WARNING!! Do NOT Book Hotel Rooms On-Line!!!!

[CO Liberal]

My wife and I are planning a trip to Texas, to see friends. We booked a hotel room at a Holiday Inn Express through Orbitz a few weeks ago.

I just found a better deal at another hotel (Comfort Inn), and called the Holiday Inn to cancel my reservation. I was told that since I booked the room on-line, it could not be canceled. And if we didn't show up, we would STILL have to pay for it.

I called Orbitz and was told the same thing. I then called Holiday Inn's corporate office, and was also told the same thing. The customer service manager I spoke to said there was nothing she could do - I should have known the room was a non-cancellation reservation.

I went back to the Orbitz web site and looked up the hotel again - I saw the notation "no chg no cxl", with no explanation of what "no chg no cxl" meant.

So let that be a warning to you. You're much better off dealing with the hotels directly - forget about the third-party sites.

And STAY AWAY FROM HOLIDAY INN!!!!!