By Hendarsyah Tarmizi The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Booking rooms online, why not?

Are you planning to go somewhere but don't have enough time to find a good hotel. Why not try online booking, it is easier and more convenient.

With only a click of your computer mouse, you can find a wide range of hotel choices that can suit your taste, and more importantly your budget.

In Indonesia, the number of hotels which have their own online reservation facilities are still few and far between. But most star-rated hotels, even non-star ones, have been available from local and foreign online reservation providers.

Indo.com, one of the first travel Internet portals in the country, for example, offers online reservation services not only for local hotels but also for accommodation facilities in other Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Many other local travel portals also provide booking services for hotels in particular areas. Balitouristguide.com, for example, focus on hotels in the resort island of Bali, while travelindo.com offers services for hotels in Yogyakarta.

Besides being available from the local travel portals, major Indonesian hotels are also listed in foreign-based online booking service providers.

Accommodation Line, which is based in Sydney, also offers online reservation services for most star-rated hotels in Indonesia, with discounted rates.

If you browse through the Google search engine, you will find tens of other websites offering reservation services for Indonesian hotels.

Besides prices, the websites also feature all the information you will need about the hotels, such as location maps, types of rooms, and availability of package tours.

The prices of the hotel rooms quoted in the websites are generally different from those quoted by conventional travel agencies. The room rates quoted in the websites are mostly lower. This is possible because hotels can reduce commission fees when receiving orders through the online reservation companies.

Some of the quoted room rates already include taxes and service charges but some others do not. So be sure that you know what kinds of rates are available before you go ahead with your booking.

How to make your reservation? Easy, you just click the reservation icon and fill in the necessary information about your stay in the hotel such as the length of stay, check-in and check- out time.

Generally there are two kinds of payment system adopted by online reservation providers. One of them is called online payment in which buyers are required to pay the bill by credit or charge card online. The other form is called semi-online payment in which customers are required to fax their credit card authorizations and a copy of the front and back of their credits cards before the reservation is confirmed.

Local online reservation providers mostly still use the semi- online system, and sometimes a bank transfer for the hotel reservation payment.

The semi-online payment, albeit less advanced and often taking time, is relatively more secure for hotel guests and the reservation providers as both can make crosschecks before settling the transactions.

If you are required to pay the room reservation online, be sure you check how the company is securing your financial and personal information.

Many online travel companies explain the security procedures in their websites. But if you don't find any security description, it would be better for you to call or e-mail the company.

Although the use of the online hotel reservation system in the country is still at the early stage of its development, many local hotels have enjoy the advantages of the online hotel reservation system.

Grand Hyatt Jakarta, which offers online booking through the hotel chain's Hyatt.com, sees a growing number of guests booking through its online reservation facilities.

"Although the number of hotel reservations made through the website is still around 0.5 percent of the total reservations, the trend is on the upward direction," the hotel's public relations manager, Elvira Lianita, told The Jakarta Post.

For the hotel guests, particularly those from overseas, the online reservation service is quite helpful not only in saving time but also in arranging their trips, she said.

"For the hotel, the online booking service makes the reservation process much more efficient," Elvira said.

The online reservation service will undoubtedly become one of important alternatives for the hotel guests to book a hotel room, although at present most of the bookings are still made through a letter, fax or e-mail.

The existence of the online hotel reservation service could in the long run affect conventional travel agencies if the later are not able to take advantage of the online technology.

The chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (ASITA), Meity Robot, however, downplays the potential threat from the online hotel reservation providers.

"In some cases, they are our competitors. But they will not threaten our existence. Hotel reservation is only one of many services provided by the travel agencies," she told the Post.

Meity said that many travel agencies are considering developing their own websites to enable them to benefit from the change in hotel guests' behavior.

Although online booking promises greater convenience, you have to be careful in selecting the provider of the online reservation service.

Make sure a company is legitimate before doing business with it. Identify the company's name, its physical address, including the country where it is based, and an e-mail address or telephone number so you can contact the company with questions or problems.