The risk perception in buying online is seen as an important factor that restricts the speed of electronic commerce expansion. The hotel booking, as itself, is perceived as risky by the intangible dominance of service, it has been identified as generating further uncertainty when performed by the hotel s own website. Personality traits such as sensation seeking, may lead some consumers to avoid a marketing channel that brings increased perceived risk. This study sought to understand the role of sensation seeking in the choice, by the channel consumers, to book a hotel. For this, we conducted a survey in a sample of 3,600 people who have booked hotels in Rio de Janeiro, between September 2009 and February 2010. Half of the sample made a booking through the hotel s own site, while the other half used other channels to book it (telephone, agencies and tour operators, GDS or services such as Expedia). The results identify which perceived risk dimensions are relevant in this buying situation, as well as differences in the choice among consumers according to the level (high or low) level of sensation seeking.