I’ll start this off by stating that this is NOT a sponsored post – it’s just my actual opinion from years of booking my own travels, both locally and overseas.  Having said that, I am now happy to be a partnered affiliate of booking.com and wanted to let you know why I do use these guys over the enormous amount of other providers out there, MOST of the time;
Booking.com is one of the only hotel booking sites that lists prices for your entire stay, rather than by one night alone, adding transparency to the hotel booking process. This method gives you a more comprehensive look at what you’ll be spending; however, the price sometimes will not include tax or ‘city’ tax so just bear that in mind.
Real reviews from real guest stays. Trust me there are horrific ones as well as fab!  You’ll always know the truth if you take time to read at least 3 reviews.
For the majority of hotel stays, you don’t pay when you book. You can choose HOW you want to pay on arrival whether by debit, credit, cash pooled between backpacking friends.  It’s always good to have options.  If you are booking extreme last minute then you’d expect to pay in full in that case.
The searching options.  You can quickly and easily restrict your search down to price brackets suiting you.  They really narrow the districts down in location as well which is a great feature if you have been stung before by a booking search engine clarifying your hotel as the ‘CBD’ when really it’s only technically part of the CBD area and culturally, it would never make the cut!
As both a member of the public AND a travel agent I always find Expedia and Hotels.com most expensive.
If you are looking at accomodation in Asia, use Agoda. Â They are the best for that region.
Finally I can’t finish off without mentioning Airbnb, my favourite innovative company on the block.  These guys revolutionised the way we travel.  I would definitely recommend you check out some hosts for longer stays/local experiences overseas.  I just spent a month in Paris in my very own apartment and it was incredible.  More on these guys later, I am wanting to partner with them too – however they don’t currently have an affiliate program.  More on this to come.  I can however give you this link to make your first stay a little cheaper – woo hoo!
At the end of the day, you will more than likely continue to use what you are most comfortable with and is most convenient to you.  And sometimes it will pay for you to book through actual hotel groups themselves instead (albeit at a higher price) if you are looking to gain member/credit card points – such as IHG, Marriott etc.
All in all, if you do already use Booking.com from time to time, rack up enough stays like I did to become a genius member.  It’s worth it.  You’ll get an extra 10% off already discounted stays across a lot of hotels!
If you’ve used it once, you’ve got the hang of it.  If you want to check out some prices for an upcoming stay check them out further below.  Happy trails.