Hotel booking agents that are partners on comparison websites such as TripAdvisor, have become increasingly powerful but take a hefty commission from every room they sell – up to 30 per cent.

While doing so, they expose a property to a wide audience of potential guests but are accused of becoming more controlling about how a hotel should market itself, while also advertising savings that don’t actually exist.

“There is no doubt as to the positive power and influence of online travel agents (OTAs) but it is getting to the point where they are dictating what we put on our own websites and how we communicate with our guests and future guests,” said Dan Visser, director of sales and marketing at the Langdale Hotel & Spa in Cumbria.

“If we actively encourage our guests to book direct with us, we are pulled up on this and it’s bordering on the line of bullying.”

At one point, the Langdale Hotel wanted to offer guests the opportunity to sign up to special offers, a deal which Mr Visser said was in line with the terms of the hotel’s contract with its online travel agent, but was told that the hotel would be penalised if it went ahead with the deal and that its rankings on the OTA’s website would fall.

He also told Telegraph Travel that the way booking websites show discounts is misleading. “If you select a date, quite often they will show a discount, 20 per cent say, but that is based on an average rate across 30 days either side of that date, taking into account weekends. So it is not a real discount. We would show the same price but wouldn’t call it a discount.”

^{River at the Langdale Hotel}

He said he wants to maintain a good relationship with OTAs but argued that hotels need the freedom to advertise effectively. He also thought customers should be aware of the benefits of booking directly with a property.

“You should always get a better deal if you go direct to the hotel,” he said. Even if the hotel is locked into a contract that demands a price parity across different booking websites, this could mean a better room, he suggested.

“If you go direct to a hotel by email or over the phone, the hotel knows that it does not have to pay 25 per cent commission on the booking and so is likely to give a better deal to a customer who will hopefully come back again as they have had a brilliant experience.”

For the owners of smaller properties, the commission they are being asked to pay to booking agents can be too great to make economic sense.

The Old Rectory at Boltongate in Cumbria, enjoys 100 per cent 5 star ratings on TripAdvisor. But Gill Taylor, its owner, says she still wants nothing to do with online travel agents.

“So many people use them these days but I think most people who book with one have no idea that the companies are taking such a big chunk.”

^{Small operators say they pay too much to sites like TripAdvisor for the customers they get in return}

It’s not that she does not appreciate the publicity and custom that sites like TripAdvisor bring, especially on account of the glowing reviews, but she cannot afford to pay the commission that the online travel agents displayed on TripAdvisor ask for.

As a small property with only three rooms available, she feels her margins are too small to allow for a 20 per cent commission plus VAT to be lost on each one. “It is not good business sense,” she said.

However, struggling on without an affiliation means that she must rely on word of mouth or repeat custom, which is not enough. She is even considering turning to Airbnb as a way of making her business work, but fears ultimately that this is the last year The Old Rectory will open its doors.

The Telegraph’s expert hotel reviewer Fiona Duncan said this is a familiar story, with many small, privately run b & bs not wanting to pay commission on bookings. “They say they would rather close than be bullied into joining OTAs against their will,” she said. “If that happens, and heaven forbid it does, England will lose a beacon of traditional British hospitality at its very best.”

In the Lake District, a part of the country where hotel listings from large travel agent websites perform strongly in search engine results, Simon Bennett owns Augill Castle near Kirkby Stephen.

“We recognise OTAs are here to stay and they have a place in the market,” he said. “What we need to get across to customers is that a hotel’s best rates and best choice are often only available by booking direct – for instance, the only place you’ll find all our room types and bang up to date availability is on our own website.”

TripAdvisor said that as travellers are booking with its partners and not with TripAdvisor, it has no influence over how pricing is communicated anywhere but on its own site.

Online travel agents argue that hotels benefit greatly from their services. “Customers love sites like Booking.com because they provide transparency, choice and value,” said a Booking.com spokesman.

He said that hotels can control their own marketing and advertising. “Hotels choose what prices to list on their own sites and Booking.com, and we just ask that they provide the same price on Booking.com as they do on their own site.”

A spokesperson for the Expedia group said: “Hotels that choose to work with us only pay once a booking is made through our Expedia group sites, as a result of the exposure they get on Expedia group sites – a bit like an online billboard.

“Studies show hotel partners also benefit from increased bookings on their direct channels when travellers find their hotels through research carried out on the Expedia group sites followed by booking with a hotel directly. Our objective is to offer the travellers visiting our sites the best rates and availability from our hotel partners.”

But the dominance of OTAs has become such an issue in Cumbria that the Cumbrian tourist board launched its own hotel booking website a couple of years ago, called Fair Booking (fairbookinguk.com). It aims to encourage, stimulate and reward visitors who book directly with hotels and b & bs.

^{The Fair Booking website}

In a message to local hoteliers, the Fair Booking website suggests that “increased costs due to high commission charges from intermediaries can all too often result in a loss of profits and therefore, in less money for your business to invest in the renewal, upgrade, improvement [of your property] – not to mention the training and development of your staff.

“This resultant reduction in profits not only affects your business, but inevitably impacts on the local supply chain with other local businesses such as builders, professional support services and local food and drink producers.”

Gill Taylor was one of the local businesses who signed up and is in favour. “The host agrees to send a set amount to charity for each night booked,” she said. “We are currently supporting the Great North Air Ambulance. It means the money is kept in the local economy and the host agrees to offer extra value too, so the guest benefits from free tea and cake

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11571349/Online-hotel-booking-agents-accused-of-bullying-practices.html