Booking.com feels like a particularly Silicon Valley-savvy European company. They seemed to be an early adopter of HN: Who's Hiring? threads, for instance.
In my experience and also from what my friends and co-workers told me, it's a lot more about your network and your experience. If you have a good resume and people recommending you, you skip the technical interview part.
I interviewed for one American company once. Didn't like it despite the nice hotel. I also didn't get the job.
I interviewed with booking.com in Amsterdam a couple years ago and it was the same thing — same questions testing prep.