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Knowledge
Octopus Travel is one of the biggest on-line travel companies on the internet. They have offices in London, Hong Kong, New York, Osaka, Rome and Sydney and offer discounts on over 90,000 hotels in more than in 112 countries.
The home page offers a search for hotels, apartments and self catering accommodation by location. The results show a map of the area and all relevant information about the star ratings a hotel has along with the price.
Small blurbs describe the location, tours and any attractions along with the distances from trains, shops etc. You can sort the results by price, rating or name to help you decide on a venue.
On the homepage you can find travel guides, maps, passport/visa information, a currency converter, and weather reports.
They assure the lowest price by stating this on their website.
“Our promise to you: If you book a hotel and then find it cheaper on the internet, we'll refund the difference.”
One interesting feature is the sightseeing button. This lets you book tours, trips, concerts, cruises etc, but also offers a “special events calendar” for the area you are visiting. This shows both public holidays and events you may wish to participate in.
Clicking the travel guises section gives a myriad of interesting information such as:
While Octopus Travel specialises in hotels and accommodation, most of its competitors deal with the whole holiday – flights, transfers and accommodation.
A search for a hotel in Paris turned up 1647 results. Interestingly adding breakfast to the room charge made a difference of £80 and that makes it a very expensive breakfast.
There are very many photographs of the hotels on this site, but without explanations you are not sure what you are looking at. For example a picture of a long table with about 30 chairs and set for dinner, is this the restaurant or a banquet? Do you eat with the other guests or does this hotel have single tables too?
When you chose your hotel it says, “Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.” Does this mean you get there and have to pay more?
“The following mandatory hotel-imposed fees are charged and collected by the hotel either at check-in or check-out. A city/local tax will be charged.” When and where do you pay this? How much is it?
The site looks good and there is a wide range of choice, but it is one of the most expensive and it is difficult to find out exactly what you are going to pay. Browsing is not enjoyable as each hotel offers options with price differences but no explanation as to what these are.
Putting in 3 nights stay gave a long list of choices, but trying to book these is different – many are not available all 3 nights and you soon find this large range is for any hotel that has any of the dates you asked for – in any form. That means if you asked for a double room for 2 people, it will also show you hotels that have 1 single room available for 1 night. This is very frustrating.
A search for a hotel in Paris turned up 195 results.
Browsing the list is a pleasure. The results are clear and easy to read. Clicking on a hotel to see the interior leads to sideways, blurred and mysterious, (a clock and breadsticks is one example), pictures, but seldom a view of the rooms.
There is good information about facilities, (hairdryer, coffee shop, laundry etc), but without knowing what your bedroom will look like, this seems a bit irrelevant.
This site gave 158 hotels in Paris. All were available as asked for in the search and all had good pictures of the rooms and interior of the hotel, as well as location and details of facilities.
A fun place to search and an easy site that helps you know what you are going to get for your money.
Prices are per room for 3 nights for two people –
A short three day stay in April gave the following as the cheapest prices from each of the above sites;
Paris
Octopus Travel $157.44
Opodo $197.19
Expedia $250.92
New York
Octopus Travel $364.10
Expedia $893.80
Opodo $1,319.30
All three sites also offered 5 star hotels in Paris for around $2,600 per night.
Dubai
Octopus Travel $103.30
Expedia $106.60
Opodo $188.20
Cape Town
Octopus Travel $181.50
Expedia $232.90
Opodo $241.90
All three websites offer a range of low price budget hotels and go up to 5 star expensive ones with a good choice in the middle range too.
The best value by far is Octopus Travel. Not only do you get more for your money, but you know what is waiting for you at the other end. Many of the cheaper hotels on Octopus Travel are actually 3 star hotels, while on the other sites they are sometimes even describes as “backpackers”, so you are paying less but getting more quality.
What happy customers say about Octopus Travel:
“I have recently booked a hotel in Amsterdam with them, and was extremely pleased with the hotel that I booked-for price, cleanliness and facilities. Another success!”
“I have just booked a hotel through Octopus4easyjet (formerly Octopustravel), which is an EasyJet company and have to tell you how impressed I am with the results. It's so easy to use and not only have I booked a really nice 5-star hotel for the night, but it was 60% off the original price should I have booked through the hotel chain direct.”
“I found this an excellent and fast way to find a range of accommodation - everything from the very (and I mean very ) cheap ( about £30) right up to £430 per room per night. Its easy to use, fast and you can find the hotel of your choice if you know the name.”
“I've used Octopus Travel on several occasions without any problems at all, as have my two sons. The prices are very competitive, the hotels I've used have all been clean and well located, and there is ABTA protection if anything does go wrong. I'll definitely be using them again.”
