DavidO

This is a complex and still-working-out-the-(evidently many)-kinds stage, but we have quite a few clients who have been able to use the booking engine successfully. Here are a few points to keep it in mind:

(1) In order to use it successfully, you need to be signed up with a virtuoso.com account that is linked to a Virtuoso advisor who has done the training to support incoming bookings.

(2) You can specify your desired advisor. If you don't you'll be "assigned" one by Virtuoso. Most Virtuoso advisors actually don't specialize in hotel-only bookings — their expertise is in planning intricate itineraries for foreign travel. "Then you call and the lady doesn't know anything." It's likely you were either assigned an advisor who is not a good fit for you ... or an administrative support person at Virtuoso.

(3) The booking engine intentionally does not allow next-day bookings. This is partially due to the fact that Virtuoso places great emphasis on the VIP follow-up by your travel advisor to the hotel, and a next-day doesn't provide her/him enough time to do that for you.

(4) Not all hotels have signed up for the program — Four Seasons, for instance, has opted out as a chain. Realize as well that there are many boutique hotels that are too small to sell through a GDS; it's not cost-effective for a ten-room hotel to sell rooms through a global distribution system.

(5) Also bear in mind that clients are often better off working directly with their advisor when a hotel chain has a Preferred Partner amenity program that's better than Virtuoso. Dorchester Collection, Four Seasons, and Mandarin Oriental come immediately to mind. Even so, it's often possible for your advisor to go into Sabre and change a Virtuoso booking to FSPP, Diamond Club, FAN Club by just revising the rate code.

skywalkerLAX

I don't see any benefit of this function to be honest. Zero, zilch, nada!

And there is nothing complex about this, fact of the matter is that Virtuoso implemented this in a plain horrible way without adequately explaining how it really works and customers are confused in the process.

erik123

Seems to me there are too many competing priorities to make it work for the client. Best not to offer it.

MikeFromTokyo

If it cannot be used for last minute bookings, it really is less valuable.

But , for straightforward bookings it makes sense if one wants the API rate code exactly as available online.

troytos

I'm really new to Virtuoso.com and just sign up. how am i going to choose an advisor and if i book thru them am i still getting points or night credit like when i book with Amex fine hotel? thanks

DavidO

You’ll definitely get frequent guest points!

m0hamed

We all know Virtuoso are terrible at tech innovation, but this is not a tool by any means.

I used it and connected to my advisor. Despite showing me the rates and inclusions, it just emailed him with "m0hamed wants to book the x hotel' with my email. It doesn't display the rate at all so is effectively useless.

It's great being able to see the rates and inclusions before contacting your advisor, but having to repeat the same information entered is annoying. It's basically just a contact form.

chinmoylad

Hopefully it changes over time.

As a general rule, Virtuoso benefits are applicable to the Best Available Rate/Standard Daily Rate or whatever the hotel calls its variant.

Some hotels have Virtuoso benefits for all rates (Soneva, Six Senses, Four Seasons among them), while sometimes some rates are hidden (e.g. Stay 3/Pay 2 exclusives, for which Virtuoso may be applicable). But that should help as a general guideline at least - you'll get an idea of the rate.

Additionally, if you search for the hotel or destination and put in your dates, you should get the Best Available/Standard Daily Rate for which Virtuoso benefits are applicable.

m0hamed

sppunk

As one who booked the RC Toronto last fall using this tool, thanks to @DavidO’s team, I loved it. It was great to book direct a place I knew I wanted without wasting the team’s time for a short, little, stay.