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Hotels Now See Online Travel Sites as Rivals (marketwatch.com)
Major hotel chains are engaging in an online turf war with the very travel sites that have helped drive their businesses. From a report: Marriott, Hilton and InterContinental are using extensive marketing campaigns to claw back business from Expedia, Priceline and other travel-booking sites, which steer customers to hotel properties but also take commissions of up to 30% for each reservation. The chains are starting to treat these sites less as valuable business partners and more as gatekeepers standing between them and their customers. Many large hotel brands are offering lower nightly rates and other perks to loyalty members who book directly through their sites instead of online travel agencies. [...] The new battle is the latest episode in a two-decade "frenemy"-style relationship between online travel agencies and the hotel industry. Sites such as Expedia and Priceline were crucial for hotels during down periods such as after 9/11, but they have gradually eaten into the share of overall bookings ever since. Also read: Why Bargain Travel Sites May No Longer Be Bargains.
I use the travel site to find the best room and rate.
Then I call the hotel directly to book usually at a better rate.
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
Not mentioned in the summary directly but the corollary to "perks", is that many hotels now will treat you poor poorly if you did not book through the hotel itself - you may not get as nice a room (the people checking you in have lots of flexibility as to location), you may not be as likely to get a request like late checkout, they may be less (or not at all) flexible when changing a booking.
So even though travel aggregators are convenient, it's probably a good idea to just book through the hotel...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Even if there is no difference in the price to direct booking there is one huge advantage: Expedia oversells rooms. I've had the experience of making a reservation with Expedia and turning up at a small US town in the middle of nowhere with the wife and kids on holiday to find that they overbooked the room. Fortunately, the staff had realized this and booked the only other remaining hotel room in the town so, thanks to their thoughtfulness we were ok, but after that experience, I have only ever used Expedia to find hotels and will never, ever use them again to book a room.