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Old 05-02-2006, 07:32 PM   #1
RootBrewskies
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so obviously you've heard about or seen people show up at hostels with a 'reservation' only to find the place full. i was wondering how peoples experiences with hostelworld.com have been. you ever book through them only to find your 'reservation' nonexistant? or have you shown up at a hostel with your hostelworld.com downpayment having been made and still have to pay full price?
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Old 05-02-2006, 07:50 PM   #2
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HostelWorld worked pretty well for me. There were a few times that i was told i didn't have a reservation even though i had booked, but most of the time it was fine. And yeah, if you don't tell them that you booked through hostelworld, most hostels will charge you full price. I talked to a bloke that owned one of the hostels i stayed in and he said the system is pretty crap because it sends you all the bookings via email, so it's very easy to overbook if you're getting bookings from the phone, internet, and face to face.
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Old 05-02-2006, 07:50 PM   #3
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Support your local community and book through the Travelpunk Main Site.

I worked in a hostel, and a big part of my job was making reservations. Our hostelworld reservations recieved top priority. Note- the tpunk reservations service works with hostelworld. Hostels generally have X amount of beds set aside for hostelword, and the availability is correct on the hostelworld site. Because of the agreements hostels have with hostel world, they have to accommodate you, or find alternative accommodations. I cant even tell you how many people I've placed elsewhere. Its really frustrating on both sides. Check and double check the dates, the hostel name, and make sure when you're checking in to give them the full name of the person who made the reservations. The receptionist will want to kill you just a little less.
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Old 05-02-2006, 07:53 PM   #4
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Actually, lfb (I seem to be replying to you a lot, whats your name, Im steph, pleased to meetcha), hostelworld prices are the most expensive of any of the online booking sites I used to work with. Their prices were a good five pounds or so more than the price you'd pay if you were to walk up and get the same bed. But then, I guess you're paying for the assurance you'll have a bed. Six of one, half a dozen of another.

Travelstay.com is by far and above the cheapest.
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Old 05-02-2006, 07:56 PM   #5
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^^I was wondering Steph, a lot of hostels have websites nowadays with pictures, prices, etc. Wouldn't it be better to book directly with them? (provided they had a website). What do u think?
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Old 05-02-2006, 08:02 PM   #6
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Yeah if you want to. Travelstay is kind of sketch, hostelworld is generally more expensive (but the safest bet), and their direct websites are usually ok. As a long time tpunk, though, I book through the main site here and Ive never had problems with it.
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Old 05-02-2006, 08:57 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally posted by bellelass@May 2 2006, 09:02 PM
Yeah if you want to.* Travelstay is kind of sketch, hostelworld is generally more expensive (but the safest bet), and their direct websites are usually ok.* As a long time tpunk, though, I book through the main site here and Ive never had problems with it.
[snapback]117172[/snapback]
Sorry i know it only makes sense to book though tpunk now, but i used hostels.com a bunch. and i thought it was ok. what do you know about them?
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Old 05-02-2006, 10:10 PM   #8
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Travelstay.com, i'll have to remember that one for my next outing.

Quote:
Because of the agreements hostels have with hostel world, they have to accommodate you, or find alternative accommodations. I cant even tell you how many people I've placed elsewhere.
Yeah, this nearly happened to me once. I booked a hostel in San Cristobel, Mexico, a few days in advance and when i turned up they said they were full and the best they could do was offer me a lounge in the communal lounge room for a discounted price, i guess that was their alternative accomodation. Luckily, a few people checked out early and me and the bloke already sleeping in the lounge room got beds. Turned out to be a pretty cool hostel though, i like the disorganised and unprofessional ones.

Oh, and the name's Nick, good to meet ya Steph
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Old 05-03-2006, 12:36 AM   #9
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never had a problem with a hostel booking site at all except for the fact that they sometimes display a hostel as full when in reality it isnt. It would be nice to be able to rely on what they show online.
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Old 05-03-2006, 04:10 AM   #10
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I booked last minute for a hostel in Belgrade and when I arrived they didn't have any record of my booking, even after logging on to the system. Fortunately I had a printout of my booking and the owner gave me his room in the attic and he slept on the floor in the lounge.

Also, in case you're not aware, all the money paid to hostelworld (the deposit and the booking fee) are kept by them, so hostels lose 10% when you book through hostelworld.
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Old 05-03-2006, 04:28 AM   #11
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They dont loose 10%, hostelworld marks it up. They make an extrea 10%.
At least thats what one hostel owner told me.

I heard one hostel tell me hostelworld.com takes 10% of their cut and I had another say they charge an extra 10% and hostwel world keeps that.

I acutlly had a place in paris that gave discounts for using hostelworld.com SHe was one man show managing the hsotel and i geuss it made it alot easier when hsotelworld.com dealt with all the bookings.
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Old 05-03-2006, 09:33 AM   #12
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Bottom line - book through TravelPunk, which uses the Hostelworld engine. You help out our li'l community here, guarantee your booking, and have a good time regardless.

My niggle with HW is that they don't have very good reviews. Besides reading the forums on your friendly neighborhood TravelPunk, I like to check out the reviews at sites like Hostelz.com - same engine and all, but good collections of reviews. Then I come back here to book!
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Old 05-03-2006, 11:31 AM   #13
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^ thats what i did. I used hostelworld.com's rating bar that quickly compared hostels and then I would book on travelpunk.
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Old 05-03-2006, 11:39 AM   #14
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I agree with Omi. I've only used Travelpunk (and have used them recently to book a hostel for a night in Vegas ). Absolutely no problems so far and never heard any either! I'll sometimes use other sites for the reviews though... and still book through here. Hehe.
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Old 05-06-2006, 10:07 PM   #15
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I've booked with HostelWorld.com a couple of times in the past an i never had any problems. Then again I did book fairly early, so I'm sure that must have helped.
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