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Paris hotels--am I doing something wrong here?

Posted by (Pennsylvania, USA) on

Hi folks,
I'm thinking ahead to next year, when I might like to spend a week in London and then take the Eurostar to Paris. Between suggestions from friends, and some hotels I saw here on the forum, I have found 3 or 4 hotels that look like possibilities.

On some of the web sites, you can't see the prices unless you try and book a room. On every single site, when I try to book a single room for a "dummy date" of the first week of June '18, the site tells me there's no single rooms available.

So my questions are:

  1. Is it too early to do this, and is it a malfunction on a site? or
  2. Is more than a year in advance too late to book a single room in Paris?

Thanks!

Posted by
2707 posts

I've had better results sending hotels individual emails with the dates, type of room, requesting availability and rates.

Posted by
77 posts

I have found that many hotel websites will not allow booking that far out. However, I have had success using third party booking sites. Make certain that you use the 'free cancellation' option....especially with booking that far in advance. It will cost a bit more, but the ability to cancel, without penalties, is worth it....to me, anyway.

Posted by
639 posts

I will try contacting the hotel directly for rates, thanks, Alan.
judithchristia--Are third-party booking sites safe? On other forums, I have seen complaints about people not getting their reservations concerned, etc., and it always put up a red flag for me? But, say, is booking.com a reliable site? Thank you!

Posted by
7209 posts

Too early for online booking - emailing or calling is your best option at this point.

Posted by
20100 posts

Booking.com is very reliable. Having said that, I sometimes email or call the hotel after the booking and have them confirm it.
And yes, many hotels will not be taking reservations that far in advance, especially smaller ones. They have not figured out what their rates will be a year from now.

Posted by
16893 posts

Or just to get an idea of prices, try a dummy date for this year, maybe in September or October, if not June.

Posted by
2466 posts

Do what Sam suggested.
Book your hotel - with a refundable deposit - on booking.com
Then, be sure to confirm it about a month before you depart.

Posted by
8060 posts

It is too early. If you want to get an idea of prices for next year, look at prices for this June. I prefer to deal directly with the hotel. If there is an issue like needing to cancel it is nice to deal directly and not have them pass the buck. I had to cancel a couple of uncancelable bookings last fall when I ended up having surgery in southern France. All three of the places I dealt with directly cancelled the booking for me including a very swank rural resort chateau type thing between Brittany and Paris. While they were 'uncancelable', when I actually spoke with the managers they were very understanding. I was able to book one later, but I had to cancel the entire Brittany part of the trip.

Posted by
639 posts

Thank you all!
I felt a little silly asking, but I'm glad I did. :)

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