John should have asked the Royal Bath Hotel why they wouldn't allow him to book direct for 135 quid and save them their 20 quid Trivago commission. The answer is that the Royal Bath Hotel gets a lot of bookings from lazy people like John on Trivago, and have to make up their losses from people like Adam who are trying to do them a favour.
Personally, I try to eliminate the middle-men where possible and book accommodation that isn't listed on Booking.com, Trivago etc. at all. They are just leaches, sucking profits out of the travel industry increasing costs for everyone. If I come across their Google ads I click on them 20 times and then go somewhere else.
