Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Quick, convenient |
| Disadvantages: |
None that I am aware of |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
or Norway, Spain, Portugal, Turkey or even the UK come to that. Fancy something a little more exotic - like Africa or the Americas, well you could possibly do a lot worse than visiting this site.
www.bookings.nl has been around for quite a few years (1996), initially designed specifically for hotels in the Netherlands. During that period, its facility has become more sophisticated and expanded its beady eye to cover hotels throughout the world, although having not tried any other locations I can only vouch for Amsterdam at the moment.
I am sure however, with my wanderlust it will only be a matter of time. You can search in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Dutch and Japanese, although I am certain that the speed this site is developing, it will only be a matter of time before even more diverse languages become an option.
It apparently has a hotel database of 16,000 outlets ranging from decadent 5 star luxury to holes in the ground at affordable prices, although after what we paid for our 4 star luxury, don't give up without a fight.The site allows you to search for hotels all across Holland, allowing you to select a City or a region - you then get to chose a class of hotel:
- 4 & 5 Stars
- 3 & 4 Stars
- 2 & 3 Stars
- 1 & 2 Stars
And lastly, but certainly not least, input the dates you want to travel - travel can ONLY be booked up to 360 days in advance - long enough for most of I guess, and therefore no year is required on the site (less maintenance).BEFORE YOU PRESS THAT SUBMIT BUTTON, MAKE SURE THE SPECIAL OFFERS BUTTON IS CHECKED
from this, you will then receive a list in reverse star order identifying the number of hotels available for your chosen dates, and how many hotels were actually searched. If you are looking to travel in winter, i.e. November - February, you WILL be assured of some very good deals.
The name, location, star rating and price range of the hotel will be shown in EUROS - do not be put off by these rates as they do not encompass special offers.
Click on the hotel you fancy, and you will be directed to a information sheet which providing pictures, size, colour brochures, range of facilities, credit facilities, check-in-time, check-out time, cancellation policy, Location Map, and quick description. The information will then proceed to room availability and prices, BE AWARE that in most Netherlands Hotels, city tax at 5% and Breakfast are generally not included.
Each brochure page also contains an up-to-date currency convertor from
Dollars, Japanese Yen and GBP into EUROS as of the last working day.
MY EXPERIENCE
I have been aware of this site for a long time, and frequently have looked for availability, but never been able to find affordable flights, or time enough to justify driving there, particularly when until recently my sister-in-law lived in Antwerp, and thus was easier and cheaper to visit - until of course Easyjet offers.
We searched this site many times, trying to guess what would be good and what wouldn't, and eventually landed on the SWISSOTEL, Amsterdam, usual price c£150/room per night upwards for c£64 per night - The Star ratings should tell you something really, and I would expect quality for 4 of the little critters, and boy did we get it.
BOOKING
In most cases, it can be done through:
- A Secure Server
- Standard Server
- By Fax/Telephone
Or in rare cases by special request via e-mail.
When you come to book, you will be advised of the individual rate for each night, usually be offered a choice of rooms, together with price and what is included.
My booking submission was carried out through a secure server and took approximately 2 minutes from start to finish and I was sent a confirmation e-mail within less than 5 after approval of my credit card. you will need some form of debit/credit card to book on-line.
The hotel staff knew immediately who we were when we arrived in the hotel, and the rest as they say is history. I have visited many other sites looking for hotels in the Netherlands over the years, but you will inevitably find in 9 out of 10 cases that if you try and check availability, you will end up on the bookings.nl site. For those that are interested, I have just done a quick search for hotels in Wales and it found me one, so maybe its skills currently remain in the Netherlands, but the way things are going, I can't see it staying that way for long.
So if you do fancy a trip to the Netherlands and are looking for somewhere to stay, you could do a lot worse than bookings.nl.
NB: If you are staying in Central Amsterdam, hotel parking is few and far between - the transport infrastructure in the Netherlands is far superior to ours in the UK, and trains run between Schipol and Centraal Station at 10 minute intervals, the jourbey takes around 15-20 mins dependent on stops, and the trains are double decker - a standard single fare costs 2.90 EUROS (c£1.80)
Sue
| More Reviews |
 Book a dutch treat.
Review of Booking.com by
nigelblue
Advantages: No advance payment
Disadvantages: None apparant
My son and his partner recommended me to this site as they always used it for there hotel bookings. They go to Amsterdam quite regularly and once they went to Naples.
*** THE WEB SITE ***
Very simple to log in . www.bookings.nl is all that is needed. You are then into the home site. It comes up in the Dutch language at first which can seem a little daunting. To find your own language you need to click on your home flag which is near top left . ...
...the one you require then you need to look for the Search for hotels section.
You now have a choice of searching for your preferred destination and putting in your check in and out dates or doing a general search for different locations. The site at first was for Amsterdam only but now they are all over Europe, USA. And lately The Canaries.
Once you have selected your hotel of your choice it will give you availability and price. There are lots of ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
|
very helpful
04.06.2005
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Booking accomodation for a reasonable price
Review of Booking.com by
D_i_a_n_e
Advantages: easy to navigate and to book, don't charge anything, good prices
Disadvantages: none
...that the description provided by booking.com and the reviewers is good. We weren't disappointed with any of the hotels. We tried luxurious hotels and cheap ones as well. So when you decided which hotel would meet your expectations click on the hotel's name, choose which type of room do you want, the quantity of rooms and press book now. You have to give your name, e-mail address, guest's name, credit card details. Then they need your address and ...
...charge a day in advance. Booking.com didn't charged me neither in that case. So I have only good experience with the site. I highly recommend it. I will surely use it in the future as well. I always write a review on the hotel because I like to read other people's reviews and are really helpful. ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
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very helpful
03.09.2009
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 Booking.com helps hotels cheat customers.
Review of Booking.com by
seth66
Advantages: extensive database of hotels, many quite inexpensive
Disadvantages: if a hotel cheats you, they will apologize, but do nothing.
...tried for months to get Booking.com to address my complaint. I have reserved rooms using this service in the past, and have been very pleased. This, however, came to an end this summer.
I booked a room at the Travel Inn in Reykjavik, only to find, upon arrival, that my wife, son, and myself were escorted to a car with no explanation. Eventually the clerk told us that we would be driven to the "other" location. The Travel Inn has, it seems, bought ...
...for (155 Euros), not what Booking.com promised us. By charging the same for this bait-and-switch the hotel, and therefore Booking.com, are being throughly dishonest.
I have since spent the past three months trying to get the Travel Inn or Booking.com to acknowledge this problem. The Travel Inn, predictably, never responded, but what is shocking is Booking.com. After repeatedly insisting that they would investigate, that they were very sorry, that ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
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very helpful
23.08.2007
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Overpriced rooms with untrustworthy categorisations
Review of Booking.com by
engholm_nielsen
Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Discount rates in fact overpriced. Classifications untrustworthy. Price guarantee with no value.
...to take this 30% overprice of the normal rate.
Booking.com guarantees lowest price, but they refused to cover this difference. Yesterday I saw the same hotel at booking.com advertised with a 70% discount... looking closer at the room rate the price had been even more inflated
Best regards ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful |
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helpful
28.02.2009
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 Blue Rainbow Apartments
Review of Booking.com by
razzer246
Advantages: in city centre, plenty of space
Disadvantages: really warm, lights in bathroom really dim
We decided to stay at the Blue Rainbow apartments in Manchester as a change from staying in a hotel when visiting family. We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment for £100 a night. This price included bread, butter, tea, coffee, cereals and a pint of milk. The apartment was large, with 2 decent sized bedrooms, though they are not the biggest Ive ever seen. One bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, with just a shower, sink and toilet. There is also another ...
...The kitchen is compact but has everything you need, including a dishwasher and combined washing machine and dryer (with the relevant washing tablets included). In the lounge, there is a nice large TV, a dining table and a coffee table. For some strange reason they only have one sofa in an apartment that could easily fit four adults in. There is also a balcony. It is only small, but you could fit a couple of chairs on there. There are a couple of ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful |
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helpful
28.07.2008
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