HotelChatter

We searched for rooms in Miami Beach this weekend and found mostly Marriott Hotels but a few Hiltons and a Days Inn as well. Of course, these rates are all the rates being quoted on the hotel's individual website and you don't actually book through RoomKey.com. You are directed to book at the hotel's website. Fortunately, the fowarding link takes you right to the reservations page without having to re-enter your dates again.

Room Key's mission is to "make hotel searches simple, fast and fun" which it certainly lives up to as the results came up super fast, the breakdown of options was eye-pleasing and easy to follow and we liked the smiley and sad faces when you enter a check-in and check-out date.

But are we getting the best deal booking on Room Key? When we did the same booking search on Expedia.com, we actually found the same rates for the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanfront and while Expedia had no availability for the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, Room Key did. Not bad.

Of course, we still expect other third-party booking sites to best Room Key in terms of rates from time to time (especially blind-booking sites like Priceline and Hotwire) but in using Room Key at least you are booking directly with the hotel. So if anything goes wrong, Marriott (or IHG or Choice or Hyatt or Wyndham) is directly to blame.

Have you tried RoomKey.com yet? Let us know what you thought!