They take your money and provide no accommodation or customer service

Be wary of "free cancellation" bookings on this site. Some of these places try to keep your money, long after you cancel, and long after the 30 day refund period set out in their terms and conditions.

They also sometimes don't refund the full amount. No communication, no notification, no explanation. They just take some of your money and refund whatever is left, even when the site says you have cancelled for free.

Booking.com themselves are very slow to respond, and seem to be completely unable to actually do anything without huge amounts of fuss and interaction from your side.

Beware. Rather try Airbnb.