As an industry expert (over 25 years in the industry working with some of the big brand names) with an eye for the nuances of travel platforms and their offers, I’ve found ViaResorts.com to be a refreshing addition to the online travel space, offering travelers a boutique experience with a good range of offers that does match their stated goal of providing “Affordable Luxury.” I’ve outlined the Pro’s and Con’s below as I found them.
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Pros:
Right now, the travel space is dominated by a handful of players (you know who they are!), who dictate rates to the properties and to guests. It makes for a bland market of homogenous offers with very little to pick between them, other than small price variations or how you feel about their platform.
There are smaller platforms offering special deals and some of these also claim to offer high quality hotels at a special rate. While largely true, I believe these sites ignore a large swathe of travellers as they tend to cater for high income demographics, whereas most holidaymakers (like me…) fall into the middle-income bracket. Which means, we have a strict budget. Viaresorts is catering to this demographic by advertising vacation offers that cover a range of travel budgets.
In short, the site has outstanding deals with some in the almost too-good-to-be-true category. (Those offers appear to be largely promotional stays that some clubs and hotels offer to attract new guests) suiting most budgets for travelers wanting.
Secure a rate now and choose dates later. This seems to be counter intuitive, but I consider it to be a great benefit and help with ease booking. One of the speed humps in making a reservation with one of the big guys or the other boutique platforms is having work out your stay dates on the spot. This can be a major headache when you have seen an offer you like. A booking completed for research for this article involved receiving a confirmation voucher and from links in that email I was able to go to the site and select dates which was then sent directly to the property for confirmation.
My understanding is that Viaresorts have contracted inventory (a set number of rooms to sell for a hotel) so this process was easy. I had a confirmation back from the property within a few hours, although they did indicate that it may take 48-72 hours depending on the property.
When I contacted Viaresorts online support during this process and their response was instant and very professional. The level of service was well above what you might expect from one of the big platforms.
Cons
There are a limited number of properties available on the platform. This is because they are curated to meet the goal of “Affordable Luxury” and not all hotels and properties are prepared to discount their rates or add inclusions.
I was not able to call their support team. I asked the online agent why and the reply was due to volume of bookings, and to keep costs (and therefore rates) down, support is kept online with a team in Australia, the US and the Philippines working 7 days a week. I was able to contact the team on weekends and very late, so their responsiveness was high.
Pros and Cons Summary:
Pros:
The innovative “Secure Now, Pick Dates Later” feature helps planning.
Boutique feel and support is welcome after time wasting experiences with big platforms.
Able to change dates and hotels/destinations at no extra cost (in most cases)
Affordable rates for most travellers looking for popular destinations and good rates and extra.
Secure booking and payment system.
Good online reviews for their customer service.
Cons:
Limited range of properties (a representative told me “Man more coming in 2024”)
Online booking support only.
Don’t accept PayPal (albeit common for travel industry)
Offers largely Asia Pacific currently.
Conclusion.
A great boutique bookings service that does offer good properties and deals at affordable rates. Excellent customer service. Easy booking process. If you are looking for a great deal and you find one you like on Viaresorts.com snap it up. You probably won’t get a better deal.
