Talk to Your Hotel: The Benefits of Booking Directly

With major online travel websites competing to offer the best deals day in and day out, saving money on hotel rates has never been easier. You almost can’t go wrong. Almost. The truth is, making a reservation directly with your hotel is still the best way to guarantee an amazing vacation experience every time. Planning is enough work on its own — once you arrive at your destination, it’s time to sit back, forget your worries, and watch everything fall into place. By then, a mega travel website has already forgotten you exist. The people at your hotel or inn, on the other hand, have been looking forward to your visit. They’ve prepared your room, they’ll cook your eggs how you like them, and they know who to call for last minute dinner reservations or tickets to that sold out concert. The sooner you get in touch with them, the sooner your experience can benefit from theirs. That's what we call being BookSmart.

Room Rates

The benefits start with room rates — think you’ve found an unbelievable rate online? Give the innkeeper a call. Chances are, he or she will offer to match that rate. You might even get extra goodies like a free breakfast or a gift card to a local business in addition to a heartfelt thank-you. After all, mega travel websites charge hotels as much as a 30% commission on each room.

Special Experiences

When you book directly with your hotel, you’re also helping your hosts get the details right. When mega travel sites feed information into your hotel’s computer system, preferences and special requests can get lost in the shuffle. A mega travel website doesn’t know where to leave the note about your anniversary weekend so the bellman sees it before you arrive. Your hotel staff does. Cancellations and reservation changes can also be a nightmare when your information is tied up in a third-party database halfway around the world.

Comparing Hotels

We can think of one major benefit of mega travel websites that would be tough to give up in the 21st century: the ability to quickly and efficiently compare multiple hotels side by side. Thankfully, you don’t have to give up that research advantage — here at New England Inns and Resorts, you can browse among over 250 unique, independent inns, hotels, and resorts across New England. You'll even be able to check prices and availability using our Quick Reservations tool. Unlike a large travel site, however, when you’re ready to finalize your plans, we send you directly to your chosen hotel, inn or resort to make your reservation directly, online or over the phone.

You might also like...