Are you a travel enthusiast? Or is your job a frequent traveler, requiring you to book hotels regularly? Or are you a hotel manager looking to improve your performance and achieve high occupancy rates? You'll be surprised to learn that this topic is directed at both of you, as your interests are the same: finding a good hotel at the best price. This can be accomplished by answering the question: "Which is better? Booking.com or direct booking? This way, customers will know what's right for them, and hoteliers can explore what their needs are and provide them with the services they need.
Booking.com website
In recent years, Booking.com has flourished for booking hotels and accommodations, and over time, it has become the most popular site for this purpose. Through the site, you can view various accommodations, learn about their features and details, and choose from them from the comfort of your own seat, without any middlemen, making it easier for everyone. However, the question remains: Does Booking.com really offer you the best deal, or can you get lower prices and more services if you book directly through the hotel?
Book Hotels Directly
Booking hotels directly from hotels involves calling the hotel or sending them messages through its various social media channels to learn about prices, offers, and loyalty programs, so you can book directly with the hotel without an intermediary. This brings us back to the same question: does this save you money and offer you better deals than Booking, or is the opposite true?
Which is better, Booking or Direct Booking?
To answer this question, we must look for the advantages of each method separately. There are advantages that the customer can obtain in each of the two methods, and we will introduce them to you in the following paragraphs:
Booking Website Secrets
There are features of the Booking website that you should be aware of before booking:
Diversity of choice
Booking.com offers hundreds of accommodations ranging from five-star hotels to one-star hotels, youth hostels, apartments, hotels, and hostels. Each of these categories has dozens of different options. So, simply type your travel destination into Booking.com's search box and you'll be presented with a world of information that will surely suit your needs.
Real reviews unlike many sites
Try to go to Booking to review a hotel or accommodation and you will not succeed. Booking is very careful to only review the place from those who have actually booked and stayed in this place. This reassures you as a customer that the reviews and opinions of previous customers are real. When you read about the experiences of others in the accommodation, you get a very comfortable experience by knowing what awaits you in reality and not through paid advertising from the hotel. Also, the hotel’s evaluation is always accurate, as it is an accumulation of the evaluations of those who actually stayed in the hotel to tell you about their real experience.
When the mediator is present, you feel safe.
Especially with simple or lesser-known hotel reservations, there's anxiety: What if I don't like the place? What if my dates change? What if the hotel doesn't provide the requested service? How can I get my rights? Having an intermediary in the reservation guarantees your rights. Booking through Booking.com guarantees that you can refer to its customer service in the event of any problem. The site has proven its ability to resolve most customer issues and reconcile customer and hotel rights in a distinguished manner through knowledgeable customer service.
Photos of accommodation
This point is helpful in choosing, but don't rely on it too much. Most photos of accommodations are provided by the place itself, which offers the best it has to offer. In simple hotels in particular, the photos may differ from reality, as the hotel owner may present his best photos, while the rest of the rooms are not up to the same standard.
But especially in big hotels, the pictures are true to reality and give you an idea of what awaits you and provide you with a visual view of the place and whether you will be comfortable in it or not. In many cases, they provide you with a visual view of the views of the rooms as well or the places near the hotel so that you do not feel strange upon arrival.
Are you a Genius customer?
Joining the Genius program for distinguished customers is not difficult. After a number of simple reservations, you become a customer. Your site is ranked in the Booking loyalty program according to your reservation percentage.
The more you book, the more you advance within the program, which provides you with special discounts, special offers, and even distinguished accommodations that are not available outside the program.
The Genius program is truly real and offers realistic offers. When you compare room prices within the program and outside it, you will find a real difference that will encourage you to try to develop your position in the Booking loyalty program to enjoy greater benefits.
Booking tops search engines
We always prioritize the most important last, so this is the last point with which we conclude the advantages of the Booking website, which is its ranking in search engines. The website excels in presenting its own SEO, which is an abbreviation for search engine compatibility.
Therefore, even when you search for a hotel name other than Booking, you will most likely find that the hotel appeared for you in the search engine through Booking, even before the hotel’s website itself.
Not only that, you will find the hotel appearing to you through many links that lead to the Booking website in multiple options. One link leads to the hotel and another leads to the top 10 places to stay in the place you are visiting. Thus, you may find that the first 3 or 4 results in the search engine appear to you from Booking, which makes Booking the most popular.
Direct booking features
Just as Booking has many advantages, there are also advantages to the idea of booking directly from the hotel you are staying in. We will mention them to you so that you are aware of what you need during the booking process:
More space available
Booking usually has a limited number of rooms per reservation, so when you go to book a specific date at a hotel through Booking, you may not find a reservation for your desired dates.
However, if you contact the hotel directly, you will most likely find a room available, as Booking has a limited number of rooms with accommodations, after which the reservation will stop. So, if you need a specific date and you do not find a reservation through Booking, trying direct booking may solve your problem immediately and decisively.
Some places the price may vary.
You will most likely find the lowest price on Booking, but in some accommodations you may find rooms not listed on Booking at lower prices, which will save you money when booking.
Hotel loyalty programs are useful.
Each hotel has a different loyalty program for frequent customers. When you book through Booking, you don't benefit from the hotel's loyalty programs, although you do benefit from Booking's program.
So, if you're comfortable dealing with a specific hotel or hotel chain, booking directly is a better option for you, as each booking increases your position in the hotel's loyalty program and gives you greater benefits on subsequent bookings.
For hotel owners, what do you need to compete with Booking?