It's happened to me a few times when I've wanted to book a room the same day. I've researched the prices on various hotels before visiting a hotel. At the front desk  I present how many days I want to stay and get a quote - and the quote is higher than the ones on Booking.com and Hotels.com - even though the hotels set the prices there themselves.

I think this is normal but then I ask for the lower rate at Booking.com - for the same room and days - but the front desk then refuse and ask me to book through the websites instead.

When doing this it has happened that the staff were surprised that I actually did it (and I do it in the matter of seconds with pre-saved credit cards).

**Why are some hotels doing this?**

I can come of with a few valid reasons:

 - The front desk staff isn't allowed to give discounts.
 - The hotel wants more sales and reviews on the websites.
 - The websites might take some legal responsibility and handle customer service.
 - The staff might expect one to accept the higher rate to not have to struggle with the websites (if one is new to them).