i have used alpharooms and travel republic quite a lot and have had no problems with them.
i also used xcapewithus before it went bust.
for my next 2 trips i have booked with thomsons -hotel only -as i got great prices for september.
just remember, the price most likely to increase is the flight so make sure you book that first, then the accommodation.
also pay by credit card to get the most protection.

If I was being pedantic I'd say using any of them means you're not doing it yourself! More importantly. if you deal with the hotel direct then you will avoid the pitfalls that so many people have had with dodgy agents this summer. Hotels frequently allow free cancellation until quite close to the arrival date (useful if the airline changes it's mind) and many don't ask for any money up front (they may ask for card details for charging first night in case of a no-show).

The middle ground is an agent like http://www.hrs.com who don't take any money from you, they get a fee from the hotel later. Many of their hotels allow late cancellations and don't even ask for deposits.

Of the main agents, Expedia are reliable with fair conditions and can have some good special offers but they will want paying up front.

Steve

While I take your point about "doing it yourself" sometimes going to the hotel direct can work out a lot more expensive. This year we saved £150 by booking our hotel in New York with Alpharooms. We rang them direct and were quoted a much higher price for the same room.

I think its always wise to do your research - try the hotel direct first then look at the websites and see if you can get a better rate. Any time I have tried a "new" booking website Ive posted on here to ensure others have used them and they are "okay".

Ive used Alpharooms many times over the last four years and found them very efficient and no problems. In fact when I made a mistake with my booking by paying the full amount instead of a deposit I rang Customer Services and they refunded the money back on my card within a day. Very good service.

tootsie,

if you start at the hotel and then try agents for better deals I'll let you have that as DIY! I've done that myself. It's also useful when the hotel doesn't have an online booking option and you want an instant answer because you've got a flight half booked in another Window - assuming the agent doesn't want 24 hours to check.

And I definately agree with you about doing research yourself. It also works as an aptitude test - if someone can't find the hotel's website they will probably struggle to find the hotel when they get there!!

And following on from one thread of a .co.uk booking site that turned out to be very dodgy and run from Istanbul, if you want to check which country an agent is in before giving them your money use http://www.easywhois.com/index.php Put the main site address (starting www and ending com or co.uk) in the domain box and it will tell you where the site is based.

thanks for your help guys,i'm not the kind off person to rush into things ie i research hotels, flights etc for hours before booking.I used Alpharooms who were cheaper than booking with the hotel direct(saving £200).we are experienced travellers but we have never booked a holiday this way before,think ye call this (DIY) ...

Yes - agree with Tootsie here about paying MORE by going direct to the hotel.

Even by going through agents...Alpha Rooms...Hotels.com..etc etc I've usually found Expedia to be the cheapest - for example I've recently booked 3 nights in a hotel in Prague - Alpha Room was £283.95 whereas Expedia were £262.32 and direct with the hotel CONSIDERABLY more!

As previously stated...ALWAYS book flights FIRST too

It must be horses for courses Betty. When we tried Expedia they were MORE expensive for our hotel in New York

But there you go - just proves our point about doing your research

I've used TR and found them usually the cheapest but, has been said it's best to research all the companies. Obviously be careful and maybe check back here if an agent has a really low price. Good luck.