Resort hotels and apartments

Over the past five years, the big holiday companies, such as Thomson, First Choice and Cosmos, have woken up to fact that many of us now like to put our own holidays together, buying hotel, flight and car hire separately without being tied in to a tour operator's package. So they have all hopped on the bandwagon and started selling hotel rooms and villas without forcing us to buy their flights or other services too.

There are several pluses about booking through a big tour operator. Their buying power in the key summer sun resorts is huge, so you are likely to get good prices, and you will be able to access hotels that other online retailers cannot offer, because the big operators often buy up all the rooms in some of the best resort hotels for an entire season. But you may find that their selections are heavily weighted towards the popular summer and winter sun resorts, rather than cities. And your purchase may not always be financially protected (see below).

Try Cosmos (www.somewhere2stay.com); First Choice (www.hotelopia.co.uk); MyTravel (www.mytravel.com); Thomas Cook (www.thomascook.com); Thomson (www.thomsonhotelsandapartments.co.uk).

How safe is my booking?

Booking a hotel over the internet can be risky. If you buy a package holiday (including, say, hotel, flight and car hire) you are financially protected, for example by an Abta or Atol bond. But if you buy a single element of a holiday by itself, such as a hotel room, the company selling the accommodation may not necessarily be bonded (though some are - Octopus Travel and Hotel Connect, for example, are both Abta bonded).

Does this matter? In practical terms, if you are unhappy with your hotel and your purchase was not financially protected, it means you will probably have to fight it out with the overseas hotelier, which can be a hassle. And if the company selling the hotel rooms goes bust, you will probably lose out. In October 2005, the website TravelExtras, on which customers booked hotel rooms and other services, went bust.

Customers were left high and dry because it did not hold a financial bond that protected the bookings. There's nothing illegal about this - but if an unbonded company goes bust, the only chance customers have of getting their money back is if they paid with a credit card (as most would), and the bill came to more than £100, in which case you can take it up with your credit card company. But that doesn't solve the immediate problem of what to do if you're overseas and have a problem on the spot with your hotel.

To make sure your booking is as safe as possible, follow these tips:

Check the "about us" section of the website and ensure the site has a phone number and address for queries - fly-by-night websites tend not to provide this information

Look at the bottom of the site or in the "about us" section to find out if the company holds a bond. If you are not clear whether your booking is financially protected or not, then ask

Understand that if the company is based overseas, it will be harder to sort out any problems than if they are based in the UK

Read reviews of your hotel, online and in guidebooks

Always pay by credit card

Carry a print out of any email reference you are sent

After you've booked a hotel through an online agency, phone the hotel before you set off to check your booking is in their system

If you encounter a problem, raise it with both the hotel and the booking site promptly, and in writing. If you wait until you get home to complain you may find your complaint is dismissed

Cath Urquhart is the author of The Times Holiday Handbook (Navigator Guides, £12.95), published this month and available for £11.50 and free p&p from The Times BooksFirst (0870 160 8080, www.booksfirst.co.uk).