I've yet to see a travel site OR hotel that gurantees bed choice. But, I've been told I don't get out much.

In all seriousness, I can't think of ANY hotel in ANY city that will gurantee you anything other than the room. Now, if you're a whale, it's a different story.

i've booked with expedia many times and have allways had good service and never a problem.

when i have asked for 2 quenns i have got themand room ect has been as they stated.

i have also used opodo which again i had no probs with

hope this might help and have a good trip

x x

what's opodo?

Thanx

Expedia.com They are the only online site I use for travel accomodations, unless I book with a hotel/cruiseline/airline direct.

We have always requested certain types of rooms, and have never arrived to find it not to be what we had requested. Expedia has always been reliable for us.

Travel sites may be the way to go for a one time vacation to a place you might not go back to.

But Vegas is a different story because of the gambling, comp system and the tendency of people to make repetitive visits to vegas.

When you buy a room from Expedia, you get what they bought from the hotel. When you book directly with the hotel, there is a lot more flexibility in the room, the view and the fact that you may gamble enough that room may be comped, ie free that will not happen thru a travel site.

It's worth bearing in mind that Expedia often gives you a considerable discount when you book flights AND hotel together. So whilst a lot of people (mainly U.S. based) seem to swear by the 'book directly and then get the price down' method, if there is a long haul flight involved the Expedia discount will be make it worthwhile.

I know you are from Texas so it's probably not applicable to you, but in case others from outside the U.S. are reading!

I have had good experiences with Expedia. I was not happy with Orbitz. Travelocity is very well established so at least if you have a problem, they are not going to disappear on you.

Some web sites and/or hotels can guarantee you a room with two beds, and some can't. You can always make requests such as non-smoking and the hotels will do their best to honor it. Regardless of whether you booked through a web site or not, you can often change rooms when you get there if there are any available.

However, since the difference between the three web sites you mentioned is a whopping $7, I'd go with Expedia. After you book online, call them up and explain that you want 2 queen beds - they will work with you to make sure the hotel gets the request.

Even if you book direct with TI, you may not get your bed preference. The hotel and the websites are all going to offer you a run of house room which means that the hotel can place you in any room in the hotel. That doesn't mean that they don't care about your preference. If you do book with Travelocity, you should call a week ahead and make sure that they are aware of your reservation and preferences. If there are more than two people, you should make sure that you book for the correct number of people as that should help put you ahead of some of the other 2 queen requests.

I've used travelocity and trip res. Got the rooms I wanted and had no problems what-so-ever. The advantage of booking directly through the hotel though is that you have abilty to change your mind and not be penalized. (I'm always second guessing my choice of hotel so I'm better off booking through the hotel) New Years is a very busy time so if you are justing wanting a room secured and are certain that TI is the hotel you want then using the travel site to save money is a wise choice. And as others have already stated booking through the hotel won't guarantee that your bed type and smoking preferences will be honored. It all depends on the availability at the time you check in.