Trivago Review [2024]: Still Got The Best Deals?

Is the constant searching for hotels for your next trip tiresome? I understand... I want to find fantastic hotel deals and the right stay based on price, guest reviews, amenities, and more.

I use a lot of sites to find the best deals, but one that I make sure I always include during my search is Trivago.

Trivago is a popular online hotel booking site that brings together thousands of hotels so you can choose the one that’s right for you. With competitors like Priceline, Hotelscan, and Trip.com doing something similar, is Trivago worth using for your next trip?

In the last few years, Trivago has been taken to court. It’s also received some bad reviews. At the same time, some people have been delighted with their trips planned through Trivago.

In this article, I'll look at what services Trivago does and doesn’t do well and get down to the details so you can decide whether or not to trust them with your next booking.

What Is Trivago?

Trivago is a metasearch engine for accommodations in popular cities around the world. It collects hotel rooms and rates and shows them to you on a single page so you can compare accommodation prices and find the best price.

Using an extensive price comparison site like Trivago can make your hotel search easier. Not only does using this search platform make it easier, but it also saves many people money and time.

Trivago is not an online travel agency (OTA) like Expedia. An OTA means a place that'll take your payment and be responsible for your booking.

Think of Trivago more like a search engine for accommodations. It’ll send you away to another site—either the hotel itself or another booking engine like Booking.com or Hotels.com—to make the final booking.

If you run into problems when you arrive at the hotel, Trivago probably won’t be able to help as they only act as a search engine. You’ll have to deal directly with the company you were redirected to or the hotel itself.

Is Trivago Trustworthy?

When you use a search engine like Trivago, you trust it to be fair. You’d be mad if Google pushed some search results to the top while hiding other results that would be helpful, right?

Well, that’s what Trivago has been found guilty of doing.

In January 2020, an Australian court fined Trivago $44.7 million for deceptive advertising. Trivago pushed more expensive hotel rooms to the top of search results and hid deals to make the company more money on commissions. It’s not a good look.

The Australian judge called Trivago’s advertising “highly misleading” and said the $44.7 million awarded in the lawsuit was only about half of the estimated loss and damage suffered by consumers.

So… is Trivago trustworthy? Will it show you the best rates on hotel rooms?

Maybe, maybe not. The company was just sued over this exact issue and lost in court. There are plenty of good deals on Trivago, but it’s hard to know whether the site is showing you the best deals on the internet or just the best deals for Trivago.

How to Find Deals With Trivago

First, head over to Trivago.com. This is what your booking process will look like:

1. Type in your destination. You can choose between hotels and houses/apartments.
2. Type in your travel dates (your check-in and check-out days).
3. Click search and browse through listings.
4. Add more filters if you like. You can filter for price, location, and rating.
5. Choose from deals offered for the hotel you’re interested in.
6. Click through to a partner site to complete the booking.

Favorite Features

Free to Use

You don’t pay anything to use Trivago’s service. The hotels listed on Trivago pay the company a small commission to help them fill more rooms.

Covers Hundreds of Booking Sites

A single search on Trivago covers dozens or even hundreds of other sites, so you can spend less time comparing hotel room rates in different browser windows.

Filters Make It Easy to Search

Suppose you need a hotel room that’s pet-friendly or has access to a gym. In that case, you can easily filter the search results to show only the hotels you’re interested in. Some of my favorite filters I use include:

• Free breakfast
• Free cancellation
• Parking
• Pet-friendly

Lots of Information in Search Results

Some meta-search engines make you click into listings to see the pictures and get a complete idea of what the room offers. In Trivago, you can see all of a hotel room’s amenities and photos right from the search results page.

Mobile App

No matter your mobile device, whether you're an Android or iOS user, Trivago has a mobile app. The Trivago app aims to make searching and planning more convenient for those using the search engine.

You can download Trivago's free app today on the App Store or Google Play Store.

That being said, it doesn't seem that there are any exclusive mobile rates offered by Trivago.

What Types of Accommodations Are Listed on Trivago?

Trivago provides travelers with many different types of accommodations. Here's a glimpse of the types of accommodations you can find on Trivago:

• Luxury Hotels or Resorts: Immerse yourself in opulence with luxury suites, top-tier amenities, and breathtaking views.
• Boutique Hotels: Enjoy a personalized experience with unique designs and intimate atmospheres.
• Bed and Breakfasts: Experience local hospitality in cozy and homely settings.
• Hostels: Trivago lists budget hotels ideal for low-cost travelers and backpackers looking to meet fellow wanderers while saving money.
• Unique Stays: From treehouses in tropical forests to houseboats on serene lakes, discover accommodations off the beaten path.

What Hotel Information Is Provided on Trivago?

After you've put in your search criteria, pull up individual hotels, and start comparing hotels, Trivago will give you the following info for each of its stays:

• Hotel name
• Star rating
• Distance to notable landmarks
• Average rating by users
• Price per night
• Included amenities and facilities (ex., Complimentary breakfast buffet, pool, gym)
• Photos

You will see extensive reviews on Trivago, but these are all reviews left on the "parent" booking websites and connected to Trivago. That also means you won't be able to leave reviews on Trivago, you'll need to leave any hotel reviews you want to share on the booking or hotel site.

Cancellation/Refund Policy for Trivago

Trivago doesn’t take payments, so it has no cancellation or refund policy. Instead, it’s up to guests to check out the cancellation or refund policy of the hotel they’re booking.

It’s imperative to double-check all of your booking details since Trivago won’t necessarily be able to help you if you get something wrong.

Trivago Customer Service

Since you cannot book directly through Trivago, customer support is limited. If you contact Trivago's customer service team, they'll suggest you speak directly with the booking platform or hotel.

Trivago's customer support specialists can help by giving you information about getting in touch but have little power to resolve issues. For further assistance, you'll need to talk to the other party.

What People Are Saying About Trivago

A lot of people have great experiences booking their hotel reservations with Trivago. It can connect you with some great deals that you might not have been able to find otherwise.

However, there are also some complaints online about how Trivago works. Some horror stories exist about bookings lost or canceled without refunds.

Here's what some review complain about:

• Taxes and fees aren’t always included in the price shown in search results.
• Some Trivago partners have lousy customer service, cancel reservations, or have additional conditions.
• Cancellations and changes are handled by the hotel or booking partner, not Trivago.

If you trust the hotel you’re booking, everything should be fine. Unfortunately, most people who use Trivago believe that all the listings there are reliable and trustworthy and that Trivago will back the customer in any dispute.

That’s not true—customers are on their own after they’ve booked through a third-party site.

Is Trivago Worth It?

Based on what I know about Trivago and traveler ratings, Trivago might not be the best meta-search engine to use. Although they have great hotel offers, you can’t be sure you’re getting the best rate or that the hotel you book can be trusted to hold your room.

Again, Trivago was fined $44.7 million in Australia for deceptive advertising because they weren’t showing the most competitive rates.

There are also hundreds of 1-star reviews on sites like Trustpilot and ConsumerAffairs from guests who showed up to hotels that didn’t recognize their reservation, refused a legitimate cancellation, or canceled or rebooked the room without notice.

Although these problems are technical with the booking partner or hotel and not Trivago, it shows that you can’t necessarily trust all of the hotels you see on the site.

If Trivago is just a search engine for hotels where you can’t trust the algorithm that displays the search results or trust Trivago to vet its partners, it’s not very useful.

With other trustworthy major booking sites, like Booking.com, Skyscanner, and Google Hotel Ads, there’s no need to rely on Trivago for hotel bookings.

My Rating: 1.8/5

Pros

• Easy to use travel site
• Covers hundreds of booking sites
• Great filters

Cons

• Could hide best deals
• Is not responsible for bookings
• Some partner hotels have bad service
• Proven lawsuit discredits trustworthiness
• No loyalty or points program

Finding the Best Accommodations for Your Next Trip

Indeed, there are a lot of logistics to cover if you want your next adventure to go smoothly. Trivago might not be the best hotel search engine to use, but you’ll still need to figure out where you want to stay, what you want to do, and what the destination offers.

Planning is all easier and a lot more fun with Pilot.