Hotels.com

Long-time customer abandoned when it mattered most! I’ve used Hotels.com for years without major issues, which is why this experience has been so disappointing. I booked a hotel nearly a year in advance, with clear terms stating free cancellation up until 3 April 2026. Based on that, I planned my payment and travel accordingly. Shortly before my… Read more

trip (which is next week), I logged in to find that my reservation had been cancelled by the hotel.

To be fair, the hotel had sent a message earlier requesting a deposit by a certain date. Unfortunately, I missed this message as it came through the platform and wasn’t clearly flagged as urgent. However, this requirement was not outlined in the original booking terms, which is where the real issue lies.

The bigger problem was how Hotels.com handled it.

When I contacted support, I was met with generic responses: “Your booking was cancelled, but don’t worry, you weren’t charged.”

That completely misses the point. My accommodation for an overseas trip was gone, days before departure. Rebooking the same hotel now costs nearly three times the original price.

What did they offer? A $20 credit.

I requested escalation and was promised a call back. The call I received had such poor audio it was barely usable, and I was told I’d receive another call within 20 minutes. That never happened. I followed up repeatedly and was ultimately left without any meaningful support or resolution.

I understand the hotel and platform are separate, but when you book through a service like this, you expect some level of accountability. Instead, I felt completely abandoned at a critical moment.

This experience has completely changed my view of the platform. It’s not about things going wrong — that happens. It’s about how you’re treated when they do.

If you’re booking something important, especially international travel, be very cautious relying on this service.

ps. Screen shot not loading but this the Terms and Conditions I was sent via email at time of booking:

Important information

Additional property fees These fees and deposits only apply if they are not included in your selected room rate.

The price DOES NOT include any applicable property service fees, charges for optional incidentals (such as minibar snacks or telephone calls), or regulatory surcharges. The property will assess these fees, charges and surcharges upon check-out.

Rules and restrictions For rules and restrictions please view your full itinerary.

Cancellations and changes

There is no charge for cancellations made before 6:00 PM (property local time) on 3 Apr 2026. Cancellations or changes made after 6:00 PM (property local time) on 3 Apr 2026 or no-shows are subject to a property fee equal to 100% of the total amount paid for the reservation.

Guest charges and accommodation capacity Base rate is for 2 guests. If rates are listed below, they may be quoted in the currency of the country where the property is located. Total maximum number of guests per room/unit is 4. Maximum number of adults per room/unit is 4. Maximum number of children per room/unit is 3. Maximum number of infants per room/unit is 3. This property considers guests aged 11 and under, at time of travel, to be children. This property considers guests aged 2 and under, at time of travel, to be infants. Availability of accommodation in the same property for extra guests is not guaranteed. The fee for extra adults is WST40.30 per person. The fee for extra children is WST40.30 per person.

Check-in policies Check-in time starts at 2:00 PM Check-in time ends at anytime Minimum check-in age is: 18

Special instructions This property offers transfers from the airport (surcharges may apply). Guests must contact the property with arrival details before travel, using the contact information on the booking confirmation. To make arrangements for check-in please contact the property at least 24 hours before arrival using the information on the booking confirmation. Guests must contact the property in advance for check-in instructions. Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property.

Late arrival instructions If a late check-in is planned, contact this property directly for their late check-in policy.

I did booking just now on hotels.com with this faith advert on web is accurate I finalised booking and when i reached to hotel Hotel Grand Alshahba Alkakia Itinerary # 72071232573360 I am totally disappointed tried to get help from hotels.com and their advisers completely non co operative and I believe adverts on their web is totally misleading… Read more

no where near to reality I am not struggling to get my money back more than 339.60 and not getting any response at all my recommendation is stay away from this website and dont waste your money

Absolutely hopeless. My debit card was scammed at an airport, and the bank did the right thing and put a block on the card immediately for any internet payments, but I could pay in person overseas. The debit card could not be paid by Hotels.com to… Read more

the hotel, so these clowns abandoned the booking (without notifications, which I discovered when I first tried to check in to the hotel overseas. At hotels.com, there is no-one to call, no phone number, no email address. I was left high and dry, as the hotel was booked out and I have to find another hotel for somewhere to sleep. Will never use this dodgy so-called service again.

Seriously!? Are you people on a different planet??? – I have been using Hotels.com for many years to book my accommodation around the world and within Australia, from USA to Canada to Japan to South Korea to Tasmania to QLD to name a few. Having qualified as a gold member we were upgraded by our hotel in Montreal in 2018 for that reason. It was a really pleasant surprise and I was so impressed. So I… Read more

can't believe one word of the negative comments based on my own experience. They have always until today offered the best service and choices and on top of that their reward system I find is second to none. I have cancelled accommodation a few times already due to the Covid pandemic. Of course I select free cancellations when booking. No questions asked - done and refunded in a flash. Unfortunately I had to cancel Port Douglas yesterday due to covid in the family. I just checked my accounts and the full refund is already back in my credit card and my reward nights already fully credited back to me to reuse. Plus they keep automatically extending the expiry of reward nights due to the pandemic. I have never once had to contact them with an issue and as I said I have booked many many hotels with them. I totally recommend Hotels.com and will absolutely continue to book my holiday accommodation with them as my first choice as they have been for many years. Thank you Hotels.com. You have definitely made my holidays much much better.

Never had a problem. Just got 300 refunded with price guarantee! – I was surprised to see so many negative comments. So thought I put my experience. I actually had no problem with them at all. I booked for domestic accommodation (within NSW and interstate), oversea accommodation more than 10 times and never had a problem. But I always choose 'free cancellation' one, and I pay in full with my paypal account. I… Read more

like them because they give me refund within 5 minutes after cancel my booking. So I usually book 2 or 3 accommodation before deciding in 1. Recently I realized 3 nights accommodation in Tasmania which I paid $830 was shown $598 in Agoda. So I quickly book in Agoda (with Free cancelation one, of course). But sine I never used Agoda, I was a bit worried and check hotels.com, and realised they have 'price guarantee'. So I claim 'Price Guarantee' (they all automatic), and sent my invoice from Agoda. Within 3 hours, they confirmed Agoda did advertised that price and refunded me approx $300 directly in my paypal account. I was shocked and very happy! I cancelled Agoda's booking (sorry Agoda), and now I have all my hotels booked in 1 place. And I know these booking are fine since they're always have been.... So just make sure to choose 'free cancelation' option. They are really good. I already claimed free nights in Wollongong and Blue Mountain (Due to Covid, I wanted to stay within NSW) and no problem and yes, it just like normal booking. Just didn't cost me anything. And these process are all automatically processed, so you don't need to neg or complain. They just give refund straight away.

Thank You for the Outcome – We booked our favourite hotel in France. It was temporarily closed for Covid-19 during our reservation period. No one could get through to the hotel. Eventually after many emails to Hotels.com we received a very favourable outcome. I have used Hotels.com many times for our annual visit to France. And will be again. If there is a vaccine. Show details

It must be so great to be this company and not care one iota about all of us who have trusted it to book accommodation through. When, after two attempts and many hours each time getting past the bot, to shriek about the accommodation that I was subjected to, and fled from, they made big follow up commitments and, as expected, did nothing. And as… Read more

if that is not enough bad behaviour, as soon as I made a complaint about this terrible accommodation my ability to review this terrible room and post photos - I paid to stay 4 nights - was removed by Hotels.com

Yes, that is correct. I clicked on the link in the Hotels.com email to review the hotel and it would not let me. I went to My Bookings. All the hotels are listed - and all have the link to "write a review" except the one that I made a complaint about. It just has a link to "Review your receipt". Yes, Hotels.com just rubbed my nose in it a bit more.

I stayed one night because I had nowhere to go and of course Hotels.com was uncontactable for assistance and at least I was "physically safe" for the night. I requested a refund through Hotels.com. I was told to get lost - the hotel had refused to refund my money. But hotels.com you let the hotel advertise on your website. I gave up for now - my holiday ruined enough. Funny that one of the groups entrusted to assist with holidays is the biggest wrecker of them.

But when this shocking act of removing my ability to write a review about both the hotel and Hotels.com management of the situation occurred, I contacted Hotels.com to express my wrath about this and to again request a refund. About 3 hours of chat the faceless person was insistent that I could write a review. No, I cannot. I already completed the steps you advised - I am not stupid - I cannot write a review.

After much furious writing, and finally my promises to take my photos and situation to the press and consumer regulators. I got transferred through to the "Supervisor from the Resolutions Team" who did the usual patronising - "apologise for frustration." No, fury, anger, disgust, outrage, but not frustration.

After a long exchange of texts, I got the usual line that they all pull to give them the "disconnect out" when they are ready - "I kindly request that we maintain a professional tone throughout our conversation. If the behavior continues to be disrespectful or inappropriate, I may not be able to continue assisting you, and I will have to end the chat." Four times I requested to be advised where I had been disrespectful and unprofessional, what she meant by that statement, but I never got an answer.

I provided photos of the hotel room I was given and the photos of what was advertised, to compare, with a detailed description of what I encountered.

It went straight back to what I was told the first time. The hotel is refusing a refund, we cannot help you.

But Hotels.com, it is your website. You permitted this misleading advertising. You took my money. You pay the hotel. You removed my ability to write a review of the hotel and post the pictures I took of the room. You control everything except ownership and responsibility.

So then the statement "I would request you to kindly wait for 24 to 48 hours. We have already sent them an email. Our team will get in touch with them directly and once we get a response from them, we will update you via email regarding this."

And

"Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear about your experience, and we truly appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns. Your comments have been noted and will be forwarded to the appropriate team for further review. We take all feedback seriously as we strive to ensure that every listing on our site meets the standards our customers expect."

And

"Thank you for your patience. As per checking , we have not received any reply on the email I sent you. You can reply to the email with the photos . As we have already emailed the property regarding this issue. As the owner is not available right now. Our team will get in touch with them directly. You will have to wait for 24 to 72 hours. And we will update you regarding this via email. We won't be able to do anything right now as we need to validate this from the property as well."

BUT I SENT PHOTOS. FIVE OF THEM. AND THE TWO THAT HOTELS.COM PUBLISHES ON ITS WEBSITE. WHY DOES THE HOTEL GET ANY FURTHER SAY? (IT HAD ALREADY BEEN MISLEADING IN ADVISING HOTELS.COM AND ME THAT THE BOOKING HAD BEEN CANCELLED.

NO, THE BOOKING HAD NOT BEEN CANCELLED. THE HOTEL TOOK 4 NIGHTS ACCOMMODATION.

I LEFT THE HOTEL DUE TO THE STATE OF THE ROOM. I VERY CLEARLY ADVISED THE MAN AT THE FRONT DESK OF THIS.

And

"Please be advised that you have been connected with the highest point of escalations team and I am one of the supervisors from the team and we will help you in sorting this out."

NO, YOU ARE NOT HELPING ME SORT ANYTHING OUT. IT IS YOUR WEBSITE. YOU TOOK MY MONEY. I DID NOT GET THE ROOM SHOWN OR ANYTHING LIKE IT.

And of course, that is the end of the story. No further contact. No refund. I still cannot review this hotel or provide photos of the room I was given on Hotels.com website.

The holiday from hell and not the first time with this awful, awful company.

How is this organisation legal? There is no contact availability, no complaint process, nothing. They send NoReply emails with serious information for follow up, but no way of getting in contact. I have just had a hotel cancel my booking of over 200 euros and refusing to refund it and Hotels.com just says get lost. I walked out of a hotel room… Read more

because of the state of it - brown stuff in the shower drain, the drain was semi blocked, a toilet up some steep stairs on a little pedestal - yep, a throne on a throne and not enough space between it and the wall in front to even sit on it. There was barely room to slide in to the bathroom - up some steps and then more for the loo. The shower door was broken and clunky (if you could call it a shower). And what does Hotels.com say? Refers me to the booking conditions. So apparently it is okay to sell anything as a room. No care and no responsibility.

Prove it said the bot on the chat. Well give me an email address where I can send the photos. And here it is folks, why we all need to run a zillion miles - that and report every issue to Fair Trading and similar...

"WE DON'T HAVE ANY SPECIFIC EMAIL ADDRESS TO MAKE A COMPLAINT FILE."

What she should have written is WE DO NOT HAVE ANY EMAIL ADDRESS OR ANY TELEPHONE NUMBER BECAUSE WE DON'T CARE. WE HAVE YOUR MONEY, GET LOST.

Wish I could give zero stars, and even that would be praise given the level of service Hotels.com gives. I was looking to book my last night in Europe and found hotels near the airport. Put in the correct date, looked at a hotel, then went to the next hotel on the list. During this change of hotel, the website bizarrely changed the date to one a… Read more

fortnight after I would be back in Australia. And so, because of the Hotels.com website, the booking was made for a date I was not interested in.

I was checking the hotel details on the Eurostar from Paris to London and realised the error made by Hotels.com, so after finally finding their 'customer service' contact details, I started discussing the problem. I had to deal with two different people who both confirmed that they could change the booking, and it would cost additional funds. I asked them to do so and said I would file a complaint when I returned to Australia. Neither of them made any changes to the booking, so I had to book another hotel when I arrived in London.

Two days after the date I needed the booking for, I received an email saying that if I contacted Hotels.com, they could change my booking at the hotel. This was completely useless as I was in China when I received the email.

Since my return to Australia, I have been trying to deal with the half-wits who work at Hotels.com, most of whom think I have a problem with the hotel, despite me spelling it out in very simple words: it is their broken website I have a problem with.

I have just had someone from Hotels.com actually call me, only for them to tell me they have never heard of this issue with their website (clearly they have never read the reviews of Hotels.com, as this is a recurring problem with their website), asked me to hold and then the call was cut off.

I will be contacting my Credit Card company again to report this as a fraudulent transaction and recommend that they add Hotels.com (and all associated companies) to their suspicious website list. They are dishonest and lack any comprehension skills or integrity. THEY ARE A SCAM!!! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!!

I’ve been a loyal customer and have always booked hotels through this site, but my recent experience with customer service was disappointing. I needed assistance, and unfortunately, the support I received was not helpful. As a result, I’ve decided to book directly with hotels in the future. I recommend others consider doing the same. Show details

I booked a hotel that said it was for $380. It did not say usd or aud and the location was in Australia meaning it should have been in aud but instead they scammed me and in the end said it was usd meaning the price went up to $600. It did not state the currency at all. I am very disappointed and it ruined our family trip due to the expensive… Read more

price. It only showed the USD price at the end after we paid in the receipt. It didn’t even show aud. If I could I wish I could get a refund on this. 0 stars absolutely horrible and I do not recommend using this website/app at all. It would be nice if I could get a refund or a free hotel booking or anything.

Very poor customer service. Their rewards program has many terms and conditions so be aware. Moreover, their pricing tends to be higher than other websites. Thanks Show details

I had been using Hotels.com for years. Then when 12 months had passed, they cancelled my free night, after being at nine stays, I hadnt stayed 10 nights, for the completed year. hence, this is a scam. Wont use again. Show details

I have been using this platform for years and received multiple reward nights. But then Covid happened. The accommodation closed down and it was agreed I was due a refund. But actually getting it was impossible. The email address didn't work, the international phone calls were expensive and fruitless. I gave up. Show details

UNREASONABLE REFUSAL OF A CANCELLATION They would not accept a cancellation only a few days after the booking, 8 months ahead of the booked time. Booked on the 27/4/2025 for January 2026 and cancelled online a couple of days after.

Be careful with their refund practice! I booked a room through hotels.com for AU651.00. Next day, I find the same room with the same conditions for AU580 from the same Hotels.com website. I took a screenshot and sent it to them asking for price guarantee. Their reply said there were no room available so I tried website again and it was available.… Read more

I took another screenshot and sent it to them. Then, they said my claim did not show a lower price. Either they pretend to be unprofessional or they are unprofessional as the screenshot I sent in clearly showed the price difference. I have lost trust with this company now.

They deserve 0 stars. Hotels.com sucks! Worst customer service ever. Liars all the way around. They need their customer service to be in the USA so that they can actually make calls to the hotels to rectify situations. I will never recommend this company to anyone and will definitely not use their services ever again. Show details

Not a great experience – would not recommend My experience with Hotels.com wasn’t great, and I wouldn’t really recommend it to others. Here’s why: 1. The app is very frustrating The app sends random notifications all the time, and a lot of the time when you try to open something, it opens in your browser instead of inside the app. Also, the… Read more

live chat doesn’t work properly — sometimes it says I’m offline even when I’m clearly connected. It just doesn’t feel smooth or reliable.

2. Customer service is very slow and confusing

I had booked a hotel that wasn’t really what I expected — some things were missing or not like it was listed. I changed to another hotel, but Hotels.com didn’t really help me much with the issue. They offered me a $150 voucher, but it took days to actually get it. I had to email them few times, and most replies felt like automatic messages that didn’t really answer my question. At the end, I had to make my message super simple (almost like shouting in writing) to finally get the voucher. Felt like they didn’t read what I wrote at all.

3. Not very honest about reviews and prices

I left a low rating for the hotel that disappointed me, but after few days the review just disappeared. That was really strange. Also, the $150 voucher couldn’t be used on many hotels I looked at. They say you get one free night after staying 10 nights, but the "free" night doesn’t work for lots of hotels either. Their prices are often higher than other sites, and some discounts seems kind of fake. Funny thing is, my friend who’s used the app for years got shown a higher price than me — and I just joined recently.

Overall, I’d say look somewhere else. Better to book directly with the hotel or use another platform. I won’t be using Hotels.com again, and I’d be careful with other sites that are owned by the same company too.

Hotels.com is horrible and dodgy AF dont ever use booked with them this March28-April2 it took a deposit on my account and upon arriving at the accomodation i was charged the whole amount i was surprised and so unhappy with thier misleading app as it was telling me i only need to pay half, accomodation receptionists was telling me they have… Read more

nothing to do with whoever i booked with i really want my deposit back but they always mislead you i was told to wait for 5business days and my refund will come through and now its almost past 2wks after that please stay away from this company

I rarely leave reviews, but my experience with Hotels.com has been so frustrating and upsetting that I feel compelled to warn others. This is not just a complaint about a policy — it’s about how badly a customer has been treated over several weeks. I made a booking that I simply needed to move to a different date — nothing unreasonable,… Read more

especially considering it was more than a year in advance. What followed was an endless chain of copy-paste responses from a different staff member every time, no one taking ownership, no one actually listening to my concerns.

Despite multiple, polite requests, I was refused a date change or even hotel credit, citing vague "terms and conditions" that I've still never seen, and I was refused proof of communication with the hotel. My formal complaint was ignored, buried under automated messages, and never taken seriously.

I was promised call backs — they didn’t happen. I was then blamed for missed calls that never came through. And most recently, I received an email condescendingly informing me of the exact minute they’re allowed to make calls in my time zone — as if I’m the one being unreasonable.

It has been upsetting, insulting, and exhausting. I’ve been treated like a ticket number, not a human being. Not once has anyone taken real responsibility. This is customer service at its absolute worst — robotic, unfeeling, and dismissive.

I’ve now escalated this issue to their parent company, Expedia, and will be seeking further action through consumer protection channels.

If you're thinking of booking with Hotels.com — don’t. If something goes wrong, you will be ignored, mistreated, and spoken to like a nuisance. I would strongly advise booking directly with hotels or choosing a more reputable platform that still respects its customers.

Misleading sites offering services not actually available from hotel – Booked a hotel for my partner's upcoming holiday, they offered 50% deposit as a payment option only to discover more than double the deposit had been taken out of my account. When we called the hotel, they were very polite and apologetic but explained that they don't provide a deposit option, and were unaware that this service was being offered on… Read more

a third party site. They also explained that the additional costs were credit card processing fees that hotels.com should have included in their total amount due when booking. It's not fair on the customer or the hotel to be offering services that the hotel doesn't provide as I can see this causing frustrated customers to put the blame on the hotel.

Scam Customers No refunds – GIVE THEM A BIG MISS They run for cover when asked to refund due to Hotels falsely advertising their facilities...they blame each other and give you a big sorry bout that..Sorry doesn't pay the fukkin bills Hotels.com Robbed me for 2K AUD