Hotelclub.net: Reliable??

[neelb]

I came across this site using Travelaxe (the program). They are offering the best price for my trip to Cancun next week--it is substantially lower than other sites. I have never heard of this site and am concerned of the reliability of reservations made through them. Has anyone used this site before or heard anything about it?

i need to book asap so ne help would really appreciated...

THANKS ALOT

[TravelGuy]

They seem to me to be ligit. Although I've not booked with them, I've seen them around a lot, and I recently used one of their rate quotes to get a free night with the Days Inn Best Rate or It's Free Guarantee. They were accepted by Days Inn (owned by Cendant) as a legitimate online booking source.

[flyme2]

I had an unusual result when trying to use them to book a hotel in Singapore earlier this week. They didn't have instant booking available for this particular property, so after supplying all my c/c details and waiting 24 hours, I received an e-mail informing me that the hotel was completely booked for my dates and re-directed me to one of their sister websites. That site, purporting to specialize in last minute hotel deals had far fewer hotels listed and prices were actually higher than on other hotel booking sites I generally use. I eventually tried booking my original choice with AsiaVoyage. and had a room confirmed 24 hours later. Subsequent searches on other websites showed plenty of availability. The only reason I can see Hotel Club not wanting to honour the reservation is the fact that they offer a rebate that can be used for future bookings. Perhaps their margins were too low for the property in question, or perhaps it's just a case of bait and switch. Either way, this is the first time in my many, many years of travel that an agency has done this.

[cbird]

I have used Hotelclub several times over the last couple of years. Some of their hotels are on a request basis. Some are bookable immediately. I have had hotels on a request basis and been offered alternative hotels if my choice has notbeen available. Although you are under no obligation to take there recommendation.

Most recently I stayed in London this weekend having reserved a room from them. No problems. Room and breakfast

[micheles]

i tried using hotelclub but my hotel was on request and surprise surprise - it was not available - they did offer alternative hotels which did not match my requirements ( a 48 hour turnaround on requests too) - but they did reply within the time frame

[Jross]

Has anyone had experience with this company? I'm not sure if its legit, but I'm interested in purchasing through them. I'm confused because it says something about a reservation confirmation voucher, I'm worried I'm not actually getting a hotel room!

any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

[Yury Glikin]

hi

I am the Marketing Manager for HotelClub.com. I can assure you all that we are a legitimate company, we have been trading online for 10 years and have processed millions of transactions. We are part of Cendant, the second larget travel consolidator in the world.

Some of our hotels are on request and we need to contact the hotel to get availability. The client's card is not charged until we confirm the booking, so there is no risk to the client and our rates are competitive with most web based travel sites.

if you have any issues, please don't hesitate to contact myself or our customer service - http://www.hotelclub.com/CustService.asp

Thanks

Yury Glikin

Marketing Manager - HotelClub.com

[lowballer]

I dunno, it seemed kinda sketchy when I tried to use it.

Was looking for a place in Hong Kong last year. I must have made seven or eight "reservation requests" and they ALL came back unavailable, including alternative hotels it offered itself. Meanwhile my travel dates get closer. Now the HKG airport has a centralized hotel reservations desk (two, in fact) right after customs, so it's possible, if still a tad risky, to arrive without a reservation. When I got there there were plenty of rooms available, although not at the "vapor rates" HotelClub pretended to offer.

Maybe something was weird about my particular nights and maybe other cities are different. But I'm not comfortable enough with the "we'll get back to you in two days to tell you we were just kidding" business model to save the few bucks if the rooms really do exist.

[LoneStar]

Well, if it's owned by Cendant, it is certainly a legitimate company. They're now one of the largest travel-related enterprises, owning hotels, car rentals, Orbitz, Entertainment Cards, etc.

Which is not to say that I've always found their service committment to be excellent, or that I would necessarily recommend their products, just that you don't have to worry about it being a fly-by-night outfit.

[bobabouy]

In todays day of high-speed wireless blah blah blah, too days is 2 long. I understand about the contacting properties part. Why not give thumbs up or down within 3 hours during hotel normal business hours, or by 9 am next day at the latest. To wait longer than that is ridiculous, unless they beat hotwire and priceline by a wide margin. Not bloody likely.

[bbelenky]

I used HotelClub for my 2002 trip to Paris. It worked just fine, no major (and minor) surprizes.... Next time I will use Priceline.