Bangkok Hotels

[QUOTE=Run Mann]When you click on the link "click to book," the full rates (with taxes) are shown to the right under booking details before you even enter your personal information. Having used Agoda on several different occasions, I have found them to be one of the cheaper and more credible choices available for hotel reservations.[/QUOTE]
And why do they not display the full price in the beginning like all the others?

[QUOTE=Primo Bolan]And why do they not display the full price in the beginning like all the others?[/QUOTE]


Since I have no stock in the company, I'll pass on trying to defend them. I only pointed out to you that the full rates are displayed up front and not hidden till the end as you originally claimed. Perhaps, upon reflection you will see that you are classically engaging in making the proverbial "mountain out of a molehill" but if not just don't use them.

One more thing about Agoda that is welcoming to me; when they charge my credit card, it is done in my local currency which negates the need for international transaction fees and currency conversion rates which often results in higher charges.

[QUOTE=Primo Bolan]And why do they not display the full price in the beginning like all the others?[/QUOTE]Like all what others?

Not exactly a million miler KrisFlyer® on Singapore Airlines are we Primo Bolan? Time to wake up and smell the klong water dude.

Agoda, Expedia, Wotif, Priceline, even the hotels themselves, ALL have added taxes and fees that they tag on at the end. They simply can't put the added dailies up front, but (incorrectly in your case) assume that you know they are there. It IS a profit deal after all.

Agoda (now owned by Priceline) is indeed excellent. I also use the Priceline "bidding" system from time to time and get great deals on 4 & 5 star hotel rooms, (i.e. Amari Watergate and Holiday Inn for $50/day,) there are fees that you always have to add on to the total, but it still beats the crap out of the normal pricing. ;)

I personally use Wotif to great effect by doing my homework and sleuthing out the "Wot" secret deal hotels and booking those for clients or others just visiting. For example: Marriott Executive Apartment, Sathorn Vista. It's unavailable through Agoda and normally priced around 3500-4000++ Baht/day. By chasing down the "Wot" deal, I backdoored the large executive suite for three nights at 2999 Baht/day (thats $268 for 3 days all inclusive.) And, just so you know, we're talking big time full on, Marriott style top drawer luxury class stuff here, 65 sq/m brand new, huge kitchen with a real oven, dishwasher, washing machine AND dryer, 2 lrg LCD TVs, floor to ceiling glass in both living room and bedroom, and a bathroom that everyone wishes they had in their own home. All that and just 3 min from the Lumpini MRT.

Want to impress a hot chick for a few days while you're in Bangkok? Want to make your clients think you are a total genius? Or, want simply to make yourself extremely comfortable for a terrific deal (that will keep you smiling?) This is how you do it.

But hey, even Wotif charges a bit of a booking fee, so there you go.

[QUOTE=Run Mann]Since I have no stock in the company, I'll pass on trying to defend them. I only pointed out to you that the full rates are displayed up front and not hidden till the end as you originally claimed. Perhaps, upon reflection you will see that you are classically engaging in making the proverbial "mountain out of a molehill" but if not just don't use them.

One more thing about Agoda that is welcoming to me; when they charge my credit card, it is done in my local currency which negates the need for international transaction fees and currency conversion rates which often results in higher charges.[/QUOTE]
I just dont get it, why do they make a trick with the rate and the tax?
"mountain out of a molehill" Well its a mountain when it comes to the size of bookingcompanies like Agoda.
Companies trying to manipulate with the rates, I dont trust.
Thats why I think they are a bad company. Thats why I do not use them and thats my opinion just like u have yours.
"International transaction fees and currency conversion rates which often results in higher charges." Is it? I havent notice that thing on my bills when using VISA or Amex. Forgive me if Im wrong.

PB

PB,

This practice is done by lots of companies, something like a bait and switch marketing practice. Go to some of the Airline booking website you put in your date and destination and you are given a price... then you proceed further and click you get the total price with the all the taxes. Ever see a car in the newspaper advertised you go into the dealership to check it out and they say we only had one and it's gone! It's to get your attention!

As for Visa Amex...etc you might not see the rate because what the banks get and what you get is different and usually customer are just happy to be getting it. You won't see the charges on your statement.

This is the way the world works I sugguest you just go with the flow as suggested. Just move on if you don't like it... there always something better around the corner. Companies like Agoda are dime a dozen. What you need to do is when you click and get all the taxes is it still cheaper than the cheapest quote you got somewhere else.

LBM

[QUOTE=LittleBigMan]PB,

This practice is done by lots of companies, something like a bait and switch marketing practice. Go to some of the Airline booking website you put in your date and destination and you are given a price... then you proceed further and click you get the total price with the all the taxes. Ever see a car in the newspaper advertised you go into the dealership to check it out and they say we only had one and it's gone! It's to get your attention!

As for Visa Amex...etc you might not see the rate because what the banks get and what you get is different and usually customer are just happy to be getting it. You won't see the charges on your statement.

This is the way the world works I sugguest you just go with the flow as suggested. Just move on if you don't like it... there always something better around the corner. Companies like Agoda are dime a dozen. What you need to do is when you click and get all the taxes is it still cheaper than the cheapest quote you got somewhere else.

LBM[/QUOTE]

Yes youre right LBM. Made my airlinebooking to BKK and searching the different dates they told me 591 US (from a European city) at the end of the booking I had to pay 591 US. But I know what u mean, there are some that you can not trust about pricing.
The thing is, I dont understand why many thinks Agoda is so good. Use someone else instead as there are many others. Agoda may have a nice homepage, but thats simply not enough for me.
PB

Could someone tell me how far the Cape House serviced apartments Chitlom are from the BTS station, and if they are nicer for instance than Adelphi (didn't like) / Citadines (which I find OK, the one I know on soi 8)? The location seems decent for a change from the Suk.

I looked on gmaps and it seems a little far to walk (and unfortunately walking in BKK is not that enjoyable).

Thanks

[QUOTE=Primo Bolan]Yes youre right LBM. Made my airlinebooking to BKK and searching the different dates they told me 591 US (from a European city) at the end of the booking I had to pay 591 US. But I know what u mean, there are some that you can not trust about pricing.
The thing is, I dont understand why many thinks Agoda is so good. Use someone else instead as there are many others. Agoda may have a nice homepage, but thats simply not enough for me.
PB[/QUOTE]

Sorry mate, it isn't that you can't trust them it is that you need to be aware of how their website works. The problem here is not the hotel booking sites but your expectations. There are airlines that give you prices w/o taxes and surcharges in the beginning and only show them at the end. There are also airlines that show you the price with all surcharges from the first time they show you flights. Nothing to do with trust. It is up to you, the consumer, to understand how this particular company presents their prices. The hotel booking sites you are talking about don't show the price with taxes and surcharges until later in the process. If you are aware of that then you can totally trust them to show you the price later on. There are other sites that show you all inclusive prices from the start. Is one more or less trustworthy than the other? Absolutely not!

[QUOTE=Pita123]Sorry mate, it isn't that you can't trust them it is that you need to be aware of how their website works. The problem here is not the hotel booking sites but your expectations. There are airlines that give you prices w/o taxes and surcharges in the beginning and only show them at the end. There are also airlines that show you the price with all surcharges from the first time they show you flights. Nothing to do with trust. It is up to you, the consumer, to understand how this particular company presents their prices. The hotel booking sites you are talking about don't show the price with taxes and surcharges until later in the process. If you are aware of that then you can totally trust them to show you the price later on. There are other sites that show you all inclusive prices from the start. Is one more or less trustworthy than the other? Absolutely not![/QUOTE]
I give up! Its not about trustworthy. I dont like when companies do theese things with the price. And I think that if we do not use them because of this they will have to display the full price with tax and service.
PB

[QUOTE=Pita123]Sorry mate, it isn't that you can't trust them it is that you need to be aware of how their website works. The problem here is not the hotel booking sites but your expectations. There are airlines that give you prices w/o taxes and surcharges in the beginning and only show them at the end. There are also airlines that show you the price with all surcharges from the first time they show you flights. Nothing to do with trust. It is up to you, the consumer, to understand how this particular company presents their prices. The hotel booking sites you are talking about don't show the price with taxes and surcharges until later in the process. If you are aware of that then you can totally trust them to show you the price later on. There are other sites that show you all inclusive prices from the start. Is one more or less trustworthy than the other? Absolutely not![/QUOTE]
If not "untrustful",
I rate unfair (and dodgy) to attract you with an advertised price that then changes through the steps of the booking process and can easily go up by 60%.
Surely you have the option to click I ACCEPT or do not proceed and cancel the bookingù
But you are already emotionally committed to taht trip, you have already figured out you will fly with them at that time, that day, happy about a price that soon becomes past history once you are through the last steps of the process.
In Europe this practice is not allowed and airlines cannot advertise a price without including trax, fees etc.
Still a major lo.co. european airline has found the way out. Adding extra fees for non online check-in, for luggage above the allowance (and that is tricky too!), etc etc..
Remains dodgy to me..

[QUOTE=Bionicman]If not "untrustful",
I rate unfair (and dodgy) to attract you with an advertised price that then changes through the steps of the booking process and can easily go up by 60%.
Surely you have the option to click I ACCEPT or do not proceed and cancel the bookingù
But you are already emotionally committed to taht trip, you have already figured out you will fly with them at that time, that day, happy about a price that soon becomes past history once you are through the last steps of the process.
In Europe this practice is not allowed and airlines cannot advertise a price without including trax, fees etc.
Still a major lo.co. european airline has found the way out. Adding extra fees for non online check-in, for luggage above the allowance (and that is tricky too!), etc etc..
Remains dodgy to me..[/QUOTE]

Agreed, no matter which site you use, there is always the option to ''Accept'' or ''Decline'' before you pay the final price including all taxes and extras etc.
Who cares whether the sites advertise prices with or without taxes, at the end of the day all it takes is a little ''free internet'' time to root around and find the total price and get yourself a bargain.

Personally I use a varied cross-section of travel sites to search and review hotels before making my bookings, each of them have their own merits. I avoid the ones that require Pre-payment, preferring to pay the hotel on checkout. Similarly I avoid those that require more than 48 hrs notice to cancel etc. However I would not refuse to take advantage of any site just because of the fact that they dont show the full price in the advertising, after all its their way of doing business, similar to many others around the world. There are extras with most deals, even a WG will have some add-ons, like it or not.

Just got a great deal for a stay next week at FuramaXclusive Asok, inc Buffet Breakfast for 2 persons, free WiFi etc etc.
Booked through Asiatravel.com a Premier Room, 3 Nights for a total of 8000 THB inclusive of all taxes and charges.
For me its good deal, but I am sure somebody will tell me they can get better for less.
At the end of the day, we make our choices and pay our money.

Cheers, FF

[QUOTE=Fifty Fifty]Just got a great deal for a stay next week at FuramaXclusive Asok, inc Buffet Breakfast for 2 persons, free WiFi etc etc.

Booked through Asiatravel.com a Premier Room, 3 Nights for a total of 8000 THB inclusive of all taxes and charges.

For me its good deal, but I am sure somebody will tell me they can get better for less.

At the end of the day, we make our choices and pay our money.

Cheers, FF[/QUOTE]Yep, that would be me, and yep, you paid too much.

FYI: This "Wotif" FuramaXclusive Asok deal has been outed several times lately on this board, same hotel, same everything: Three nights, ฿6122 nett (includes all taxes and fees.) That's ฿2040ttl/night. And, if you are paying attention, the same deal can sometimes be had as cheaply as ฿1499/night for three nights. Take a look and cancel your Asiatravel.com overpriced thing.

I have booked many times with Wotif, for myself and others, even this same room at FuramaXclusive Asok, the people I booked for liked it a lot, (BTS, MRT, Tops Market, Robinsons, Soi Cowboy, not to mention the outstanding breakfast & fast free Internet) and, the pricing & professional service is simply unbeatable:

[url]http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W59071&page=1&viewType=all&refId=65662[/url]

Asiatravel.com is very pricey IMHO, and, because they don't precharge your card, they have a history of calling you the day before your reservation date and telling you that they can't get the hotel you wanted, "Shall we try another?" That's a total horseshit way to run a business if you ask me. But then again, I am just an old caustic mouthed, one eyed trouser snake skirt chasing farthead, what would I know?

Oh and for the mongering minded, make sure to book [b]2persons per night[/b], and tell them when you check in that your girlfriend is a flight attendant and will be arriving late. ;)

Is it OK that everyone book through you Barko, you seems to be the only one that really know this about booking?

[QUOTE=Barko]
FYI: This "Wotif" FuramaXclusive Asok deal has been outed several times lately on this board, same hotel, same everything: Three nights, ฿6122 nett (includes all taxes and fees.) That's ฿2040ttl/night. And, if you are paying attention, the same deal can sometimes be had as cheaply as ฿1499/night for three nights.
[url]http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W59071&page=1&viewType=all&refId=65662[/url][/QUOTE]
These "mystery hotels", where you don't know the location, except that it is somewhere in Bangkok are probably not everyone's cup of tea. In this case, if you hover your cursor over the daily rate, it tells you, that it is on Asok, close to Suk & Skytrain, so you can't go wrong, and yes the deal is very good!
What I would like to know is, how you get to the link you quote, if you start with the [url]www.wotif.com[/url] home page and try to find the "mystery hotel" from there. I have not been able to find it that way.
You need "inside information" [url]http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W59071[/url] to find it

[QUOTE=Daddy San]These "mystery hotels", where you don't know the location, except that it is somewhere in Bangkok are probably not everyone's cup of tea. In this case, if you hover your cursor over the daily rate, it tells you, that it is on Asok, close to Suk & Skytrain, so you can't go wrong, and yes the deal is very good!
What I would like to know is, how you get to the link you quote, if you start with the [url]www.wotif.com[/url] home page and try to find the "mystery hotel" from there. I have not been able to find it that way.
You need "inside information" [url]http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W59071[/url] to find it[/QUOTE]Excellent question Daddy San.

It takes a bit of doing, knowledge of the areas, then doing a full comparison of the things to do and the amenities.

Methodology by example:

OK here, for another good example, the "Marriott Executive Apartment, Sathorn Vista". It is also a "secret" Wot hotel deal that I just booked for someone yesterday:

[url]http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W66816&page=1&viewType=all&refId=65662[/url]

The way I do it is go to the Bangkok header:

[url]http://www.wotif.com/hotels/thailand-bangkok-hotels.html[/url]

This the "Live Deals" page. Now, look at the tabs just above the hotel listings. You will see "Live Deals", "Hotel List", and "Related Options".

Isolate your area by going to "Related Options", it will list the separated areas of the city, then go to your area, e.g. Sathorn:

[url]http://www.wotif.com/hotels/thailand-bangkok-sathorn-hotels.html[/url]

You see, it lists the hotels in your specific area, and the 'secret' deals, nicely separated and defined by star rating. You then just open each of the hotels listed under the secret deal in relation to the star rating, and compare the options and amenities to the secret, as I did with this:

Secret deal: [url]http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W66816&page=1&viewType=all&refId=65662[/url]

Comparitive listing: [url]http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W65815&page=1&viewType=all[/url]

You precipitate and extract the deal simply by doing a little research (reading everything in there and being sure they are the same.) You may think that it takes a bit too much time to go through them all, but after you do it a few times, it's very easy, ergo, it becomes a very low risk gamble. You basically KNOW what the "secret" Wot hotel is before you book it.

In this example, I backdoored a normally priced brand new 3,800 Baht suite (and a good deal even at that price,) for 2,999 Baht for three nights. So this particular case truly reflects what fantastic deals can be had.

So, yeah, I really did figure this system out all my myself, ahem, so I may not be a dumb as I look. Heh. Please don't tell anybody and ruin it for me, OK? My brothers in arms here at ISG that use it, I just ask for a tip your hat and a thanks, I just saved you a bundle of serious dough on your hotel travel.

More to come. Questions? ;)