Where do you book hotels when traveling in foreign countries ?

This Year when I head to Panama ,we are taking a few extra days and traveling By Bus to David Panama to see more of the mainland . The bus service in Panama is nothing like the states . They are small, , luxurious , cheap and even show movies .I been to David before but we are looking for other hotel ideas to expand our knowledge of the area . Do any of you use one of the hotel finders like Price line or Expedia ??? Last time we stayed at the "Grand National" in David and it is a beatiful old hotel but I just thought I would ask . Any suggestions ???

The last time that I was in a foreign country was 1991, other the the week that HD picked up in Nice, we were on our own for the other two weeks. Where ever we were at we stopped and looked for a place to stay. The one night cost us over 110,000. But that included supper. It was the Marco Polo hotel in Italy someplace, I think, it has been a long time since I looked at the ashtray that found its way in suitcase.

This was long before the Euro and the internet were available the way it is today.

REDDOGTWO said:

The last time that I was in a foreign country was 1991, other the the week that HD picked up in Nice, we were on our own for the other two weeks. Where ever we were at we stopped and looked for a place to stay. The one night cost us over 110,000. But that included supper. It was the Marco Polo hotel in Italy someplace, I think, it has been a long time since I looked at the ashtray that found its way in suitcase.

This was long before the Euro and the internet were available the way it is today.

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Well , I just thought I would ask . I been looking on the internet and there seems to be a lot of options . I would prefer to find a review my a FF member over a advertizment .

I used Priceline the last two trips to Poland.

Al, Lonely Planet sometimes has good advice. This page shows a couple of hotels but they may be backpacker-grade, probably not what you want. Or maybe that is all there is!

Lonely Planet: David, Panama

Did you look in the traveller's forums online? You can find descriptions of every destination on earth. Most are empty boasting, read with caution, but there may be some solid advice if you can distinguish it. Here's one of the many. I would also look for several more like this.

Travelpod: David, Panama

And a photo posted on there:

California said:

Al, Lonely Planet sometimes has good advice. This page shows a couple of hotels but they may be backpacker-grade, probably not what you want. Or maybe that is all there is!

Lonely Planet: David, Panama

Did you look in the traveller's forums online? You can find descriptions of every destination on earth. Most are empty boasting, read with caution, but there may be some solid advice if you can distinguish it. Here's one of the many. I would also look for several more like this.

Travelpod: David, Panama

Click to expand...

Chris ,
Lonely Planet should be in every Internationals travelers bag . They are great ! I cannot believe how accurate they are on Panama . I been searching the web to see what is out there .
As you said , take any on line review with some doubt !

I'm a stick-in-the-mud, stay at home, kind of guy these days but when I was globe trotting I used Expedia a lot and I mean a lot. Back then there weren't nearly as many choices as there are now but I still use them occasionally when we go to the big city (Dallas) for a little R&R. I think that these days, if you have a little flexibility in your schedule, that there are probably cheaper alternatives out there but there is nothing worse than arriving in a strange city late at night and being told that the reservation that you thought you had doesn't exist or that they've never heard of the company you used or you ... kindly leave the premises. Many of those cut rate companies may work well enough in the States but I have severe reservations (no pun intended) about using them for foreign travel. I'm too old and too Scottish to be paying $100 for the use of a couch in the hotel foyer because of some booking "misunderstanding". I only say that because I have done it in the past and don't want to do it again.