let me talk to anyone "higher up", and said there was nothing they could do about it! Yes, yes you could, you could give me my free nights back. This gold member will no longer be using them or any other Expedia company, and they will loose far more money then if they had just done the right thing to begin with

I booked a room through them june 11th for one night. The room was disgusting, I checked out right after I checked in. I was very kind to the woman I spoke to at the time of my check out and explained why we were not staying after only being there 10 minutes. She said no problem have your booking agency contact us and we will approve the refund. Now 13 days later hotels.com is saying they are unable to reach anyone at the hotel even though I have personally spoke to the manager of that hotel and she has directly contacted them multiple times to approve my refund. Hotels.com is giving me the run around and trying to blame the hotel for not reaching out, even though I've even gone out of my way to connect them directly with the owner of the hotel because the hotel is actually trying to assist me even with my bad experience. Its hotels.com way of not having to give you back your money by saying we cant get ahold of them.Do not use this site its rediculous. At this point I'm on the side of the disgusting hotel that I wanted a refund from, how sad is that. I've spoke to hotels.com so many times now that I could be a representative for their company because I know word for word what they will say every single time which is absolutely nothing that is going to help me

I usually don't have any issues with hotels.com, I have used them to book hotels multiple times, until I Ieft a bad review for Woodland Hills Marriott. I raised concerns regarding the cleanliness of the room that we stayed in (there was a sex toy that didn't get cleaned up), and how the room is not family-friendly as far as its interior design. I felt like it was important for consumers to know the things I mentioned in the review. Hotels.com sent me an email acknowledging my review and letting me know that they published it. But when I went to the site, my review is not there at all. I also noticed that the lowest score for all the Marriott Woodland Hills is a 2 star, which is baloney because trip advisor and all other consumer-focused sites, trust pilot included, have tons of terrible reviews about it. It just pointed out to me that consumers aren't their first priority and that their recommendations can't always be trusted. For shame.