Independent profile — not affiliated with Hotels.com
Hotels.com
Hotels.com is one of Expedia Group's three flagship consumer travel brands (alongside Expedia and Vrbo), focused on hotel and lodging bookings. It began in Dallas in 1991 as Hotel Reservations Network, a toll-free booking line, and today its U.S. customers earn rewards through Expedia Group's shared One Key program.
It is a real company, not a copycat site: the BBB file for its Seattle headquarters is accredited with an A+ rating, and the same file lists 1,666 complaints in three years. USAComplaints holds more than 200 complaints naming Hotels.com, most of them filed in 2008–2012, in which people describe refunds that never came, cancellation fees, surprise charges and reservations the hotel could not find. Hotels.com itself warns that fake Hotels.com phone numbers circulate online, so only contact it through the official website or app.
Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints
207 complaints on USAComplaints, including 1 published in the last three years.
- Misleading and Deceptive Rewards System
- Hotels.com Scam
- Deceptive / False Promotion / Scam
- Rewards program bogus
- Shannon Customer Service Lied to Me About Getting a Refund for Reservation Not Listed in Our Account
- Hotels.com GP LLC Wake Up Ripped Off
- The so-called price match guarantee is deceiving
- Price Misrepresented, Not Complete
- Very Poor Customer Service - customer care
- I tried to book a room, but the date was already input and I didn't realize it. I booked the hotel thinking it would ask me what date I wanted.internet
- Hotels.com LP is an affiliate of Expedia, Inc. Price Match Guarantee
- Deceptive, heartless, staight up lied
- Offered $100 Visa Card with prepaid hotel, non-cancellable reservation. Given $100.00 coupon instead
- I totally don’t trust this company anymore
- Bait-and-switch
- They Lie
- Did not receive what I paid fo
- CSR at Hotels.com: Samantha, Joan, Amalda, Nate I called last night, on 9/18. The agent at Hotels.com offered the following to me in order for me to book my reservations with hotel.com. 1) no resort fees 2) $100 resort credit
- Extra charge for Parking/Overcharged/No Price Match
- Expedia.com they over charged and refuse to give my money back
Complaint Themes
Independent Sources
Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.
Contacts
- Official website: https://www.hotels.com/
- Official customer service page (chat, and phone after a short questionnaire): https://www.hotels.com/lp/b/getintouch?locale=en_US&siteid=300000001
- Customer service number as listed by BBB (not printed on Hotels.com's own contact page): (800) 246-8357 19 complaints mention this number
Locations
| Type | Address |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 1111 Expedia Group Way W Seattle WA 98119 |
What to do if you have a problem with a Hotels.com booking
Hotels.com's own "Get in touch" page says customer service is available by chat or phone "24 hours a day, 365 days a year," but the page does not print a phone number directly — it explains, "To get you to the right agent and phone number, we'll need to ask a few questions first." Start any support request from the official hotels.com site or app, or the Help Center (Stays, Account, Privacy, Refunds & Charges, Security, Travel Alerts, Loyalty & Rewards).
Because, in the company's own words, "fake hotels.com phone numbers are circulating online... through misleading search engine ads and even whole pages," treat any number found outside hotels.com's own site or app with suspicion. A genuine Hotels.com representative will not ask for your password or a one-time passcode, will not ask for a wire transfer, will only request card details at checkout, and will never ask you to buy a gift card.
Recommended steps:
- Save your confirmation email and booking number as soon as you book.
- If something seems wrong, contact the hotel directly using a number you find independently, to confirm the reservation actually exists in the hotel's own system.
- Use the official "Get in touch" flow or Virtual Agent chat rather than a number surfaced by a search ad.
- If Hotels.com cannot resolve a billing dispute directly, a card chargeback through your bank or card issuer is a last-resort option.
- You can also file a complaint through Hotels.com's BBB profile, which is BBB Accredited (A+ rating) and shows an active complaint-handling record (518 complaints closed in the last 12 months).
Who charged your card, and how to escalate formally
Hotels.com's U.S. Terms of Service (last revised March 26, 2026) say that for Pay Now bookings in the United States the payment is taken by Travelscape, LLC, an Expedia Group company, while for Pay Later bookings the hotel itself charges your card at the time of your stay. The same terms state that refunds go back to the original payment method and are made by the party that took the payment, and that there is no automatic right to cancel or change a booking unless the hotel's own rules allow it. Check the merchant name on your statement before deciding whom to chase. See the current U.S. Terms of Service.
If customer service does not resolve a U.S. dispute, the terms set out a formal route:
- Send a written, signed Notice of Dispute by certified mail to: Legal Department/Dispute Resolution Provision, Expedia, Inc., 1111 Expedia Group Way West, Seattle, WA 98119.
- The company then has 60 days to try to resolve it informally.
- After that you may start binding arbitration with the American Arbitration Association (AAA), or bring the claim in small claims court instead. The terms require claims to be brought individually, not as a class action.
These conditions come from the U.S. version of the terms; the terms shown to you depend on the country site you booked on, and the version in force when you booked governs your booking.
What Hotels.com complaints on this site describe
We read every complaint on this site that names Hotels.com. Most were filed between 2008 and 2012, so they describe the company as it operated then, before the 2023 move to Expedia Group's shared platform. Six patterns come up again and again. Each is what complainants allege; none has been verified with the company.
- Cancellation fees and refunds that never arrived (about 33 complaints): being charged after a timely cancellation, losing a full night for correcting a wrong date or hotel minutes after booking, or a promised refund that did not show up.
- Charged more than quoted, or more than the hotel's own rate (about 30): a phone quote that did not match the confirmation, a Hotels.com price above the hotel's desk rate, currency surprises and service fees the complainant says were not disclosed.
- Confirmed booking not found or not honored at the hotel (about 23): arriving with a Hotels.com confirmation to a hotel that had no record of it, was sold out, or said it had not been paid.
- Price Match Guarantee claims refused (about 22): a lower rate found for the same room, with the claim declined over coupons, "below market value" wording or paperwork. Note: Hotels.com's current Price Guarantee page (checked September 27, 2026) says only One Key members who joined before October 31, 2025 may qualify, and matches are paid in OneKeyCash, not cash — see the official Price Guarantee terms.
- Unexplained or duplicate card charges (about 21): unrecognised "IAN Travel Services" or "TravelNow" charges and double billing for one stay.
- Promotions and rewards not delivered (about 16): free-night credits, gift cards, prepaid cards and a 2011-era free e-reader promotion that complainants say never arrived.
A smaller group of complainants say they thought they were phoning the hotel directly and reached Hotels.com instead.
Is Hotels.com Legitimate?
A real Expedia Group brand with a documented complaint record
Hotels.com is not a shell or copycat operation. It is an Expedia Group brand (its U.S. terms name Expedia, Inc. as the service provider, while Hotels.com, L.P. owns the brand and trademarks), and the Better Business Bureau file for the Seattle headquarters carries an A+ rating and BBB Accreditation (since April 28, 2025). BBB records list the business as started January 1, 1991, incorporated August 23, 1999, with 35 years in business and Robert J. Dzielak listed as Chief Legal Officer.
An A+ is a BBB grade, not an endorsement, and BBB keeps separate files for other Hotels.com offices that are not all accredited. The Seattle file itself records a large complaint history: BBB logs 1,666 complaints against the company in the last three years, with 518 closed in the last 12 months, and a customer-review average of just 1.06 out of 5 from 386 reviews. Other third-party sites show a similar split between accreditation and dissatisfaction: Trustpilot gives a TrustScore of 3.0 across 15,102 reviews, 4,198 of them in the last 12 months, with 73% of all reviews at one star (the profile has been claimed by the company since July 2018), while ComplaintsBoard lists a blended "reputation rating" of 1.2 (based on 21 reviews and 974 complaints) alongside a separate review average of 2.3/5 from those 21 reviews. These figures come from different sites using different scales and should be read as provider-labeled numbers, not blended together.
Hotels.com's own "Get in touch" page warns travelers directly that "fake hotels.com phone numbers are circulating online, often through misleading search engine ads and even whole pages." It states the company will never ask for a password or one-time passcode, never ask for a wire transfer, only request card details at checkout, and never ask a customer to buy a gift card.
Court records involving Hotels.com are mostly commercial disputes, not findings of fraud. In City of San Antonio v. Hotels.com, L.P., a Texas jury initially ruled for the cities on a hotel-occupancy-tax theory, but the Fifth Circuit vacated that judgment in 2017, holding the tax applies only to the discounted wholesale room rate. A later, separate Supreme Court case (No. 20-334, decided 2021) addressed only which side should bear appellate costs, not the underlying tax dispute. In Buckeye Tree Lodge v. Expedia, a judge found some "sold out" messaging shown to travelers was "literally false" when denying summary judgment, but the case ended in a 2021 class settlement — a settlement is not an admission of liability, and it provided no money to consumers, only commitments to change how non-partner hotels are displayed.
Hotels.com Overview
Hotels.com, L.P. is the lodging-focused brand inside Expedia Group's B2C segment, alongside Expedia and Vrbo. Per Expedia Group's FY2025 Form 10-K, in 2023 the company migrated the Hotels.com and Vrbo front-end technology onto the Brand Expedia stack, and launched One Key, a single U.S. loyalty program letting members earn "OneKeyCash" across Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
The brand's history goes back further than most travelers realize. Per Wikipedia's account, it was founded in 1991 by David Litman and Robert Diener as Hotel Reservations Network (HRN), a toll-free hotel-booking phone line, and became part of USA Networks Inc in 2001 — the same year USA Networks took control of Expedia.
Outside the U.S. and U.K., Hotels.com still runs its own separate rewards program: stay 10 nights and get one free night at any partner property, per the same 10-K filing.
USAComplaints.com holds more than 200 complaints naming Hotels.com, dated from 2002 to January 2026, but they are not evenly spread: about four out of five were filed between 2008 and 2012, and only one is from the last decade. Some older complaints name the biller as "IAN Travel Services" or "TravelNow.com" — booking descriptors used by the Hotels.com/Expedia affiliate network at the time; TravelNow.com, Inc. was later a co-defendant alongside Hotels.com, L.P. in the Texas hotel-tax litigation described below.
Court & Public Records
| Case | Authority | Dates | Type | Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of San Antonio v. Hotels.com, L.P. (hotel occupancy tax class action) Docket 16-50479 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | — | Judgment | Judgment entered San Antonio, suing in 2006 on behalf of a class of 173 Texas cities (W.D. Tex. No. SA-06-CA-381-OG), alleged that Hotels.com and other online travel companies underpaid hotel occupancy taxes by paying tax on the discounted room rate they paid hotels rather than the higher retail price travelers paid. After a jury trial the district court entered a judgment for the cities that grew to about $84 million after post-trial motions. On appeal the Fifth Circuit held the tax applies only to the discounted room rate the company pays the hotel, not to its service fee, and vacated and rendered judgment for the online travel companies. This was a dispute with tax authorities, not a consumer fraud finding. | Source |
| San Antonio v. Hotels.com, L.P. (appeal costs) Docket 20-334 | Supreme Court of the United States | — | Judgment | Judgment entered A follow-on dispute over who pays the costs of the occupancy-tax appeal. The online travel companies sought more than $2.3 million, mostly premiums on the bonds they posted to stay the judgment. In a unanimous opinion by Justice Alito, the Court held that a district court has no discretion to deny or reduce those appellate costs, affirming the Fifth Circuit (959 F.3d 159) in the companies' favor. | Source |
| Buckeye Tree Lodge and Sequoia Village Inn, LLC v. Expedia, Inc. et al. Docket 3:16-cv-04721-VC | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California | — | Settled | Settled Independent hotels sued Expedia, Inc., Hotels.com, L.P., Hotels.com GP, LLC and Orbitz under the Lanham Act (false advertising). They alleged the sites showed hotels the companies had no booking relationship with as "sold out" or "unavailable" to steer travelers to properties that paid a commission. Before trial, Judge Vince Chhabria found some messages such as "We are sold out" to be literally false. The court approved a class settlement on April 9, 2021. Under the stipulation (Doc. 246-4), the defendants committed to measures to keep non-participating hotels from being listed as unavailable, agreed to pay $2,100,000 in class counsel fees and costs and $12,500 to each of the four named plaintiffs; absent class members (hotels) received no payment, and the class was made up of hotels, not travelers. | Source |
| Ze'ev v. Expedia, Inc., Hotels.com et al. (putative class action) | District Court of Lod, Israel | — | Filed | Filed, no ruling yet According to Expedia Group's FY2025 Form 10-K, a putative class action was filed around January 2018 against several online travel companies including Expedia, Inc. and Hotels.com. It alleges they violated Israeli consumer law by limiting hotel price competition. The plaintiff's motion for class certification, opposed by the defendants, was still pending as of that filing. No finding has been made. | Source |
Related Complaints
Names this company in a role other than the primary subject — not necessarily current or complete.
Company Relationships
- Owned by: Expedia Group, Inc.
- Formerly known as: Hotel Reservations Network
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hotels.com owned by Expedia?
Yes. Hotels.com is one of three flagship consumer brands — alongside Expedia and Vrbo — in Expedia Group's B2C segment, according to Expedia Group's FY2025 Form 10-K. Hotels.com, L.P. owns the Hotels.com brand and trademarks; the U.S. Terms of Service name Expedia, Inc. as the company providing the service, and Travelscape, LLC as the company that takes payment for U.S. Pay Now bookings. In 2023, Expedia Group migrated the Hotels.com front-end technology onto the shared Brand Expedia stack.
Is the Hotels.com phone number I found online real?
Be cautious. Hotels.com's own "Get in touch" page warns that "fake hotels.com phone numbers are circulating online, often through misleading search engine ads and even whole pages." The official page does not display a phone number directly; it asks a few questions first to route you to the right agent and number. Only start a support request from hotels.com's own site or app, and never give a password, one-time passcode, or wire transfer to anyone calling as "Hotels.com."
What happened to Hotels.com Rewards?
In the U.S., Hotels.com Rewards was replaced in 2023 by One Key, a single loyalty program shared across Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, where members earn "OneKeyCash," per Expedia Group's FY2025 10-K filing. Outside the U.S. and U.K., the original Hotels.com Rewards program is still offered: travelers who stay 10 nights get one free night at any Hotels.com partner property.
Did Hotels.com lose the Texas hotel-tax lawsuit?
Not in the end. In City of San Antonio v. Hotels.com, L.P., a jury verdict initially went against the online travel companies (growing to roughly $84 million after post-trial motions), but the Fifth Circuit vacated that judgment in 2017, ruling the occupancy tax applies only to the discounted wholesale room rate, not the retail price or service fee. A separate 2021 Supreme Court case in the same litigation (No. 20-334) decided only a narrow question about appellate costs, not the tax dispute itself.
Does Hotels.com still have a Price Match Guarantee?
Only for some members. As of September 27, 2026, Hotels.com's Price Guarantee page says that One Key members who joined before October 31, 2025 may qualify on eligible bookings, and that members who joined on or after that date are not eligible. When a claim is approved, the difference is paid in OneKeyCash rather than refunded to your card. Check the official Price Guarantee page for the current conditions before you book expecting a match.
How do I formally dispute a Hotels.com charge in the U.S.?
Start with Hotels.com customer service through the official site or app. If that fails, the U.S. Terms of Service (revised March 26, 2026) say you must send a signed, written Notice of Dispute by certified mail to Legal Department/Dispute Resolution Provision, Expedia, Inc., 1111 Expedia Group Way West, Seattle, WA 98119. The company then has 60 days to resolve it informally; after that you can file for AAA arbitration or go to small claims court. A chargeback through your card issuer is a separate route. Source: Hotels.com U.S. Terms of Service.