Paying for Accommodations on-line for England/Cornwall/Isles of Scilly

What I've done is withdrawn cash from an ATM--over several days if necessary (and very carefully secured it, obviously).

The issue with bank transfers is that once the money is in the other party's hands, you have no recourse, so I would do that in advance only under the most unusual circumstances. If I had a cost-effective way to transfer money (transferwise.com has drawn positive comments on this website), I wouldn't have a problem transferring money after arrival at the property, though I would prefer to do it near the end of my stay rather than at the beginning.

Thanks for the suggestion about transferwise.com. The problem is that every place requires a deposit and then most require the balance well in advance of the trip. I can find options in Cornwall on airbnb that take credit cards, except for the Isles of Scilly, where there aren’t any available. But a lot of family-run places don’t take cards.

I gave done the advance payment via transfer on rare occasion when it was a small "mom and pop" but I vet the establishment as best I am able online. Compare the address of where you are staying with the address you are given for the transfer. Are they the same? Check online sources like Trip Advisor, Booking.com or Google Maps for what other guests had to say. It is far safer to make the transaction thru TA, Booking, VRBO, etc.

I would say that the "never" admonition is perhaps a bit overstated in some cases. Good advice above.

I have had to prepay, either in part or in whole, for a couple accommodations in recent years. These were booked via booking.com (but required prepayment, and no credit cards were accepted, which was clearly stated in the listing). So I felt OK sending the required wire transfers (I used TransferWise, and paid with a credit card - the experience was very good, the cost was very reasonable, and overall I recommend this service if/when you need to do this). The host was very good about communicating with me before, during and after the payment was made. If I were booking without having a listing service (eg booking.com) involved, I would have been at least somewhat more hesitant to send money with essentially zero recourse.

I will say that the place I booked with this method (a charming and beautiful, freshly remodeled modern studio apartment deep in the middle of a spectacular Italian hilltown in a building dating from the 16th century) was one of the most delightful places I have ever stayed - my wife and I both nearly swooned when we were let inside. I knew I was taking some risk by prepaying, but the place looked wonderful (in fact, almost too-good-to-be-true, which made me skeptical) but I figured the risk was fairly low (the place was pretty cheap - in retrospect, an incredible bargain considering how much we loved it). If I was paying for a whole house for a week in Paris (serious money) I might have balked. I'm really glad I didn't miss out on this place though.

I have no experience booking the kind of place you describe in that corner of the UK. But it's worth remembering that not everyplace in the world has fully embraced credit card payments, and if you want to have all the options in one of those places, you will have to play by their rules and sometimes incur some risk.

If a place is listed in the Rick Steves book, I'd feel more comfortable taking that risk. If it's bookable via something like booking.com, I'd feel even better about it (I recently got a full refund for a stay I booked via booking.com because something was not as represented by the host...when I contacted them (booking.com) I was very impressed with their proactive advocacy on my behalf and their follow-up.

But if the place you're looking at doesn't have any of these things to mitigate the risk...well, it'll depend on your risk-tolerance, and only you can decide what that should be.

David, Thanks for all your thoughts and ideas. The places I’m looking at are the out-of-the-way and unique places like your stay in Italy which sounded marvelous. I always look at reviews, accreditations, and ratings when available. It is good to have the back-up support from sites like booking.com and airbnb when available. These small mom and pop places can’t afford the commissions these sites and the credit card companies take so I see why they don’t want to use them. Sounds like transferwise.com might at least make the cost for the wire transfer a little cheaper.

Within the UK they are either paying by check or direct bank transfer.

Neither. I haven't written a cheque for well over a decade, I don't think I know where my cheque book is.

The accommodation I've stayed at in Cornwall and elsewhere in the UK was paid in full online using a card except for larger hotels who accepted payment when checking out.

When booking accommodation in the US or Europe I've paid online but that's because I've used Homeaway, VBRO etc.

JC, if you can give me the names of B&B or self-catering places in the moderate range on St. Mary’s that accept credit cards it would be a great help. Thanks.

Mrtobycat, unfortunately I can't assist you much with your request as I've never stayed in St. Mary's, I've only ever stayed at a B&B once and that was in the New Forest and your idea of moderate may well be different to mine.

When I've stayed in Cornwall I booked the accommodation through cottages.com, small, independent properties often rented out by the owner in a similar arrangement to AirBnB (some rent through several platforms). Payment was made direct via the website in advance and I've never experienced any problems.

https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/isles-of-scilly is part of the Tripadvisor group, you can pay for your booking via them and they have a payment protection system.

It’s not cost effective for many small establishments to operate a credit card payment system. In difficult to get to places, such as the Isles of Scilly, I can understand why the owners want payment or a deposit paying in advance, as if you don’t turn up, they aren’t going to be able to fill the room.

If an operator is registered with the local tourist board and is accredited or has been trading for a while and there are many Trip Advisor/Booking.com reviews, then I would have no hesitation in paying in advance.

JC, Thanks for the 2 website suggestions. I will try them.

Jennifer, Thanks for your advice on the tourist board and reviews.
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