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Online reservations continue to become more popular year after year and everyday many internet surfers make a reservation online for travel related services. Most of the reservations are for the most common need of the traveler, i.e. a proper, suitable accommodation.

Reasons behind the success of the online booking for lodging requirements are many, also the continuous improvement of the available online booking services contributes to make online reservations easier, safer and cheaper, travellers confidence in online bookings is increasing as a consequence.

We'd like to understand with you what are the reasons for considering online reservations for a hotel room, an apartment or a tourist resort.

There are different types of reservation services and we'll try to consider all of them, or at least the most commonly used, here below, we'll also try to understand the main features for each one of them with a brief description and if possible some tips.

Hotel reservation services web sites with online or offline booking capability

The choice of reservation services is wide and can be tailored to your needs, as long as you manage to find the better service for the type of hotel or destination you prefer. Ideally we would identify two main categories of web sites, one which can offer hotel reservations in all countries and one which can offer hotel reservations only in a specific area or country or town, often the second one offers also travel guides, good information about the area and related travel services in the same area. The reservation services very often propose properties which are present in the so called GDS or global distribution systems, these are few complex systems originally created to distribute globally tickets for the airway travel industry and then used to distribute globally hotel rooms, we can say that for these properties many hotel reservation services are offering the same "product" although with a different label. As well there are reservation services that propose properties different from the "GDS" properties, or both, and very often are in a position to negotiate discounted rates with can be offered to the travelers, in this case the rates or deals offered are even better than offers made directly by the hotels. We believe the hotel reservation services offer one of the best option for the following reasons:

• Wide choice of hotels for each area as more hotel brands and ratings are offered at the same time, usually with an easy search form or directory so that in a quick manner it is possible to review different properties, rates, offers and then make an online reservation based on a documented choice. Bookings can be with immediate confirmation of the availability or with subsequent confirmation by an travel agent or operator (depending on the service used).
• For some of the hotels the reservation services manage to negotiate special rates with discounts compared with the hotels standard rates. Not all the reservation services can offer negotiated rates. The best practice to find a good deal would be to compare rates proposed by different booking services for the same hotel and dates.

Most of the reservation services offer to travel related websites "affiliate programs". Hotel reservations are available through the affiliate web site while the reservation is actually processed by the reservation service. Booking at the hotel reservation service web site or through one of its affiliated web sites should give exactly the same results and guarantees. Here is an example of an affiliated web site offering the cheapest hotel rates.

Independent hotels web sites

If you believe that making direct arrangements with the hotel is the best way to book a hotel room you will definitely prefer to search for independent hotel web sites and to contact directly the hotel. This is indeed a system we recommend, it will give you different opportunities:

• Contact directly the hotel with the contact details indicated or forms included in the hotel web site, for instance email, telephone, fax, contact forms and in some cases for the most advanced web sites reservation forms with immediate confirmation of availability. Indeed the good thing is to establish a contact with the hotel and get answers for any kind of clarifications or information the traveler may require about the lodging, the area, the available services, etc.
• Access and evaluate all the rates but especially offers and discounts that may be proposed by the hotel, you may also whish to try bargaining especially for long stays although we believe that in most cases hotels will just stick to the published rates and offers which will already include for various "benefits" for extended stays depending on your requirements.

Here are examples of independent hotels listings with official hotel contacts and websites.

Hotel chain web sites

This is another way to make direct arrangements with the hotel company although when dealing with hotel chains usually you can easily access through a portal type web site all hotels which are part of the chain and most likely you can find an online reservation tool with immediate confirmation of the room availability for selected destination and dates.
We believe that this is a good way to chose your preferred hotel accommodation especially if you are interested in a specific hotel chain for which you have good feedback or previous positive experience and also if you are interested in special offers for returning customers that are sometimes available throughout the chain even if you chose different destinations each time.
Further to the links to hotel chains we provide in this web site you find here below more company names you may want to check out, you may search for these names:

• ANA Hotels International, ARCOTEL Hotels & Resorts, Active Hotels, AmeriHost Inn Hotels, AmeriSuites, AmericInn, Aston Hotels and Resorts, Astron Hotels & Resorts, Atel Network, Axcess Hotels.
• Baymont Inn & Suites, Beaufort Hotels, Benchmark Hospitality, Best Inns, Best Western International, Boca Raton Resorts.
• Caesar Park Hotels & Resorts, Camberley Hotels, Camino Real Hotels & Resorts, Canadian Pacific Hotels, Candlewood Suites, Cavanaughs Hotels, Centra Hotels & Resorts, Clarion, Classic International, ClubHouse Inn & Suites, Comfort Inns, Comfort Suites, Concorde Hotels, Conrad International Hotels, Country Escapes, Country Hearth, Country Inns & Suites, Courtyard by Marriott, Crossland, Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts.
• Dan Hotels Corporation Ltd., Days Inn, Design Hotels, Destination Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree, Drury Inns, Inc.
• E-Rez by VIP, Econo Lodge, El Cid, Embassy Suites, eRyokan, Executive Inn Hotels and Suites, Expotel, Extended StayAmerica, Extra Holidays.
• Fairfield Inn by Marriott, Fairmont Hotels, Fiesta Americana Hotels & Resorts, Flag Hotels, Forte Hotels and Resorts, Four Points Hotels by Sheraton, Friendship Inn.
• Global Conextions, Golden Tulip, Grand Bay Hotels and Resorts, Grand Heritage Hotels, Grand Hotels - Devere, Grand Tradition Hotels, Guesthouse.
• Hampton Inn/Hampton Inn and Suites, Harrah's Hotels & Casinos, Harvey Hotels, Hawthorn Suites/Hawthorn Suites LTD., Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Hilton International, Historic Hotels of America, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Homestead Village Guest Studios, Homewood Suites, Hot Key International, HotelSwitch, Howard Johnson, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts.
• ITS of Broward, Innpoints, Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts.
• Jameson Inns, Joie de Vivre, Jumer Hotels, Jurys Doyle Hotel Group.
• Kerry Club Hotels, Keytel, Knights Inn.
• LRI, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Leading Hotels of the World, Lexington Services, Lexington Hotel Suites and Inns, Loews Hotels, Luxe Hotels.
• MainStay Suites, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Marriott Conference Centers, Marriott Hotels Resorts and Suites, Marriott Vacation Club International, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts.
• New Otani Hotels, Nikko Hotels International, Novotel.
• Okura Hotels & Resorts, Omni Hotels, Outrigger Hotels Hawaii.
• Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts, Park Plaza International, Parkroyal Hotels & Resorts, Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Prima Hotels, Principle Hotels.
• Quality Inns.
• RIHGA Royal Hotels, Radisson Hotels, Raffles International Hotels and Resorts, Ramada International, Ramada Plazas Limiteds and Inns, Red Lion Hotels, Red Roof Inns, Regal Hotels International, Relais & Chateaux, Renaissance Hotels and Resorts, Rendezvous Hotels International, Residence Inn by Marriott, Ringhotels, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Rodeway Inn, Romantik Hotels International, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Ryan Hotels PLC.
• SORAT Hotels, Savoy Group of Hotels, Scandic Hotels, Sceptre Hospitality Resources, Select Marketing, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton Inn, Sierra Suites Hotels, Signature Inns, Sleep Inns, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Sofitel Hotel & Resorts, Sol Melia, Sonesta Hotels and Resorts, SpringHill Suites, St. Regis Luxury Collection, Stamford Hotels & Resorts, Station Casinos, Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, Sterling Hotels and Resorts, Studio Plus, Suburban Lodge, Summerfield Suites Hotels, Summit Hotels and Resorts, Super 8 Motels, SuperClubs, Supranational, Swissotel.
• TOP International Hotels, Taj Group of Hotels, The Oberoi Group of Hotels, The Small Hotel Company, The Sutton Place Hotels, Thistle Hotels, Tokyu Hotels, TownePlace Suites, TravAmerica, Travelodge, Travelodge Hotels & Resorts Asia Pacific, Travelscape, Treff Hotels, Tropical Resorts & Vacations.
• Unirez, Utell International.
• V.I.P. Reservations, Vagabond Inns, Inc., Vienna Group of Hotels.
• W Hotels, Walt Disney World Resorts, Warwick International Hotels, Wellesley Inn and Suites, Westin Hotels and Resorts, Wingate Inns, Woodfin Suite Hotels, World Class Hotels & Resorts, World Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.