Help! My Hotel Doesn’t Exist

I book directly with the hotel, motel, or inn. Always. I check websites. I read TripAdvisor reviews. I call. Yes, from NY I call Lisbon or Venice or Geneva. I never use AirBnB. Being a New Yorker, where short term stays are at best against most buildings’ house rules, and at worst, illegal, I don’t trust listings. I don’t want to show up and be denied entry or find out the hotel “formerly existed but ceased operations.” As for my one and only AirBnB experience. They listed the beach home kitchen as a “Chef’s Dream.” The dream included a broken stove, a leaky faucet, broken gas grill, no blender and rusty old pots and pans. A dream? Hardly.

I never use any third-party service, always book everything directly.

Obviously I live in a tourist destination where many of the architecturally, historical houses in old town are vacation rentals. Several years ago pre AirBnB and on the evening of the fall annual celebration here, the owner and resident of a particularly well kept cottage around the corner from my lane found tourists who had just arrived from driving 150 miles from Miami seeking entrance claiming they had rented this house. These people had been scammed and despite the cordial efforts of the cottage's owner to find them alternative accommodations faced another 150 mile drive back that night. For some time after, the cottage's owner felt compelled to post a professionally made sign stating that this house was a private home and not a vacation rental.

As a random traveler (some years a lot, then not for a year, depending on life), I have found the ability to book online to be much better than dealing with travel agents ever was. My favorite nightmare-to-laugh-about-now: my first long trip as a "grown up", where I went to the travel agent several times, and ultimately created an itinerary of specific dates and cities. Travel agent booked it all and I picked up the tickets and reservations - but didn't notice that one night, I had paid for 2 hotels - in different cities! Agent corrected it and refunded it when I got home, but it's a good laugh now.

I had been using Expedia for all my travel reservations almost since its inception. I never had any problems and scored incredible rooms through its VIP program. Customer service, especially for Elite members, was superb. This summer, however, I needed to make a simple change to my room type and encountered hour-long wait times. (Expedia claims they were having a "bad day." Based on other published complaints, they are having a lot of "bad days.") The business model in this industry has shifted to "book and ignore." And there are only two major players, Expedia (which owns Travelocity, Hotels.com, and other sites) and Booking. I've started to book directly with the airlines and properties as a number of posters have suggested.

Why not name the “nearby hotel” that took them in? I’m sure they would appreciate the praise and additional business.

My first search is to TripAdvisor for reviews on places to stay. They have a link to the different booking companies where rates are listed. I will go through the process of “booking” to see rate for dates desired, I then call hotel directly and see what rate they quote. If it’s more than websites I ask if they can match the rate. Most of the time they can and when they can’t, there is usually a valid reason (location or type of room, breakfast included, etc). I find you usually get better service when booking directly and if you have to cancel, it’s also better as many booking sites do not refund payment. Similarly I book flights directly with airlines. As a former executive assistant, I have booked trips since the dark ages when there were no computer sites to reference! You used an experienced travel agent and a stack of Fodors!

My husband and I have used Hotels.com (owned by Expedia) around the world, with great success. They've never lost a booking, and the rooms are either as pictured on the website or sometimes nicer. I've also been given upgrades (without asking) - because the front desk people just felt like it. Only once was there an issue, and that had to do with noise levels - we asked the next morning for a quieter room and were moved. Once in a while, we travel to a part of the world with few/no options on Hotels.com, and in those cases, we often use booking.com. I love the idea of this column btw! I had many travel mishaps over the years - most of them pre-Internet...now it is much easier to plan everything travel-related.

I have had my share of terrible hotels/motels in my decades of travel. But what I have not been surprised by is that nearly everywhere I have traveled that there are lots of nice people, who if you respectfully and pleasantly talk to them you can have wonderful experiences. There were a few times that I really wondered if I was going to have a place to sleep in travels in Europe and domestically because I had not booked ahead or the hotel had let my room go to someone else (or even never booked it!) But in almost every case I ended up having some amazing experiences. I will caution anyone traveling in the London area, try to book ahead as I have several times had to search high, low and sideways to eventually find a lousy room 1,2 or 3 towns over....

I don't care what discounts those outfits like Expedia offer. I always book directly from the hotel itself and read all reviews first. I have read too many horror stories about people getting to their hotel or resort only to find out that Expedia or Booking.com had mishandled the reservation and there was no room at the end of the trip. Not to say problems still can't arise, but I have never had one.

Expedia says the hotel “existed at one time?” So it was just a mistake? I’m not buying it. If you book through Expedia they obviously have some communication with the hotel to confirm the room. Somebody confirmed it and took the money. If’s fraud. That Expedia couldn’t bring themselves to say so says a lot about how dodgy Expedia is.

I only once booked something (a flight from Belfast to London) through a site like Expedia (can't remember if it was Expedia). I conacted the site to find out if I had to pay for check-in baggage (this was before it became common to have to do so). The person I spoke to said she was sure the first bag was free. It wasn't & cost me over $100 for the short flight. I've never booked through such a site again and never would.

I have not had this experience but last year I booked a Venice hotel through a long-established site and arrived to find that the reservation "did not exist." They found me "comparable" accommodation, albeit only after I waited an hour, and in two different hotels on different nights, one of them in a very different part of the city and not nearly as nice, although it had the same number of stars. The site refused to do anything about it, blaming the hotel. I will never trust any travel site again and now only book through hotel websites.

Since I am nearing my sixties, I can say that I have already traveled a lot. Never had this kind of problem. However, the worst scenario was when my wife - then my girlfriend - and I reserved a room in a hotel in La Paloma, Uruguay. Beautiful place, wonderful people, marvelous country. But that hotel showed us a room where the door - among other unpleasant characteristics - didn't lock. Don't blame Uruguayans, please. We have been many times there and had always a wonderful time. This hotel was an exception and didn't spoil our trip.

We always book though third party sites, mostly Expedia and Hotel.com. We usually book rooms at the big chain hotels, Hyatt, Hilton, etc and we always got exactly the room we booked. And the rooms are a lot cheaper than booking directly through the hotel, especially when you are not a member of their rewards program. Flights on the other hand are a different story. They do change them frequently and I stopped booking through Expedia. But you do get a refund for those, at least we did

I am having trouble with the statement: "Whenever I reserve anything questionable-looking through an online travel agency— ..." Why would a travel-advice writer decide to book a questionable-looking- anything?

This is a great column! Is it new? More of these columns, please. Delighted to see it in the NYT!

Book directly with the hotel via their website or even by phone (quite common in Europe). Expedia (and their ilk) offer nothing that you can't find yourself via Google, offer limited support or recourse when something goes wrong and since they are receiving less for your booking, you are the least important guest at the property.

I've found Expedia to be unreliable, both descriptions and reviews, and avoid it.

Renting a house for a vacation can result in similar contretemps. Google first. I once checked a house address only to find a used car lot.

Having recently just finished a 3 year sojourn in Colombia, I am surprised that that happened. A more corrupt opportunistic race I've yet to meet and that's after living in over 10 different countries including 4 in South America.

Older, experienced traveler here. Sure, check out the third Party sites to get the lay of the land, and general prices. Especially if you have not visited a City before. But, we have learned thru past dealings with those sites , Buyer Beware. They will arbitrarily change your flights, with a made-up “ reason “, even after you’ve paid. No refunds. As for Hotels, you absolutely will get the worst room available. And NO chance of an upgrade. Use the Hotels Website. You will get a good deal, and much better treatment. Join the Hotel Loyalty program, it’s free and has perks. Also, if anyone needs recommendations for Seattle, I’ve visited about 20 times. Ask me anything.

When evaluating hotels and restaurants: Check for recent favorable (or unfavorable) reviews. Check out the location on Google streetview. If in doubt, call or email the property to confirm If you can't find a phone number or email address, be ware.

As several others have commented, book with your travel agent or call the hotel directly. (including domestic travel.) And I mean not with the 800 number either. I like to talk to a person who is actually at the hotel. Would never consider booking with a third party site and don't see a reason to

I have not used Expedia since they booked me on a non-existent flight from Washington to Italy more than ten years ago. I showed up at the airport and there was no one at the counter because Alitalia had no flights that day, despite my confirmed ticket, at least according to Expedia. That's when I decided it was one strike, and you're out.

May I add to the list of cross-checking suggestions going to Google Streetview to see if you can locate the hotel (and check the date on the streetview). If it is recent and the hotel is there, you're probably okay. I always like to check out the surrounding neighborhood anyway.

You can always book directly with the hotel or go through a travel agent/planner/advisor who actually has the experience and knowledge, and can deal with the situation should something happen. You’ll also get better service all around. But of course you’ll have to pay a fee for that experience and knowledge.

When I traveled around the world in the seventies with a backpack, it was an adventure. If you mentioned booking a room in advance, people would think you were crazy. Standard brand travel today is dull and boring and all the fun is destroyed by appeasing the gods of security and comfort. Not for this old hippie. I still wander around with a light pack. All the interesting destinations have lots of lodging. Just show up and take your pick. And when I say interesting I don’t mean Florence, Paris or the Camino de Santiago.

My default practice these days is to book directly with a hotel rather than through third-party booking portals whenever possible. Although it might cost a little extra, it seems worth it to me to have a confirmation from the hotel itself rather than through an intermediary. There are exceptions. Recently I flew through Vancouver with an overnight layover. Air Canada offered me a stopover hotel at a room rate about one-fifth of what I would have paid if I had booked directly with the hotel. In this case, Air Canada was not so much a booking portal as a partner with a series of hotels that are part of the airline's hotel stopover program.

Most of our travel is in the US, but we travel with dogs. I always call a prospective hotel directly to make sure a ‘dog room’ is available as even hotel chain websites do not provide any way to reserve for the dogs. I call directly even when traveling alone because in those cases I like to find interesting inns or b & b’s and like to gauge the property’s attraction by direct contact with the host/ess. Also essential if dining is included when you have special diet requirements. I guess perhaps I have a case of buyer beware-it is.

I seem to have the opposite problem; my hotel exists but shouldn't. But seriously, I often book through a web site and seemingly end up with the worst available room: small, hot, smelly, dirty, and next to the elevator AND outdoor mechanicals.

The rise of online rentals has increased problems of this sort. Someone once asked a travel forum about something called "Holiday Apartments" in Manhattan. Their website showed lovely views of the city, but made one suspicious as these could not be seen from the property on Third Ave. in the 60s. As I was in the area, I stopped by and showed the concierge a printout of the website. He said that this was a scam and that several people had already arrived suitcase in hand only to find that there was no apartment. Of course, non refundable payment in advance was required here. Many people have to save up to make trips and things like this can be a major disappointment.

Two thoughts: 1. Ah Columbia. The people are so kind there as exemplified by the hotel owner who rescued the family from a disastrous situation. 2. I wasn’t impressed with what was said about Expedia by the traveler in question. How they could manage to ignore a complaint about a non-existent hotel is beyond me. They’ve certainly slid down a notch in my estimation.