My neighbor spent five years working as a night manager for a major global hotel chain. We were talking yesterday and I asked him what the front desk actually sees on their screen when you walk in. He gave me a list of things that made my stomach drop. I am never booking a hotel room the same way again.

Great points, especially on direct bookings! One key detail though: price matching usually only applies to flexible rates. If you're booking an unrefundable prepaid rate on an OTA, the hotel might not always be able to match it directly in their system.