Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Why should I book with Travel Intelligence?

Good question! Here’s why we think we’re the best place to find and book your perfect luxury hotel:

• All our hotels are handpicked from around the world, so you can rely upon the highest levels of quality, style and service

• We offer a price guarantee – meaning you won’t be able to find our hotels cheaper anywhere else

• The TI collection is independently reviewed by our network of professional travel writers 

• We have a multilingual Customer Service team available by phone or email to give travel advice and help you choose the hotel that’s right for you.

Q. How do you choose the hotels you advertise?

Our hotels are hand-picked and reviewed by a community of professional travel writers. Beyond that, though, we’re also always keen to take recommendations from our customers, along with anyone else who knows their way around a good hotel. 

All hotels are, of course, carefully screened, and only the very ‘best in class’ – whether it’s large, lavish and luxurious or a bijous boutique – make it into the TI collection. If you want to find out more about how a hotel becomes part of the TI collection, please have a read of the How We Select Our Hotels page. 

Q. Can I book any TI hotel online? Or do I need to call you?

Most of our hotels can be booked online; a few, however, can’t. If you see a hotel that appears ‘on request’, that will be because it doesn’t have the technology needed to give you up-to-date availability information. 

In this case, all you need to do to book the hotel is submit a request form to us. Then, having checked that there’s availability for the requested room on that date, we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.

Q. What is included in the price I pay?

This very much depends on the hotel. Many hotels include breakfast, taxes or transfers, while some others don’t. What a hotel includes in their rates is clearly stated on the hotels’ page and again on checkout page, though, so you know exactly what you’re getting for your money. 

Q. Are there any extra charges for children?

Some hotels charge a supplement for children in the form of an additional fee for an extra bed/cot/crib. This supplement is not always included in the price of the room. If you’re booking with children, please call us on +44 (0) 20 7580 2663 so we can give you a quote for a room that’s suitable. 

Q. How much will I be charged at the time of reservation?

We work with our hotels in a number of ways: some require you to pay in full before arrival, others require a deposit at the time of booking, and others require full payment on checkout. 

Once you’ve selected your hotel and arrived at the checkout page, you’ll be shown whether you need to pay the whole amount, part of the amount, or provide your credit card details to pay with once you arrive at the hotel.

Q. How much will I actually pay in my own currency?

The default price shown is what you pay. Currency conversions shown are for indicative purposes only and are based on today’s exchange rate (according to Oanda.com). The actual price you pay will be in the hotel’s local currency and based on the exchange rate at the time.

Q. Which cards can I use to book a hotel on TI?

We accept any cards that our hotels accept, so any MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Diners Club, and any debit card can be used on the TI website. (Maestro and Switch cards are not universally accepted, however, and are usually declined when booking a hotel outside of the UK.)

Please note that using a credit card to pay for your hotel stay always incurs a charge. While this can vary from card to card, the fee for using Visa, Amex and Mastercard is 2%. In order to avoid these extra charges, you can always use a debit card – for which there’s no charge at all.

Q. Can I pay for my stay at the hotel with a different credit card than the one used to make the reservation?

In most cases the hotel will accept payment for the stay on a different card or in cash. Please make sure that the new card or currency is accepted by the hotel (the hotel’s contact details can be found in your email confirmation). 

Q. Is my payment secure? 

Your credit card information is sent to us through a secure server. We use the latest, most secure, technology available, which encrypts all your personal and credit card details. The encryption method used is the industry standard 'Secure Socket Layer' (SSL) technology. Travel Intelligence’s SSL certificate has been issued by Verisign.

In the extremely unlikely event that your credit card is fraudulently used to book a hotel on Travel Intelligence, your debit or credit card company is obliged to reimburse you.

Q. Is my personal information protected? 

We never sell or distribute your personal information to third parties unless we have your express permission or are required to do so by law. And you can find out more just how careful we are with your personal information on our Privacy Policy page. 

Q. How can I change or cancel my booking?

If you want to change or cancel your booking, you just have to call us on +44 (0) 20 7580 2663 or email our Customer Service team.

Q. I don’t understand the payment and cancellation policy – are deposits refundable?

Once your booking is confirmed, you are subject to the hotel's own cancellation policy, and in order to have your deposit refunded, you must cancel your booking within the hotel’s cancellation period. It’s important to remember that the hotel also reserves the right to apply its own cancellation policy.

Any Other Questions?

Hopefully, any questions you may have had will have been answered by this point. But if there's anything else we can help you with, please just contact us.