Many travelers try to save money by searching the internet for cheaper hotel rates.
But a new study suggests it may not be worth the time — at least in some places.
The travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip compared rates for 950 hotels in 19 global cities on three popular booking websites as well as each hotel's site.
According to the results published last week, Hotels.com had the best overall rates — but just barely.
Hotels.com had the best rates in 620 instances, which was slightly higher than Expedia, which had the cheapest rates in 579 instances.
Booking directly with a hotel was more expensive, but by only about $6 more on average, according to the study.
"There have been conflicting views on hotel rates, and people … believe that booking through online travel platforms ensured a better rate than the hotel website," said Shalabh Arora, director of marketing at India's Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru. "However, it's not so at Four Seasons where rate parity is taken very seriously."
He said the hotels' website has a pop-up function which compares rates offered by the hotel with those on other booking platforms.
