Booking.com in Viet Nam is flooded with fake hotels

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Agoda generally better in Asia, including Vietnam.

I have seen the same thing — fake and misleading listings on Agoda for Hanoi and HCMC, then the trick of taking you to an inferior “partner” hotel. I have also experienced aggressive requests to post good reviews.

Vietnam tourism booming right now and enforcement weak. I suggest double-checking with Google hotels and even visiting the hotel before booking, ask to see a room. If you can’t do that consider staying one or two nights at a reputable brand name hotel while you look for a cheaper place.

Currently in Da Nang and have not seen this problem on Agoda here.

People who use online travel agencies like Booking, why?

I understand the benefit of many middlemen from Uber to Amazon to Airbnb, as they solve a significant discovery or delivery problem. But what does Booking do that Google Hotels does not?

As an aside, this explains why Marriott can command such a premium there.

I travel a lot, mostly long-distance. This means I often sleep in a different accomodation every night for weeks, often across multiple countries.

Booking means it takes five minutes to find and compare hotels at my destination for the day. I book it instantly amd carry on. No exchange is needed. I pay with Apple Pay.

I have never heard of Google Hotels. Is it only in the US?

This use case makes sense to me, as the sheer number of bookings makes one platform extra convienent.

Google Hotels is not for booking. It is just a search engine.

My experience in Europe is that you are better off using other services. Booking.com's customer service and practices are nasty.

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