[fsflover]

> Booking offered better prices than the hotels themselves

In this case, you can contact the hotel and ask for a better offer. Works sometimes.

[jhugo]

I've tried this many times and the hotel usually says "I guess you should book it online then"

[dep_b]

That's so weird huh? I really don't understand it.

[jhugo]

My guess is that they have some separate incentive from Booking.com etc to drive bookings through those platforms. The same places usually have a proudly displayed bullshit "9.9 average on Booking.com" somewhere in the foyer.