What are the pitfalls of booking a hotel room online?

What are the pitfalls of booking a hotel room online?

Catharine Hamm (Travel Editor, LA Times) gives expert video advice on: How do I book a hotel room? and more...

There's some fairly standard pitfalls when you're booking a hotel room online. For example, the hotel room that you're seeing in the pictures may be the one that's been recently redecorated, whereas you might be staying in an older part of the hotel, in a room that hasn't been redecorated. So your expectation is you're going to get this great room, and you end up not getting a great room. Another pitfall when booking a hotel room online may be that you'll be charged. There's often a fee for online agencies like Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, that's included in the price. So that's something to watch out for as well when booking a hotel room online.