TravelLawyer

Has anyone had recent experience with Roomer? Do you get points for your stay (i.e. Hhonors or IHG)?

flyme2

I used Roomer to take advantage of a $50 referral discount to book a Marriott property in HKG. The rate on Roomer was identical to that on Marriott's own web-site, with the exception of the $50 referral. While I appreciated the discount, it was in effect a pre-paid rate and no changes were permitted. When rates subsequently went down, I regretted having booked with Roomer. I e-mailed the property and had them add my Marriott Rewards account number to the booking. While I received an elite status upgrade to a suite and Concierge Lounge access, as per Marriott convention, no stay credit or points were awarded. The moral of the story: be aware that a small portion of availability shown on Roomer is distressed inventory pre-booked by others using non-refundable rates. The bulk of inventory is actually Roomer acting as a third party OTA and replicates that which is commonly available via the hotel chains' proprietary web-sites or competing third party sites. Long story short, unless you are very lucky, no stay credit or points will be awarded using Roomer. I welcome anecdotal evidence to the contrary where actual experiences have proven otherwise.

ftrichard

Got to say, I have concluded that Roomer is a waste of time.

I read about it a few weeks ago and liked the idea so emailed them asking if stays would quality for SPG points. They answered nice and quick that stays would not qualify.

However, could still use them if the prices were good, right?

So, I've checked Singapore. They're all two-night weekend stays at the major brand hotels at rates that are *at least* as much as booking direct. Hotels I've stayed at give cheaper rates booking direct.

For example: Swissotel, Pan Pacific, Sheraton etc.

My conclusion is that they have no different relationship to hotels (and possibly worse given the limited inventory) to Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda etc. and should therefore be avoided like the plague.

SinglePapa2

how do u do your search, dear?

Peterpack

Ive actually just got an email saying someone is interested in buying my reservation. I will keep you all updated how the sale goes

Peterpack

Ok my reservation is confirmed as being sold, i will get paid 10 days after the check out date which is fair.

I asked Roomer if the buyer can change their mind and ask for a refund

I got this answer

'Thank you for contacting Roomer Travel.

Once the room has been sold, we guarantee your pay-out. Your payment will be given 10 days after the check-out date. Payment will be then forwarded to your paypal account listed on file which you prefer to be your payment method.

Again congratulations on your sale!'

SinglePapa2

Hooray! what does the breakdown look like, and how would your buyer do on Expedia, to compare?

Peterpack

My booking was for 2 nights in Vegas. Now the 2 nights happen to be dates when hotel prices are sky high.

I paid $346 all up for the 2 nights via priceline bidding.

for those same 2 dates right now booking direct with the hotel costs just over $800 (though bookings.com it's closer to 900)

so i advertised my reservation on Roomer for $430 then dropped it to $398 when it sold. Roomer take 15 percent so overall i will break just about dead even and my buyer would have saved 50 percent

so win win all round

TravelLawyer

Thanks. I contacted the hotel I want to book and asked if they can apply my elite benefits on a roomertravel.com reservation. They said it would be no problem. My booking isn't until December, so I will post back with an update. In my case, the rate is over $100/night cheaper, so it was worth losing the stay credit and points.

gil123

Gotta say my first and quite probably last experience with them as a seller sucks. I submitted a listing and, after several weeks of back and forth, can't get it to display properly. The listing goes in but then disappears after a day or so and is replaced by their own inventory at a higher price, also knocking it off of Kayak. The change price function does not work at all, simply randomly reprices it differently from what you put in, or returns an error. They have no tech support phone number, and whatever overseas center they are using for e-mail support is absolutely worthless. They take forever to respond to tech support via e-mail or just ignore, it, or say they are working hard on the problem and they are "here for you". It's a cool concept but waaaay more hassle than it's worth as a seller (unless you have a relatively high value rez you need to get some return on, and unless you are actually lucky enough to have the listing posted correctly and not be replaced by their own inventory) and I can't imagine using them as a buyer. Caveat emptor to the max. Just goes to show you though- there is no limit to the ideas that can generate many millions in startup venture capital. I wish them luck but based on my experiences with the company, the questionable legality of the business model and reports that they don't actually transfer names on the reservations in many cases, I will be very surprised if they are around a year from now.

frank_10b

As a guest, I have had some nice stays with them. They were legitimate deals.
It is a good idea in my opinion, and I hope that they succeed. They confirmed me early and gave me the check in details right away, everything always went really smooth, sure I stayed in hotels under my name that was originally booked by someone else but it really was no problem at all.

Selling has been spotty, they at first dismissed my hotels as not meeting terms, then they approved them but I could not find. Sadly, lately I have not seen that many deals. There is too much NYC inventory on there and then stuff like this popping up under amazing deals?
https://www.roomertravel.com/hotels/...1a7658badbe03&

I dont know what the deal is but it certainly is not following their original concept, and while at first even regular hotels were really cheap, they are no longer that good deals of the past and the "real" deals seem to be fewer as of late.
I hope they succeed, and prosper but I am worried about what they have been doing lately. And I have never been able to negotiate with a hotel that was going stale a day before check in. Which I think is a mistake.

SinglePapa2

Two notes/queries:
1. So can anyone testify that they were able to negotiate in any way?
2. What's the explanation to "regular hotels" pricing always degrading as any website "matures"? (I've observed same with Travelpony)

Peterpack

just wanted to let everyone know that i finally got paid for selling my room on roomer, 10 days after the check out date as promised.

I originally didn't get paid the right amount, but after an email they fixed that.

So it is good to know the site can work

Tarah

My experience with them was the worst...it took them 7 hours after I booked to tell me that the transfer could not be completed (the night before I was to leave). They offered me cheaper and less desirable accommodations, for the money I spent for a much nicer hotel. Customer service was slow and ineffective. Stick to the trusted sites, Roomertravel is the worst.

anngi

I had a good experience with roomertravel.com as a buyer of a reservation and saved a lot of money. Their customer service was very professional. On the other hand I bought and was charged right away for a reservation on cancelon and they could not confirm it from the seller after more than a week. I only know that it wasn't confirmed as I contacted them since their website said confirmation is usually immediately or by 24 hours. Their customer service was unreliable. Calling them and getting a message this number is not answering was nothing I had ever experienced before. I had to track down another number for them. Was hoping they would be like roomer but won't take a chance again.