I typically check and recheck everything before a trip to make sure everything is in place before we arrive. This last trip it was a kid-free trip since we were attending a conference and had decided to add a day at Disney beforehand. I reconfirmed our hotel reservation and found that just because your reservation says one thing does not mean that the hotel will honor that when booked through a third party.
I had booked a hotel for us at a Disney property through a separate booking website and reserved a King room. When I called Disney the day before to reconfirm the reservation and room type, I was informed that we had reserved a Double room not a King, yet the reservation in my hand clearly stated I had a King. I went back and forth between Disney and the third party booking site and discovered that they had a breakdown in their definitions of what a Standard room means. Disney’s version of a standard room is a double bed room and the third party’s version of standard had to do with the view not the room type. I was informed by Disney that the only way to reserve a King bed room is to book through them directly and pay the extra $20 on their website to guarantee the room type. I ended up getting a refund from the third party and rebooking a King room through Disney directly. Ultimately it made for a very frustrating experience and not one I am likely to repeat by using this third party again.
The moral of the story is when you book through a third party to get a better rate, always call the hotel directly to confirm the reservation. Sometimes it is better to book through the hotel website rather than a third party because it allows you to work with the hotel directly to make changes. If you book through a third party, you have to work with them to make changes and the time spent going back and forth between the hotel and them can often make booking through the hotel well worth the extra few dollars.
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Tags: Booking Websites, Hotel Booking, Hotels
