Calling a Hotel to Book: What to Say, Word for Word

Ring the hotel's own number, ask for reservations, give your dates and ask whether they will match or beat the price you see online. The call takes three minutes and it is the part of the direct channel almost nobody uses.

The short version

• Ring the individual hotel rather than a chain's central line, because the person on the front desk is the one with room to move on that rate.
• Have your dates, room type and the full online price in front of you, because the call is won with specifics.
• Booking.com states in its own partner help that its global average commission is 15%, and that figure is the margin a hotel keeps when the booking arrives by phone.
• Booking Holdings records in its Digital Markets Act compliance report that parity clauses have been removed from its agreements with European hotels.
• If the rate will not budge, ask for value instead: breakfast, an upgrade or a late checkout, and always ask for an email with the total price and the cancellation terms.

Why a phone call can change the price of a room

A phone call can change the price because it changes who gets paid for the booking. Booking.com sets out in its partner help that its global average commission is 15%, that it varies by country and property type, and that it rises with visibility programmes such as Preferred Partner. That percentage is money the hotel does not spend when the booking comes down its own phone line. Nothing obliges it to share the difference with you, but it is what it has to work with. The detail sits in how much commission the big platforms charge hotels.

Can a hotel quote you a different price from the published one?

A hotel can quote you a different price from the published one, and in Europe with fewer constraints than before. Booking Holdings states in its public Digital Markets Act compliance report that wide and narrow parity clauses have been removed from its agreements with business users in the European Economic Area. The contractual reason a hotel used to give for not going below its own listing is gone. That does not mean it always will, or that phoning comes out cheaper. It means asking is worth three minutes.

What to have in front of you before you dial

Before you ring the hotel, have on screen everything the front desk will ask you: a call with specifics is settled in a minute, a vague one is not settled at all. Booking direct works best when the comparison is already done.

• Your exact arrival and departure dates.
• How many people are staying and which room type you want.
• The full online price including taxes, and which site shows it.
• Whether that rate includes breakfast and whether it can be cancelled.
• The hotel's direct phone number, which sits on its official site.

The script, word for word

Here is the call in the order that works. Anything in brackets is yours to fill in.

1. When they pick up: "Good afternoon, could you put me through to reservations?" At a small hotel, whoever answered is already the right person.
2. The ask, straight away: "I'd like a double from [arrival date] to [departure date]. I can see it online at [the total price on your screen]. Can you match that if I book with you directly?"
3. If they cannot go lower: "That's fair. Could you keep that price and include breakfast?"
4. If it is still no: "Do you have any rate that isn't published, a member rate or something for two consecutive nights?"
5. To close: "Great. Could you email me the confirmation with the total price and the cancellation terms?"

Ring mid morning or mid afternoon, on a weekday. Arrivals and departures pile the front desk's work into the start and the end of the day, and nobody negotiates with a queue in front of them.

What to ask for when the price will not move

When the hotel cannot lower the rate, the call still earns its keep: some things cost the hotel little and are worth real money to you. Ask for the one you actually care about.

• Breakfast included for everyone on the booking.
• A room upgrade if anything is free on the day you arrive.
• A confirmed late checkout, not a "we'll see".
• The same rate but cancellable, instead of the non-refundable one.
• A high floor or a courtyard-facing room if noise bothers you.

Then ask about the hotel's or the chain's member rate, which is free to join and usually sits under the public price. That is where most of what you can save by booking direct actually lives.

How to end the call so the deal is in writing

End the call with the agreement written down, because a verbal arrangement with the front desk exists in nobody's system. Ask for the confirmation email and check five things.

• The name of the person you spoke to.
• The total price with taxes, and whether any city tax is included.
• Exactly what the rate covers.
• How late you can cancel and what it would cost.
• That the extras you agreed appear in writing, not only in the conversation.

When calling the hotel is not worth it

Phoning does not always pay off. These are the cases where the call gives you nothing.

• You have already paid a non-refundable rate, so there is nothing left to renegotiate.
• You are ringing a chain's central line, where nobody sets that hotel's price.
• The hotel is nearly full on high demand dates and does not need to win you over.
• The deal you found is a one-off platform promotion the hotel cannot reproduce.
• You are booking an apartment or a property with no front desk, so there is nobody to negotiate with.

Before you dial, it helps to know whether there is anything to win. The Directo extension compares the hotel's direct price with what the platforms show while you browse. More than 300,000 travellers use it.

Frequently asked questions

Who should I ask for when I call a hotel?

Ask for reservations or the front desk at the hotel you want to stay in. At a small property, whoever answers can usually quote you a rate. At a large chain, the central line takes bookings but does not set an individual hotel's price.

Is it better to call the hotel or send an email?

A call is faster for finding out whether there is room to move, and email is better for having a record. Do both: ring to ask, then have them send the total price and the cancellation terms in writing. If nobody picks up, the email works just as well.

Can a hotel match the price I see on a platform?

It can, if it wants to. Nothing obliges a hotel to match, and some have an internal policy against it. What has changed in the European Economic Area is that parity clauses have come out of the agreements with the big platforms, so the contract is no longer the reason.

Do I lose loyalty points if I book by phone?

Not if the booking is attached to your membership number. Give it when you book and check that it appears on the confirmation email. Loyalty programmes generally recognise bookings made through the hotel's own channels, website or phone, though the exact terms differ by programme.

What if the hotel quotes me a worse price than the one online?

Then book online and be done. The call cost three minutes and settled the question. Note the price the hotel gave you, because if you look again in a few days and it has dropped, you will know whether another call is worth making.