How does the hotel reservation work?

: How does the hotel reservation system work?
This is my first time to ever book a hotel in advance. I am planning a stay at the Moody Gardens Hotel in Galveston in April. I reserved the room tonight with my debit card, what is the process from here?

Again first time I am doing this, so I am clueless. Thanks

Answers and Views:

Answer by cakes4southafrica
You should get a reply from the hotel or the agency through which you reserved. Or there was an option to print out the reservation when you paid.

If not, simply email the hotel and ask them to confirm your reservation and the acceptance of the payment. Then print it out and take it along when you go to the hotel. Plus your identity document.

Answer by Mckenzie
I work at a hotel front desk. With our property, it depends on how you book. If you book through a third party site like Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, those company charge your debit or credit card immediately because the hotel later only recieves a portion of what you paid them. If you book directly on the hotel’s website or over the phone, I know that with our hotel nothing is charged until check in but at check in, be prepared to also leave a security deposit. Our hotel puts a $ 50 deposit but people get pretty upset about it so I wanted to pass that on, some hotels are higher. Also, with debit cards, it usually takes about 7 days for any extra deposit to come off your debit card so just be aware of that 🙂

I would call and ask if you are unsure, just say “hello, I booked (say where) and I was wondering when my debit card get charged and will there be any deposit?” We are usually busy but that can be answered in less than a minute