Way to Russia Talk Lounge

kahumano · Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2003 12:19 pm Post subject: Hotel questions......

Hey all ! Quick question. Part of my trip in November will be spent in Moscow and after doing some research I see the majority of the hotels use third parties for booking. Is this the norm and are these places reliable? Little nervous as I usually book with the hotels themselves to avoid being scammed. If anyone has experience with Moscow-Hotels.net please let me know. Thanks!

Pasha · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:35 am Post subject: .

Expensive hotels usually have their webpages with on-line reservation. E. g. www.ukraina-hotel.ru
Most likely, you were looking for low budget hotels. Yes, they usually don't have possibilities and staff to do on-line reservations, so they need to cooperate with agencies.

Guest · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2003 11:19 am Post subject:

Thanks Pasha! Yeah, I'm definitely looking for low budget hotels. haha I'll just cross my fingers and hope the company I chose is legit. Smile

Karen

Pasha · Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2003 2:22 pm Post subject: .

They usually have no reasons to scam. It's easier to do what they
supposed to and have a stable flow of customers than to start a new
business every time. But please tell me about your experience with
them whether it's good o bad.

David M Rowell · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2003 2:15 pm Post subject:

Almost all hotels will accept direct bookings, but some will discourage you and instead try and point you to a preferred travel agency.

Why do they do this? Guess...... Smile

The reason is simple. The hotel might have a rack rate (ie general room rate normally charged to the public) of $100 a night. They sell those rooms to their preferred agency for $40 a night, and the agency then sells them for $80 to the public. Of the $40 profit, it then gives a $20 kickback in cash to the hotel manager, and keeps the other $20 itself.

The numbers might vary, but the underlying concept is well known in the Russian hotel industry.

kahumano · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 10:07 am Post subject:

Yeah, once I realized this is how it's done....... I quit worrying. lol as you already know here in the states there are soooo many internet scams that I usually hate going through the "middleman" haha

Oh, and Pasha......so far so good Smile

The company I went with has already sent the visa support papers and my passport is at the Russian Embassy as I type. Smile