Touring - Discount Hotel Websites

Have any of you ever booked a hotel through one of the many, many discount hotel websites on the internet?

I've found several good deals for hotels in England on those sites, and everything looks above board and legit .... but my "scam bells" are ringing. I'm just thinking it would be so easy to set up one of those websites to collect people's credit card information ...... and then the unsuspecting victim not only goes through credit card fraud, but they also arrive at their destinations to discover that there has been no room booking made, and they are out in the street.

If you have used those sites, do you have one/some you feel confident with? Is there a way to tell if they are legit?

We use the established online services fairly often. (Travelocity, Expedia, Hotels dot com) We've used them for airfare, hotels and rental cars. Have never had an issue with any of them. They all have 24 hour toll free (from the U.S., not sure about overseas) service available if you do have a problem. Can't say that any is better or worse than the others. We generally check all three to find the best deal. There are other reputable companies out there, but these are the three that we have used. YOu can always call the hotel directly a couple of days after you book to verify the reservation if that helps you feel more comfortable.

We use the established online services fairly often. (Travelocity, Expedia, Hotels dot com) We've used them for airfare, hotels and rental cars. Have never had an issue with any of them. They all have 24 hour toll free (from the U.S., not sure about overseas) service available if you do have a problem. Can't say that any is better or worse than the others. We generally check all three to find the best deal. There are other reputable companies out there, but these are the three that we have used. YOu can always call the hotel directly a couple of days after you book to verify the reservation if that helps you feel more comfortable.

I think that was the thing that started the "scam bells" ringing for me ... no email addresses, websites, or phone numbers listed for the various hotels on some of the sites I was looking at. I wanted to contact one hotel in particular that seems to have a good price, and is in the right location, directly, but couldn't find any contact information about it aside from an address. Even the photos of the lobby and rooms had a tiny note underneath that said something like, "Photos are approximate representations only."

I have used http://www.wotif.com/ all the time and the only problem i had was once in Singapore when the hotel said they did not have my booking but they gave me a room anyway when i showed them the email and sorted it out with wotif

I have a seperate checking account just for online purchases. I don't do the credit card anymore, but the debit card acts the same and you can limit how much people can actually scam you for.

I use Priceline and Travelocity for hotels pretty frequently. Only had one bad experience with a questionable hotel in Abilene, TX, this spring. Every other time (a couple dozen nights in all, probably) has been fine, or even great.

I've used these services frequently the last several years, and have not had any major problems. Just little ones, like the hotel I stayed in Denver not too long ago. I had to change rooms three times. The first room's door did not lock and the second room's carpets were new and offgassing something awful. The manager of the hotel, who always wore a latex glove on one of his hands and looked like a gangster, told lies to me each time we talked.

Other than that, it's been clear sailing with on-line hotel bookings.