In contrast to the attractive prices from OTA platforms, there are many problems that occur. From unexpected "escalating" room prices to inaccurate hotel information, experiences that are not as advertised...

Many "familiar" problems

On May 4, reader Pham Mau Thu Huong (27 years old, Hanoi) was still upset when she booked a hotel room through the Booking.com app, named Saigon Premium Hotel, showing 3 stars (Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City).

When I arrived to check in, the room price "jumped" to nearly 40 million VND instead of nearly 11 million VND as booked and secured by providing credit card information.

"The hotel raised the price, I made a fuss so the hotel promised to notify Booking.com to cancel for free. But not trusting me, I locked my bank card and automatically sent a cancellation request via the app. Only then did I receive an email from Booking.com saying that the hotel had canceled the reservation because it could not be processed via bank card," Ms. Huong said.

"At that time, I planned to rebook on Booking.com elsewhere, but I thought that if the hotel name was not even correct, would the quality be as advertised?", Ms. Huong added and said that in the end, she and her family had to wander around looking for a room, and were introduced by passersby to a local's house (on Hoang Dieu Street, District 4) for rent at a cheaper price of 1.2 million VND/day.

Nearly a week has passed, Ms. Huong shared the lesson she learned: carefully check the accommodation information on booking platforms, a hotel address with many different names should be stopped.

Ms. Huong's story is not uncommon. Ms. NTH (an online booking agent in Da Nang) said that she had many "familiar" problems when booking rooms online through OTAs.

"For example, wrong date, wrong name, wrong number of rooms, this is usually the fault of the customer. Then there is a voucher but when booking the room, the final payment step does not send the voucher to the email. Or there is the possibility of having credit card information stolen, money deducted unintentionally (because there are foreign booking systems, when paying internationally using Visa Mastercard or Visa Debit cards, there is no requirement to enter an OTP code or security code, money can still be deducted).

There are even cases where the card is deducted multiple times unreasonably; the booking platform is full but has not yet closed the system," Ms. NTH listed the "mountain" of troubles and did not forget to add: "Even when choosing to pay later for a reserved booking, the payment amount will likely be higher than the time of booking due to exchange rate differences."

Dr. Duong Duc Minh - Deputy Director of the Institute for Economic and Tourism Development Research warned further: common problems are inconsistencies between booking information and reality at the hotel such as rooms not as described, services not meeting expected quality or even rooms being canceled without clear notice.

"In addition, the refund and cancellation policies of these platforms are very strict, putting tourists in a passive position when problems occur," Mr. Minh added.

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Duong - member of the professional advisory board of the tourism and hospitality sector, British University Vietnam - believes that during holidays or peak seasons, the biggest problem for customers booking rooms on OTAs is... there is no guarantee of 100% room availability.

There are hotels that disregard and eliminate online booking platforms using tricks to make a profit.

Troublesome but cheap?

Despite the many problems, many customers believe that booking rooms online through sites like Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia... is cheaper than booking directly at the hotel or through a travel agency.

Explaining, Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu - Director of Maxbooking Company - said: "Cheaper for two reasons. First, the price is usually good because when accommodation businesses join the online booking platform, competition is very high, the transaction volume is large. Second, the platform has preferential policies for hotels to reduce prices when applying the code."

However, according to Ms. Thu, no hotel wants to depend on a third party, selling directly to customers and collecting money directly is still number 1. Therefore, when customers come to stay at the hotel for the first time, the hotel often gives away restaurant packages, spas, good price incentives... to attract customers to book directly next time.

A tourism business leader said that it is possible that hotels will offer room rates to direct guests, regular customers... at the same price or even more preferential than booking through OTA, depending on the time and business policy.

According to Mr. Duong Duc Minh, guests should remember the "golden rule": carefully check all booking information, absolutely do not provide sensitive information via unverified emails or messages; do not trust the only source of reviews.

The solution to the problems caused by a hotel having many names, according to Ms. Thu, is that online platforms themselves do not have a control function, because the online system has not yet fully integrated data, fraud can easily occur. Therefore, you should carefully read the hotel reviews of previous guests, the hotel's payment regulations because the regulations are detailed and quite long.

A travel YouTuber shares his experience: it's not a bad idea to proactively contact the hotel directly to verify information about rooms and services to avoid being told... there are no rooms available.

Many ways to avoid trouble

According to Ms. Doan Thi Thao (tour guide of a travel company in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), to avoid and handle problems when booking rooms through OTA, tourists need to carefully check the website address and the actual address of the accommodation; refer to

Opinions of people who have stayed at the hotel through sites like TripAdvisor, Google Reviews...

Don't trust fanpages advertising room bookings with beautiful pictures and prices that are too cheap compared to the market, but compare prices on different platforms before "finalizing" the plan.

"If you encounter any problems, call the hotline of online booking platforms instead of waiting for a response email from the feedback. In case the quality of the room you receive does not match the image on the OTA or website, report it directly to the receptionist or hotel manager with evidence.

You should take pictures of the booked room and the actual room, and provide them to the email address confirming the booking information that the guest has received. This both protects your rights and makes the processing more convenient.

In case the hotel does not return the deposit, customers can contact local tourism hotlines for support," Ms. Thao emphasized.