Experts: Booking hotels via third-party sites can leave guests with worse rooms

Booking a hotel through a third‑party website can increase the chance of being allocated a less desirable room and expose customers to hidden fees, according to travel experts and recent analyses.

Paul Scott, founder of My Budget Break, told The Mirror that hotels often favour guests who book direct because intermediaries can take commission fees of up to 25 percent. "Booking through a third party website could lead to getting a worse room than if you had booked direct, but this isn't necessarily a deliberate act," he said, adding that some better rooms may be reserved or offered as incentives to direct bookers.

Scott pointed to examples such as Hilton Hotels, which allows Hilton Honors members to choose rooms when booking directly. He said that when guests use platforms like Booking.com or Hotels.com, rooms with preferable locations or views can be allocated to direct bookers, leaving later arrivals with rooms closer to service areas or lifts.

Analyses and consumer surveys back up concerns about pricing practices on third‑party platforms. A 2023 study cited by travel outlets found 68 percent of travellers encountered at least one hidden fee during booking, with an average unexpected cost increase of 12 percent over the advertised price. Researchers also flagged "drip pricing" — where fees are progressively revealed during checkout — as common, and a separate analysis of 500 hotel bookings across major platforms found 37 percent included undisclosed "convenience fees" often buried in terms and conditions.

Those fees and allocation patterns can have commercial logic, industry observers say. Hotels pay commissions to third‑party distributors, and to protect margins and loyalty programmes they may hold back certain room types or attach perks to direct bookings, such as discounts, upgrades or the ability to select a room in advance.

Not everyone in the distribution business accepts that room allocation differs by booking channel. Tim Hentschel, who runs HotelPlanner.com, told The Mirror that his tests have not found differences in room quality or service depending on whether a guest booked via a third‑party site or directly with a hotel. "Speculation around customers landing the worst rooms when booking via third party websites instead of directly through the hotel website are wide of the mark," he said.

Industry relationships between hotels and online travel agencies are complex. Third‑party sites argue they bring volume and visibility to properties, while hotels point to the costs of that distribution and use direct‑booking incentives to reward loyalty and protect revenue. Regulators in some jurisdictions have addressed related issues such as misleading display pricing and undisclosed fees, prompting platforms to revise disclosure practices, but consumer groups say problems persist.

Travel advisers recommend checking multiple sources before booking. Consumers can reduce risk by comparing the total price, including all taxes and fees, asking the hotel directly about room availability and whether certain room types are held back for direct sales, and joining hotel loyalty programmes if they plan to stay with the same brand. For travellers primarily concerned with cost, third‑party platforms can still offer competitive rates, but experts suggest factoring in potential fees and the possibility that the most desirable rooms may be offered to direct bookers.

Hotels, online travel agencies and consumer watchdogs continue to debate the extent and causes of these differences. Meanwhile, travellers seeking transparency are advised to read final checkout prices carefully and, when room location or view matters, to confirm arrangements with the property after booking.