Hotel Booking with Agoda.com

Over the years since Jamie's Phuket started, I have looked at a number of online hotel booking sites, signed up for affiliate deals, seen the results, tried new sites... the original idea was to have several different booking options for the hotels reviewed here, giving people the opportunity to check rates at a bunch of different sites. Regular travelers will probably have their preferred booking site, I don't wish to try and change anyones mind about which is best, but I have to say that over the last few years the Agoda.com site has got neater, the hotel descriptions better, the booking process easier.

Having experimented quite a bit, there are just two hotel booking options on Jamie's Phuket - Agoda and occasionally LateStays. The latter is designed only for late bookings, no more than 28 days ahead and sometimes has good rates. Agoda can also be used for late bookings, but of course also offers advance booking.

Agoda is part of a larger company that also included PrecisionReservations.com and PlanetHoliday.com - these both redirect now to Agoda.com. The brand name is getting well known especially around Asia, as Agoda is based in Singapore and Bangkok. The word "Agoda" you might expect to mean something in Chinese or Thai.. in fact it's just a result (according to the About Agoda page) of a phrase suggested by someone at Agoda "Agoda where I wanna go to!". The important part of the word being "GO"! For more about Agoda, check their FAQ.



Agoda offers a reward program. From your first booking you get reward points worth around 5% of the room price. You can use these points to reduce the price of the room you are booking, or you can let the points mount up after several bookings and use them to get even bigger savings, or even free rooms! You decide. A friend here in Phuket said he ended up with a free room on his last trip to Kuala Lumpur, having saved up his reward points. You can earn extra points by contributing a hotel review (good or bad!) after your stay. You should also check the special offers on offer.



The Agoda site is available in many languages, not just English - for example you can find Agoda in German, French, Japanese, Swedish, Thai .. and many more, reflecting the worldwide appeal of Agoda. Not just Thailand, not just Asia, but Worldwide. The site is very easy to use, easy to navigate, it's easy to find rates, easy to make bookings. I'd suggest checking Agoda for your trip to Phuket and Thailand.

Related Jamie's Phuket pages:

• My Phuket Hotel Recommendations
• Top 10 Phuket Hotels