Most hotels have Web sites that allow you to book with them directly, with the same rules as booking over the phone. Beyond that, there are also a few travel Web sites where you can book a room, and sometimes airfare, a rental car and more.
Booking online with the hotel itself is usually done through the hotel's Web site. Often reservations made this way have all the benefits of a phone-in reservation, making them a great option. Most Vegas hotel sites feature room photos and descriptions, some with floorplans and 360-degree photos. Generally the only way to book through a hotel site is directly with them but some hotels DO offer what is called an 'affiliate program'. Basically this allows other third-party Web sites, such as RateVegas.com and others, to offer booking at these hotels with all the benefits of a direct booking. This helps keep these third party Web sites free as the hotel pays a commission back to the site owner while still offering all the flexibility of a direct booking . This is fairly rare with only some MGM Mirage hotels offering this service. You know this is being used if you click on a link to book a hotel from a third party site and you are re-directed back to the hotel's Web site, just as if you were booking with them directly.
Beyond booking online with a hotel, you can book online via a travel Web site, such as Expedia.com, Hotels.com, or one of many others. These sites offer the ability to book hotel along with airfare, rental car, etc... The advantage here is that sometimes booking all parts of your vacation together will get you a better deal. This isn't always true so be sure to actually check the numbers. It also comes at a potential cost - if you book your vacation this way, it can be very difficult to make changes or cancel if something comes up. If you go this route, be VERY careful to check the cancellation policy.Booking online with the hotel itself is usually done through the hotel's Web site. Often reservations made this way have all the benefits of a phone-in reservation, making them a great option. Most Vegas hotel sites feature room photos and descriptions, some with floorplans and 360-degree photos. Generally the only way to book through a hotel site is directly with them but some hotels DO offer what is called an 'affiliate program'. Basically this allows other third-party Web sites, such as RateVegas.com and others, to offer booking at these hotels with all the benefits of a direct booking. This helps keep these third party Web sites free as the hotel pays a commission back to the site owner while still offering all the flexibility of a direct booking . This is fairly rare with only some MGM Mirage hotels offering this service. You know this is being used if you click on a link to book a hotel from a third party site and you are re-directed back to the hotel's Web site, just as if you were booking with them directly.
These travel sites also offer affiliate programs to third party sites like this one. This is how we are able to offer the majority of our hotel booking options. If you click on a link to book a hotel and you see a page similar to this one, you are booking through the affiliate program of one of the travel sites mentioned above. The most common used by third party travel sites is hotels.com, but there are others. You can feel secure as all of the reservation details are handled just as they would be if you booked at the travel site itself, the benefit being you are supporting whatever site you clicked the link from, again helping to support the free information they provide.
Lastly, at least one Las Vegas hotel operator decided they wanted to combine all the offerings of a complete travel site, plus direct hotel booking into a single operation. MGM Mirage Vacations is, as of this writing, the only offering of its type. I haven't used this option but you can book your room, airline, show tickets and more, all while staying inside the MGM Mirage infrastructure. I'm sure they will expand the available hotels to include those they acquired when they bought Mandalay Resort Group (Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Monte Carlo, Excalibur and Circus Circus) sometime soon.
So, with all of these choices, which is the best? While booking through a travel Web site can sometimes offer a price advantage, when I book my Las Vegas vacations I either call it in directly or I use the hotel Web site. If it is an MGM Mirage property, I book through the hotel via the affiliate program. I find this method offers the most flexibility and always competitive prices.