Hotels.comReviews 1,049

We booked online and our reservation said that because we had VIP access, we were "guaranteed a late check out of 2 hours." It did not say 'when available' or 'at the discretion of the hotel.'
The hotel said they do not give late check outs. Ever. Hotels.com says "oh that's for special access hotels" but then why did it say it on my specific reservation. They make a lot of statements that are not true and you can only get a bot for customer service. Terrible.

Hotels.com needs to disclose whether the hotel you are booking is a regular hotel with a reception and someone to help you or if you are booking a hotel that has no individuals to help you and simply depends on an electronic system for checking in. They take no responsibility for the manner in which the hotel you are booking handles your reservation. Nobody needs surprises when they show up at their hotel. Less than 24 hours prior to check in I have no information about how to check in which room I am in and there is no one to answer any questions at either the hotel or hotels.com.

I have not spoken with 4 different representatives over the course of 7 weeks attempting to get a refund on a reservation. While everyone has been polite no one has actually gotten me closer to the refund. They did provide a $56 coupon for a future reservation though the amount of refund is close to $400. If they can resolve my issue this review will change but for now I will no longer be booking though Hotels.com or Expedia.com.

Hotels.com sent us a confirmation and receipt for our booking, but the amount taken from our bank account was much greater than the receipt. I am unable to contact Hotels.com in regard to this matter, I am only able to chat with a virtual bot. I have contacted the Hotel we stayed at, and the management were apologetic, but had nothing good to say about Hotels.com. I will never use this company again and will spread the word of this scam operation to one and all. A costly lesson unfortunately.

I'll try to make it short and to the point. 1. I booked through hotels.com, which showed free parking. 2. The hotel charged a convenience fee. When asked about it, the manager stated it was a fee to cover parking. 3. I called Hotels.com several times to ask for clarification and for a refund. 4. They did not offer a refund, instead I got a coupon that until now I have not been able to apply since it is not available at check-out when booking through their website or app. 5. I have called hotels.com serveral times to ask how I am supposed to apply the credit I have. They have not only been unhelpful but extremely rude (always keeping me on hold for extended periods of time until I give up and end the call or just hanging on me).

DO NOT book through this third-party service! In May 2022, I booked a 3-night stay in a hotel near Memphis, TN. Upon arrival late at night, we were mortified to find the hotel reeked of pot, was filthy, and our room was OCCUPIED by an employee of the hotel. Did I mention it was already OCCUPIED? There were no other rooms available, and we were actually advised by the owners that we were welcome to "share" a room with an absolute stranger if we wanted. It was like something out of one of those morbid Hostel movies. I can't make this crap up if I tried. We ended up having to go to another hotel at midnight and lay down another $250.00 due to the "short notice." The original hotel was unable to cancel and reimburse me because I'd gone through Hotels.com for the booking. I was not able to reach anyone through Hotels.com, so I ended up having to cancel through my credit card, which provided a provisional credit. This credit was then reversed because Hotels.com, which wouldn't communicate with ME, sure had the time and resources to provide my credit card company with a copy of my electronic reservation, wherein I reportedly agreed to pay for the booking if I didn't cancel within a certain timeframe. Well, how in the heck could I have cancelled prior when I had NO idea our room would be occupied and the hotel would be unsanitary!?! DO NOT, DO NOT use Hotels.com for a booking. I feel like a victim of theft at this point. I would rather plan to sleep in my car than ever again book through these crooks.

Be warned. Once you book they will NOT let you cancel. They will blame it on the hotel. The hotel will blame it on Hotels.com. I will NEVER book on this website again. EVER.

Made a reservation through the Hotels.com app at a price of $77, my credit card was charged $83 (they claim taxes). BUT... the hotel gave me a receipt that was for a total of $70 WITH taxes. I always thought we got "cheaper" rooms by using hotels.com... Definitely NOT the case! BEWARE!

UPDATE: When I finally got a hold of someone at Indigo in NYC Downtown they DID refund me. My issue is not with the hotel. I used the app to cancel my stay at a hotel in the city, and the hotel never got my cancellation and charged me as a "no show." When I tried to get a refund, neither hotels.com nor the hotel would accommodate me, even though I canceled my trip four days before arriving. Their app is a SCAM. Would give zero stars if I could. They are SO unhelpful.

Hotels.com used to be who I booked all my hotel reservations through. If there a problem, I could call their 800 number and a person would help me. No more. If you have a problem you better have a lot of time and patience, and like in my case, even then it will not be resolved. Once a good company has now gotten too big to care about providing service to their customers. Better off, and usually a little better price, to use their website to search hotels, then book direct with the hotel.

Here is the truth about these 3rd party companies. You will set yourself up for a potential nightmare. We were traveling as a Family on our way to Colorado, and I had booked a Hotel in Amarillo through this outfit. For some reason that was a particularly busy weekend in Amarillo. But when I went there they told me they had NO ROOMS! I said I had a reservation! And they told me they ALWAYS overbook. Here's the deal if you book through Hotel chains directly they will take care of their own first; if you go through this outfit or any other like it, Hotel chains don't respect them and don't care about them. So you will most likely get bumped on a busy booking. I called Hotels.com and they offered absolutely NOTHING but my money back. We were in 2 vans. Where the hell were we supposed to stay? We had a dog which made it that much more difficult to find a place. Frantically I called places to no avail. Thank God my wife was a member of Marriot BonVoy, and she had some vouchers. And they would ACCEPT the Dog! Marriot saved us. The bottom line is if you are really trying to save a few pennies. DONT! It will cost you in the long run. Go to any major hotel chain, Marriott, Wyndham, or Hilton, and sign up for their preferred memberships and book straight through them. These sites like Hotels.com, trivago, Expedia, are all a bunch of crock. The savings is not that much and you will risk a potential disaster. I now have all 3 major chains, I bok through them and I NEVER get bumped. I know my reservations will always be there because they will bump people from outfits like Hotels.com first.

Hotels.com and Expedia

Hotels.com and Expedia
Hotels.com are terrible - I arrived for a check in and the booking hadn't actually been made even though I had confirmation - called to query and was told they couldn't locate the booking - logged onto my account that showed the booking and chatted via Virtual assistant - tried a number of different ways but it couldn't find my booking even though it's on the same page I'm looking at - I was given a customer service email address to complain to only to get an automated message back saying the email address had been retired. I understand that things go wrong sometimes and that's OK, but a company that doesn't acknowledge and makes excuses and blames others. I also made contact with Expedia as they own and operate Hotels.com, but they weren't interested in any way - if I owned a partner company and there was an issue I'd want to know so I could try to fix what issues there were with that company - head in the sand like Expedia are doing just taints them as well - NEITHER COMPANY AND PARTNERS ARE NOT BE TRUSTED

For weeks I have been trying to resolve a charge for hotel reservation I cancelled. You NEVER get to actually talk with anyone. I was told on multiple occasions that they would have someone call me... I am STILL waiting for that call.

I booked and payed on hotel.com and they charged 485 dollars and booked my hotel, yet when I went to the hotel there wasn't a booking number, so i had book a room myself for extra money. I talked to hotel.com and they refunded my money but they charged 175 dollars, yet this wasn't my fault. Don't pay hotels.com, I would recommend tk pay the property itself. The return policy was bad.

Be warned, they have an arrogant (don't give a sh**) attitude. Time to move on to other Online platforms.
I have been GOLD MEMBER for 10yrs, but due to Covid restrictions in China could no longer enter/maintain my SIM card and related email address.

They refuse to change email address, and also both web and App report not possible. So this CEO is not serving its shareholders or employees well.
Now a share holder of Booking.com and Agoda is also mostly ok to use.

Arrived at the hotel, checked in. Went to the room and there was clear prostitution and drug addicts trying to get into other people's room. The hallways were filthy, didn't even make it to the room because there was no way we were staying there due to safety concerns. Left, and were told we had to contact hotels.com for a refund. They said there were aware of the problem but couldn't issue a refund, despite not even entering the room. So hotels.com is okay with families bringing their young children to hotels were people are doing drugs and prostituting? Ruined the start to our vacation, had to drive home and drive two hours back in the morning to take our kids to the theme park. Do yourself a favor and stay away

I booked 2 separate stays in a week in a 2 different hotels. The next week I booked another one at the same hotel I am staying at (extended my stay). I went to book to your site and you booked it at a different location when I am for sure booked it at the same location I am staying at. When I canceled the booking, you charged me with a one night stay of approximately $125. This is robbery! The reason why we use your site is to save money but yet you charged me 1 night of stay for cancelling? Here is the (Itinerary # **************). Please refund my money back you charged me for cancelling. I can't find a way to talk to you about this. The chat doesn't have this option. All other sites have a no cancelation fees and you're supposed to be the cheapest but steal from your customers. I will wait for the refund.

Used them for years
Last night I booked a room at a local hotel and I get to the hotel after already paying for the room and they tell me I can't stay there cause I'm flagged in their system. Cause if previous incident at hotel. I never have stayed there before. I ask what incident... They can't tell me. They say it's private. $#*! off. At that point it's midnight have no room and told to $#*! off essentially. I ask for my money back. They say it will b processed in 7 to 15 business days lol. I tell them no I want it back on my card now. They tell me not possible and to call my bank.