Miscellaneous Forum

I used to use Octopus Travel quite a lot, but haven't done so for a couple of years. I never had any problems with their service. There was one occasion where we had booked a 2* hotel in Bucharest, but it had been overbooked. Octopus Travel emailed me a couple of days before we travelled to inform me of the problem and to say that we had been upgraded to a 4* hotel instead at no extra cost. We had only paid 20 Euros per night for a twin room and ended up in a hotel that would have cost 110 Euros per night...and we got free breakfasts which would have cost a further 9 Euros per person. Needless to say, we didn't complain about the change of plans! To be honest, I'd forgotten all about Octopus Travel as I almost always book through Bookings.com these days, but now that you've reminded me about them I will check their website out next time we book a hotel.

My experience with Octopus is very similar to the one referred to above . I only used them once several years ago and had what was, and still is, the best "deal" I have ever had anywhere. It was at the Crowne Plaza at Los Angeles airport where our twin room was upgraded to a suite. Our early morning flight to London was delayed by several hours and we were invited to stay in our accommodation, without charge, as long as necessary. We don't use booking sites very often - but thanks for reminding me of this one!

P.S.Which Hotel Meurice are you referring to - Paris? We were not sent a voucher but simply printed off details of the booking and the payment we had made which had to be presented on arrival at the hotel. It was a non-refundable booking so if we had cancelled or failed to turn up we, and not the hotel, would have been out of pocket. I don' think it is at all that with these special deals.

you will be ok with Octopus travel.prepayment is normal, you will have an email confirmation with booking number to show hotel upon arrival. cheers

Yes, the Meurice in Paris. I have read postings of people who reserved through Octopus, printed their own vouchers, arrived at the hotels to learn there was no record of any reservation under their name or Octopus. Considering how much octopus wants to charge, I am reluctant to pay that much a few months in advance, without ever getting any sort of confirmation directly from the hotel.

once you have the confirmation, you can verify with the hotel about 10 days later. sometimes the records are not transfer as little as 10 days before but this is industry standards. of course if really worry than dont buy it there, its your choice. Cheers

Octopus would get the money almost immediately. If I couldn't get a record of confirmation from the hotel, I would not speculate on my chance of a refund.

I think you have answered our own question but as gwened said above - it's ip to you to decide.

yes indeed, its a choice we all play by it.

cl3150 - Correction "answered your own question"

I have used Octopus a couple of times and had no problems (although not in the last few years). The first time I used them, I got an incredibly good rate at the Four Seasons in Doha, Qatar ($500/night for a room that was selling everywhere else for1000/night). I also thought "too good to be true" but sure enough, they had my booking, and not only that but I got upgraded to a suite that was bigger than a lot of the apartments I have lived in! I do still check Octopus from time to time, but I have never seen a deal anywhere close to that good again. They seem to be pretty much in line with the other online booking companies now.

I did make the reservation through Octopus, thinking that if I did not receive confirmation from the hotel, I would contact Visa to dishonor the charge. The day following making the reservation, I did contact the Meurice and they have in fact confirmed directly to me the category I booked, and that they have received payment as well. So, I guess I did not answer my own question. Very often, if something sounds too good to be true, it is. In this case, Octopus lived up to their commitment. In the future, I will always check through them before booking with any other agency. In this case, they saved me a lot compared to the hotel's website direct, or any third party booking service.

I did make the reservation through Octopus, thinking that if I did not receive confirmation from the hotel, I would contact Visa to dishonor the charge. The day following making the reservation, I did contact the Meurice and they have in fact confirmed directly to me the category I booked, and that they have received payment as well. So, I guess I did not answer my own question. Very often, if something sounds too good to be true, it is. In this case, Octopus lived up to their commitment. In the future, I will always check through them before booking with any other agency. In this case, they saved me a lot compared to the hotel's website direct, or any third party booking service.

Glad to know it worked out OK for and thanks for giving the feedback.

yes indeed glad you got it but I had no doubts ::)