You should book directly with us. That’s basically the answer. If you’re travelling anywhere, anytime, you should always contact the accommodation directly and book your reservation with them. We think you should use an independent, small business too – but let’s focus on how to book for now.
It’s simple: go to your favourite search engine and search for accommodations in the place you want to go. For example, Hamilton, Ontario! Then search the listings. The big Online Travel Agents generally have all the spots at the top of the search, because they pay for them, but scroll past them until you find the local tourism organization, or the accommodations themselves. Once you find the one you like, go to their own website.
Why is Direct Booking Best?
Why should you book directly with us? There are several reasons. Firstly, of course, you will always get the best price if you book directly with us. Online travel agents always say they offer the best rates, but they simply do not. They might offer discounts that are better than their competitors, but they will always be more expensive than booking direct. This is because they charge a commission. For some OTAs, this commission is fairly reasonable – around 15%. For others, especially the huge ones, it can be anywhere from 20% to 50% – which is ridiculous!
Secondly, they sometimes charge additional fees. Sometimes these fees are hidden. Especially when using affiliate travel sites, which are owned by the large OTAs but pretend to operate independently. We have had guests traveling with sites like Reservations and Kayak who paid three times what our rate is.
It’s More Than Money
Next, we can communicate better when you book directly with us. When you book through an OTA, often they have their own in-house messaging system. These systems are super glitchy and annoying. They will censor email addresses and phone numbers to prevent us from communicating directly with you. They will edit and delay messaging. Sometimes they’ll make you talk to a bot. And some of them have no communications system at all! Don’t you want to be able to reach us if there’s an issue?
These OTAs generally say they will give you membership perks or points, but they generally amount to not a lot. They will also spam you if you use their sites, which we will not. We certainly appreciate return business, but we don’t want to harass you with emails and clog up your inbox. They only emails you will get from us are confirming specific reservations and politely asking for your feedback after your stay.
How To Do It
So, since we’ve established that booking directly with us is best, what are your options? You can pick up the phone and call! If that’s a bit retro for you, you can also email us. There’s also the Contact Us page on our website, if you have questions before you book, or if you have a special request. If you want to book online, you can use the Book Now button on our website or our Facebook page – and be sure to use our promo code to get the best price.
We want you to have the best possible experience during your stay with us. To that end, we want to be completely up-front and honest with you and communicate effectively. We can’t do that as well if there’s a multi-national corporation gatekeeping between us. We’re considering removing our listings from huge OTAs like Booking and Expedia, simply because they’re doing us more harm than good.
So remember: support small business, at home and when you’re on vacation!
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